Strange problem sharing a folder

Tech Support
1

I’m having trouble sharing a folder with my wife, who has an account on another Mac in our house, both on the same wired network, both running Mojave.

I’m following the instructions at https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mac-help/set-up-file-sharing-on-mac-mh17131/mac

In the Sharing panel, to allow access to another person on our network (to the folder I’ve added for sharing), I think I need to:

Select the folder I’ve set up for sharing, then click the add (+) button at the bottom of the Users list.

Then the instructions say I should “Select Network Users or Network Groups in the list on the left, select one or more names in the list on the right, then click Select.”

The problem is, I don’t see either “Select Network Users” or “Network Groups” in the list on the left. There’s just Users & Groups, Contacts, and below that, all the groups I’ve defined in my Contacts.

I could be wrong, but I expect Network Users would show a list of users who are logged into the network, and I should be able to select her from that list.

Any idea why the “Select Network Users” or “Network Groups” items aren’t showing?

Thanks,
Russell

2

the panel shows the users that you allow access. The network users bit is a bit confusing, because if you don’t see them they;re not set up. but you can use any user listed there.

I usually set it up this way:

share a folder -> add a local/network user (depends on type you have

On other machine -> log on to share using that user (no matter if they’re local or network, just add credentials)

3

Thanks for the quick response.

You wrote, " if you don’t see them they’re not set up." How do I set up a user so he will appear in the panel? Do you mean I have to set up an account for them on the Mac that’s serving the shared folder?

4

Either that or pick a user from the open directory setup.
Do you have an open directory setup at home?

5

Thank you so much!

I got it working by just setting up an account for her on my Mac, but I’ll look into the open directory idea.

Best,
Russell