Changelog

What’s new

Modern SwiftUI Interface

Version 4 features a completely redesigned user interface built with SwiftUI:

• Clean, modern settings window with tabbed navigation
• Better organization of shares and authentication profiles

Authentication Profiles - Reusable Credentials

Instead of storing credentials separately for each share, you can now create reusable authentication profiles.

• Fewer duplicates: Credentials stored once in Keychain instead of multiple times
• Easier management: Update passwords centrally, not per-share
• Clear overview: See which shares use which profiles
• Flexible: Reassign shares to different profiles anytime

Custom Mount Point Names

You can now choose custom local names for your network shares, solving the duplicate share name problem:

• Previously, mounting shares with identical names from different servers would cause conflicts
• Now you can assign individual local names to each share
• Note:
  • Shares are mounted with your chosen name, Applications and scripts see the correct path
  • For macOS systems, due to a limitation on mounts, Finder still displays the original share name from the server.

Additional Improvements

• Active Directory binding: - Can differentiate between Macs bound to Active Directory and those that use Kerberos authentication
• Native autostart: Uses macOS 13+ SMAppService API instead of using an external library
• Better error messages: Clear, actionable error descriptions
• Modern Swift architecture: Full async/await and Actor implementation
• Comprehensive testing: Unit tests for critical components

System Requirements

• macOS 13.5 (Ventura) or later
• Optional: Kerberos configuration for Active Directory

Fixed

• Force Kerberos re-auth on mount retry + improved error handling
• Preserve case-sensitive Kerberos principals in keychain

Fixed

• Kerberos authentication failures caused by case-sensitive principal name mismatches. The app now retrieves and uses the actual principal name from the Kerberos credential cache instead of reconstructing it, preventing kswitch failures when username case differs between stored accounts and Kerberos tickets.

Added

• If a Kerberos-authenticated mount fails, an attempt will be made to re-authenticate, followed by a second mount attempt before an error occurs.
• After macOS wakes up, the internal mount structures will be fully reinitialized, which includes rereading the MDM profile and user configurations, as well as resetting the mount statuses and a few more things.

Fixed

• Fixed a regression that prevented mounts from occurring at app startup (#252, #246).

Fixed

• Fixed a regression where the Sparkle framework was accidentally rolled back to an older version.

Fixed

• Fixed a bug where the shares did not mount after the app was started (#242).

Fixed

• Fixed a few UI regressions.
• Fixed a race condition in Preferences view.

Changed

• Some minor improvements in responsiveness.

Fixed

• Resolved “App hanging” reported by Sentry (#232).

Fixed

• Ignore spaces at the beginning and end of shares in profiles (#223).
• Fixed the timing for reading SMBHome: now SMBHome will be read each time a network change occurs (#224).
• Fixed a race condition and a system attribute check for directories where directories in a share could potentially be deleted (#255).

Changed

• Clarification in the README: Using SMBHome as users’ home share only works if the Mac is bound to Active Directory.

Fixed

• Fixed a race condition during app startup that caused issues with obtaining Kerberos tickets.

Fixed

• Fixed a bug where shares mounted at various levels could result in the removal of directories.
• Removed a race condition that resulted in recursive notification calls, causing high load and constantly rebuilding the app menu.
• Minor fix in displaying authentication errors by changing the menu app icon color.

Fixed

• Fixed a race condition.

Changed

• Improved directory and file handling (using FileManager instead of calling shell commands).

Added

• Added more logging output to enhance bug detection.

Fixed

• Fixed several minor bugs, including one related to hidden shares.

Fixed

• Fixed a few problems reported by Sentry (#179, #180, #181, #182, #186, #188).
• Backported custom user variable (%USERNAME%) from new branch for NSM-4 (#175).
• Hopefully fixed a bug with mounting a subdirectory of a hidden share (#189).

Changed

• Added a few more useful logging points for debugging.

Fixed

• Fixed a problem where shares ended with the special character $ (aka hidden share) (#165).
• Resolved several bugs that caused exceptions (#156, #172, #173).
• Corrected a type issue (#162).
• Made improvements in keychain handling (#151).
• Fixed an issue where the menu-bar object fails to open if no shares are configured (#163).
• Addressed a Kerberos ticket management issue (#171).
• Fixed problems with disabling the auto-update functionality (enableAutoUpdater) (#152).

Changed

• Created and enhanced XCTest functions.
• Improved the core mounter class.

Fixed

• Various runtime bugs and crashes found and fixed via Sentry (#144, #145, #146, #147, #148).

Added

• List mounted/unmounted shares in menu bar; clicking a mounted share opens its directory (#46, #122). Configurable via MDM using boolean showMountsInMenu (default: true).
• Every individual menu item can now be configured as hidden or disabled via MDM (#122):
  • menuAbout
  • menuConnectShares
  • menuDisconnectShares
  • menuCheckUpdates
  • menuShowSharesMountDir
  • menuShowShares
  • menuSettings
  • Values: disabled (grayed out) or hidden (not visible).
• Local override of %USERNAME% (#130): if the local username does not match the account name of a network share, an alternative username can be used instead (usernameOverride).
• Integrated Sentry for issue and crash report collection (#131, #135, #138). Uses a locally hosted instance — data never leaves local servers. Collection can be disabled by the user via a dedicated switch (not configurable via MDM).

Fixed

• Fixed a bug where Finder could crash (#134).
• Fixed a bug where custom network shares were not editable (#137).
• Fixed two race conditions (one in the DogeAD library).
• Fixed a possible memory management crash in PreferenceManager.setADUserInfo (#142).

Added

• Mount and unmount can now be triggered via UNIX signals: kill -SIGUSR1 <PID> unmounts all shares, kill -SIGUSR2 <PID> mounts all shares (#106).
• Mount status display enhanced with SF Symbols.
• Integrated the Sparkle framework for in-app updates. Controlled via enableAutoUpdater (default: true) (#116).
• Increased menu icon size.

Fixed

• Fixed two race conditions (one in the DogeAD library) (#123, #125).
• Fixed a bug where the menu bar icon color did not reflect the Kerberos ticket status.
• Fixed a crash caused by a bug in the DogeAD Kerberos authentication library.
• Fixed a bug in the external DogeAD Kerberos authentication library causing crashes after some time (#113).
• Workaround for Finder showing already disconnected drives after wakeup (#109).

Fixed

• Fixed a bug where mounts under /Volumes as the default mount path generated sharename-1 etc. directories:
  • If a directory with the same name as the share already exists under /Volumes, the mount will be aborted.
  • Since /Volumes is read-only for regular users, zombie mount directories cannot be deleted automatically. Network Share Mounter is unable to resolve stale directories under /Volumes.
  • Users with root privileges can delete these manually; admins can use scripts. Directories are also removed after a macOS reboot.
• Fixed a bug where the menu bar icon color did not reflect the Kerberos ticket status.

Fixed

• Fixed a crash that occurred when the Mac wakes up from sleep.

Changed

• User-triggered “mount all shares” will also re-authenticate/renew Kerberos tickets when Kerberos is enabled (Beta).

Fixed

• Fixed migration of FAU Prefix Assistant account to NSM’s keychain.

For usage and configuration examples please consult the documentation.

Added

• Transition from Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) to Swift Concurrency for improved asynchronous task management.
• Mount operations are now executed in parallel (#36).
• New internal data structure for shares, recording the current mount state (pending, queued, mounted, error) and supporting explicit mount points per share (#60).
• Managed shares now support username/password authentication (#54, #34).
• Users can choose between username/password or Kerberos authentication.
• User-defined share credentials are now stored in the macOS Keychain.
• Support for afp:// and WebDAV (https://) protocols.
• Kerberos SSO support via new authentication library — potential alternative to Apple Enterprise Connect, Jamf Connect, or NoMAD. Supports obtaining and renewing Kerberos tickets via configured realm. Menu icon reflects credential status via color coding.
• If the user disconnects drives via the menu, they remain disconnected until a network change occurs or the user remounts them manually.
• Shares can be mounted/unmounted during specific system events (network changes, sleep, shutdown, app quit).
• Detailed and clear logging for all crucial operations.

Changed

• The occurrence of multiple mount directories (SHARE-1, SHARE-2, …) has been eliminated (#48, #53, #66).
• MDM-defined network shares can now be handled in a more flexible manner.
• The app now consistently reflects changes made to the MDM profile (#71).

Fixed

• The issue of mounts “overtaking” themselves has been resolved.
• Numerous further bug fixes.

System Requirements

• macOS 11 Big Sur or later.