Filesharing for iOS in Server 5.0.3?

[jescala]

Does anyone know anything about this new feature that was announced with the release of OS X Server.app 5.0.3?

iOS 9 users can easily access and store documents on OS X Server. Once a share point is created, it can be shared to iOS devices and made available using traditional file sharing protocols such as SMB and AFP. This allows users to open, edit and save documents from both iOS 9 and OS X 10.11.

I wonder if this will be possible with the JSS and arbitrary SMB shares not hosted on OS X Server.

[WANEWS · Accepted solution]

It is in Mail, Contacts, Calendar

Add Account and choose other

Then Add OS X Server account

[cdev]

I was looking into this feature myself, but it looks like it's limited to server 5 running under El Capitan...

[jescala]

@cdev But presumably this will require some kind of change in iOS 9 to allow it to access SMB and AFP shares natively without a separate app. I'm curious how that is possible. I haven't seen anything in iOS 9 so far that leads me to believe that such a feature exists. Maybe in iOS 9.1?

[WANEWS · Accepted solution]

It is in Mail, Contacts, Calendar

Add Account and choose other

Then Add OS X Server account

[dstranathan]

Mail, Contacts, Calendar? Great place for file server settings!

When setting up on OS X server on iOS 9, how do you choose if the server is hosting AFP or SMB shares? It simply asks for a hostname and user credentials. Does iOS 9 auto-detect which file protocols are available on the OS X Server host?

"This allows users to open, edit and save documents from OS X 10.11." We have been able to do this on Mac OS X since 2001. What's so special about El Capitan regarding its role as a AFP or SMB client?

Million dollar question: How does one browse an OS X-based AFP/SMB file server from an iPhone? Third-party apps? iCloud Drive app?

Does this new feature imply that I can also connect to a Windows SMB/CIFS server or a Linux Samba server? Maybe someday?

This is potentially big news. A "sleeper" feature for sure. I wonder if this means we are close to having a real file system in iOS?

[jescala · Accepted solution]

@dstranathan Definitely a sleeper feature! I'm surprised Apple hasn't made more of it. I received this link with more info from our Apple SE today:

http://help.apple.com/serverapp/mac/5.0/#/apd15ec7d534

Looks like WebDAV is supported too. And it also says "apps such as Pages" can natively access these shares, no third-party apps needed.

[dstranathan]

So, does this mean that third-party iOS apps will also be able to open & save documents on OS X Server-based SMB/AFP file servers, too? Or only Apple apps? Are there APIs available to developers for this?

I guess I'm old-fashioned, as I still would prefer a way to browse a file server rather than guess which apps can see which files. I'm kicking a dead horse here. And that horse is beginning to smell bad. Rigor mortis has set in, too.

I think WebDAV protocol has been supported in OS X Server app previous to 5.0.3, but I ignored it because WebDAV is craptastic (in my humble opinion).

[jescala]

@dstranathan From what I can tell, this is leveraging the Document Provider Extensions that were added with iOS 8. So what is new here is that now you can provide an in-house document provider via your MDM without the need for a third-party app. I'm hoping to set up a test environment this week and I'll let you know how it goes.

Regarding protocols, SMB and AFP shares are a terrible way to offer file services over the open Internet. But WebDAV could work well given the right circumstances.

[psd_martinb]

So what is new here is that now you can provide an in-house document provider via your MDM without the need for a third-party app.

Is this supported in JAMF as of JSS 9.92?
I've done some digging around and can't find any further information or documentation.