How to configure Samba share to sort alphabetically?

Nickba

Hello,

I have a NAS326 and I have some devices that cannot sort alphabetically on clients end. I need to configure need the NAS326 to sort alphabetically. I tried to edit the smb.conf, but it didn’t work.


#NAS_Jan_2020

Mijzelf

AFAIK Samba doesn't do any sorting at all. That is left to the client.

What did you try to change in smb.conf?

Nickba

Hello,

Thanks for replying. I have a Synology NAS and it does have an option to sort alphabetically.

I put this in the smb.conf:

vfs objects = dirsort

Does anyone have any tip to make it work?

Mijzelf

OK. A vfs module is a sort of plugin. In this case the module is part of the samba suite. The NAS might have a stripped down version which doesn't contain this plugin. Don't know if that is possible.

How did you test the smb.conf change? Did you restart samba after that?

/etc/init.d/samba.sh restart

An other option is to sort the files on the NAS itself. This is only feasible on mainly static shares, as new files aren't added alphabetically.

Sorting is easy:

su

cd /path/to/share

mkdir tmpsort

mv * tmpsort/

mv tmpsort/* .

rmdir tmpsort

Note the dot at the end of the 2nd mv. The theory here is that the shell will exchange the * by an (alphabetically sorted) list of filenames, and mv will move them in that sequence. As the move is within the same filesystem, it's only administative, and blazing fast.

Nickba

Hello Mijzelf,

Thanks again for replying.

Yes, I did restart samba after I changed the smb.conf and it didn't work.

I tried your suggested static solution, it moved the the files ok, but when I tested on the network, the files didn't sort alphabetically. Maybe samba pick the files randomly to show the list if  vfs objects = dirsort cannot be used.

Do you know if there is a way to configure the NFS plugin app to sort alphabetically? I am asking because the clients also support NFS. 

Nickba

Hello again,

I installed OMV on an old PC and it accepts the option vfs objects = dirsort and works perfectly.

Do you know a simple method of installing OMV on the NAS326?

Mijzelf

OMV runs on top of Debian. So https://forum.doozan.com/read.php?2,88619