This technical document describes how to start File Sharing.

Note: This document is based on Mac OS 9. You may encounter slight variations when using Mac OS versions 8.0 through 8.6, but the steps are basically the same. You may find steps specific to your Mac OS version by choosing Mac Help from the Help menu. For more information on File Sharing in Mac OS X, see technical document 106461: "Mac OS X: File Sharing"

Warning: Be careful when allowing others to connect to your computer and when setting privileges. Giving access to an untrusted party could compromise your security or data. For more information, see technical document 60621: "Mac OS: File Sharing Security"

Computers must be physically connected

Connect the computers to either an AirPort or Ethernet network. For more information, see technical document 106658: "Macintosh: How to Create a Small Ethernet Network"

Start File Sharing

1. Choose Control Panels from the Apple menu, then File Sharing from the submenu.
2. Click the Start/Stop tab, then click Start.
3. If you want to allow connections over TCP/IP, click the checkbox to enable the "Enable File Sharing clients to connect over TCP/IP" option. For more information on this feature, see technical document 106661: "Mac OS: Sharing Over the Internet, or Between Remote Networks"
4. Enter an Owner Name, Owner Password, and Computer Name in the corresponding fields. You may have already entered this information using the Mac OS Setup Assistant.

1. Select the user named Guest.
2. Click Open.
3. Choose Sharing from the Show menu.
4. Click to select the checkbox for "Allow guests to connect to this computer."

1. Click New User.
2. Give the user a name and password.

1. Click New Group .
2. Give the new group a name.
3. Drag the desired users into the new group's window.

1. Select the item you wish to share in the Finder.
2. Choose Get Info from the File menu.
3. Choose Sharing from the Show menu.
4. Click to select the checkbox for "Share this item and its contents."
5. Use the pop-up menus for Owner, User/Group, and Everyone to set desired privileges.
Note: Everyone represents guest access, if enabled.

1. Choose the Chooser from the Apple menu.
2. Click the AppleShare icon. If you are connecting to a computer on your local network, continue to Step 3. If you are connecting to a computer on a remote network (or "over the Internet"), then skip to Step 7. If you are not sure, see Note 1 at the end of this section.
3. If AppleTalk Zones appear on your network, choose the desired zone. If not, disregard this step.
4. Select the computer name from the computer list.
5. Click OK.
6. Stop here. Do not continue to Step 7.
7. Click the Server IP Address button.
8. Type either the IP address or the DNS name of the computer to which you wish to connect. See Note 2.
9. Click Connect.

1. Computers connecting between remote locations on the Internet cannot browse by Computer Name. "Local network" is a general term that refers in this context to a network on which AppleShare and/or SLP (service location protocol) information can be communicated between the connecting and sharing computers. On larger networks, this information may only be available on your network segment. If you are not sure, ask your network administrator, or just try both methods and see what happens. If you cannot find the AppleShare/SLP name of the sharing computer (as defined in Step 4 of the "Start File Sharing" section), then you may try the alternative connection method by skipping to Step 7 of this section.

2. The IP address of the sharing computer may be found by opening its copy of the Apple System Profiler application. It will be in a form similar to "10.0.1.203". A DNS name is defined by your network administrator or Internet service provider, such as "my-computer.apple.com". It is not the name that you give to the computer in Step 4 of the "Start File Sharing" section, which is a named used for AppleShare and SLP applications.

3. The computer must have an IP address to connect to a Mac OS X computer. For more information, see technical document 106779: "Mac OS: 'The connection to this server has been unexpectedly broken' Message".

1. Choose Connect to Server from the Go menu. If you are connecting to a computer on your local network, continue to Step 2. If you are connecting to a computer on a remote network (or "over the Internet"), then skip to Step 5. If you are not sure, see Note 1 at the end of this section.
2. Select the computer's name from the list.
3. Click Connect.
4. Stop here. Do not continue to Step 5.
5. In the Address field, type either the IP address or the DNS name of the computer to which you wish to connect. See Note 2.
6. Click Connect.

1. Computers connecting between remote locations on the Internet cannot browse by Computer Name. "Local network" is a general term that refers in this context to a network on which AppleShare and/or SLP (service location protocol) information can be communicated between the connecting and sharing computers. On larger networks, this information may only be available on your network segment. If you are not sure, ask your network administrator, or just try both methods and see what happens. If you cannot find the AppleShare/SLP name of the sharing computer (as defined in Step 4 of the "Start File Sharing" section), then you may try the alternative connection method by skipping to Step 5 of this section.

2. The IP address of the sharing computer may be found by opening its copy of the Apple System Profiler application. It will be in a form similar to "10.0.1.203". A DNS name is defined by your network administrator or Internet service provider, such as "my-computer.apple.com". It is not the name that you give to the computer in Step 4 of the "Start File Sharing" section, which is a named used for AppleShare and SLP applications.

3. When browsing by name, Mac OS X computers appear by default in the Local Services neighborhood. You can change this using the steps in technical document 106335: "Mac OS X Server 10.0: How to Set SLP Neighborhood"