TimeMachine on DD-WRT

To set up Time Machine on a DD-WRT capable router, you'll need to configure the router to support direct-attached storage (DAS) and then enable Samba. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you through the process.

Prerequisites

• DD-WRT firmware installed: Ensure your router has DD-WRT installed. You can find the firmware and installation instructions on the DD-WRT website.
• External storage device: You’ll need a USB drive or an external hard drive to connect to your router.
• Basic networking knowledge: Familiarity with DD-WRT and basic networking concepts.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Partition and format an external hard drive

   • The process is out of the scope of this tutorial because there are already a lot of information available on internet.
   • In the following we are using a single EXT4 partition.

2. Connect to your router

   • Access your DD-WRT router’s web interface by entering the router's IP address (usually 192.168.1.1) in your web browser.
   • Log in with your admin username and password.

3. Connect and mount the external storage

   • Plug your USB drive or external hard drive into the router’s USB port (USB3 port is better).

   • Go to Services > USB in the DD-WRT web interface.

     • Enable Core USB Support
     • Enable USB Storage Support
     • Enable Automatic Drive Mount
     • Apply Settings and the disk will be temporary mounted on /tmp/mnt/sda1
     • Copy and paste UUID from Disk Info to Mount partition to /opt
     • Save
     • Apply Settings

   • Go to Administration > Managment

     • Reboot Router and your drive should be automatically mounted on /opt

     

4. Disable the built-in Samba server

   The built-in Samba Server cannot be used because it is not possible to configure as required.

   • Go to Services > NAS in the DD-WRT web interface.

     • Disable Samba Server > Samba Configuration > Enable Server

     

5. Connect to your router via Terminal

   On macOS open a Terminal and run:

   ssh root@192.168.1.1
   

   Enter root password when requested.

   alf45tar@alf45tar-iMac ~ % ssh root@192.168.1.1
   DD-WRT v3.0-r56182 std (c) 2024 NewMedia-NET GmbH
   Release: 05/02/24
   Board: TP-Link Archer C9
   root@192.168.1.1's password: 
   ==========================================================
   
         ___  ___     _      _____  ______       ____  ___ 
        / _ \/ _ \___| | /| / / _ \/_  __/ _  __|_  / / _ \
       / // / // /___/ |/ |/ / , _/ / /   | |/ //_ <_/ // /
      /____/____/    |__/|__/_/|_| /_/    |___/____(_)___/ 
                                                     
                           DD-WRT v3.0
                       https://www.dd-wrt.com
   
   
    ==========================================================
   
   
    BusyBox v1.36.1 (2024-05-02 04:40:12 +07) built-in shell (ash)
   
    root@TimeCapsule:~#
   

6. Intall Entware the ultimate repo for embedded devices

   Entware is a software repository for embedded devices like routers or network attached storages. >1800 packages are available. It was founded as an alternative to very outdated Optware packages. List of Entware packages for ARMv7 is here.

   Type in the following commands:

   cd /opt
   wget http://bin.entware.net/armv7sf-k3.2/installer/generic.sh
   sh generic.sh
   

   When installation is complete, run an update:

   opkg update
   opkg upgrade
   

7. Install required packages

   opkg install avahi-autoipd avahi-dbus-daemon avahi-dnsconfd avahi-utils
   opkg install samba4-admin samba4-client samba4-libs samba4-server samba4-utils
   

8. Edit/replace /opt/etc/samba/smb.conf with

   [global]
   # Fruit global config
   fruit:aapl = yes
   fruit:nfs_aces = no
   fruit:copyfile = no
   fruit:model = MacSamba
   
   # Permissions on new files and directories are inherited from parent directory
   inherit permissions = yes
   
   # Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will part of
   workgroup = WORKGROUP
   # Samba will automatically "register" the presence of its server to the rest of the network using mDNS.
   # Since we are using avahi for this we can disable mdns registration.
   multicast dns register = no
   
   # Server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
   server string = %h server (Samba, DD-WRT)
   
   # Protocol versions
   client max protocol = default
   client min protocol = SMB2_02
   server max protocol = SMB3
   server min protocol = SMB2_02
   
   # This tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine that connects
   log file = /opt/var/log/samba/log.%m
   
   # Cap the size of the individual log files (in KiB).
   max log size = 1000
   
   # We want Samba to only log to /var/log/samba/log.{smbd,nmbd}.
   # Append syslog@1 if you want important messages to be sent to syslog too.
   logging = file
   
   #======================= Share Definitions =======================
   
   [timemachine]
   # Load in modules (order is critical!)
   vfs objects = catia fruit streams_xattr
   fruit:encoding = native
   fruit:time machine = yes
   comment = Time Machine Backup
   path = /opt/timemachine
   available = yes
   valid users = timemachine
   browseable = yes
   guest ok = no
   writable = yes
   

9. Create /opt/etc/avahi/services/samba.service with

   <?xml version="1.0" standalone='no'?>
   <!DOCTYPE service-group SYSTEM "avahi-service.dtd">
   <service-group>
     <name replace-wildcards="yes">%h</name>
     <service>
       <type>_smb._tcp</type>
       <port>445</port>
     </service>
     <service>
       <type>_device-info._tcp</type>
       <port>0</port>
       <txt-record>model=TimeCapsule8,119</txt-record>
     </service>
     <service>
       <type>_adisk._tcp</type>
       <txt-record>dk0=adVN=timemachine,adVF=0x82</txt-record>
       <txt-record>sys=waMa=0,adVF=0x100</txt-record>
     </service>
   </service-group>
   

10. Run the following commands to temporary add groups and users and run Entware services (Avahi, Samba)

    echo "nogroup:x:114:nobody" >> /etc/group
    echo "nobody:*:114:114:avahi:/opt/sbin/avahi-daemon:/bin/false" >> /etc/passwd
    echo "samba:x:1000:timemachine" >> /etc/group
    echo "timemachine:*:1001:1000:TimeMachine::/bin/false" >> /etc/passwd
    /opt/etc/init.d/rc.unslung start
    

11. Create the folder to save the TimeMachine backups

    cd /opt
    mkdir timemachine
    chown root:samba timemachine
    chmod 770 timemachine
    

12. Set Samba password for user timemachine

    smbpasswd -a timemachine
    

    timemachine user and password are your credentials to be used to connect to remote location for TimeMachine backups.

13. Add startup and shutdown scripts

    • Go to Adminstration > Commands in the DD-WRT web interface.

      Add the following to Startup

      #
      # Add group and user for Avahi server
      #
      echo "nogroup:x:114:nobody" >> /etc/group
      echo "nobody:*:114:114:avahi:/opt/sbin/avahi-daemon:/bin/false" >> /etc/passwd
      #
      # Add group and user for Samba server
      #
      echo "samba:x:1000:timemachine" >> /etc/group
      echo "timemachine:*:1001:1000:TimeMachine::/bin/false" >> /etc/passwd
      #
      # Wait until external storage is mounted under /opt
      #
      /bin/sh -c 'until [ -f /opt/etc/init.d/rc.unslung ]; do sleep 1 ; done'
      #
      # Start all Entware services (Avahi, Samba, ...)
      #
      /opt/etc/init.d/rc.unslung start
      #
      # Set external storage sleep time to 15 minutes
      #
      for i in /dev/sd?; do hdparm -S 180 $i > /dev/null; done
      

      Add the following to Shutdown

      #
      # Stop all Entware services before shutdown
      #
      /opt/etc/init.d/rc.unslung stop
      

14. Reboot your Router for the last time

    • Go to Administration > Managment
      • Reboot Router

15. After reboot you are ready to backup your macOS devices with TimeMachine