TIME CAPSULE INSTALL & SETUP

Install Netatalk

# emerge -av netatalk

net-fs/netatalk-3.1.6::gentoo USE="(acl) avahi cracklib dbus pam samba shadow ssl tcpd utils -debug -kerberos -ldap -pgp -quota -static-libs -tracker" PYTHON_TARGETS="python2_7"

Configure Netatalk

Edit the file /etc/afp.conf:

vi /etc/afp.conf

Place the following contents. Edit the paths, usernames and IP range:

[Global]
 mimic model = TimeCapsule6,106
 log level = default:warn
 log file = /var/log/afpd.log
# either individual or CIDR
 hosts allow = 196.168.100.0/24

# I didn't require this option
#[Homes]
#basedir regex = /home

[TimeMachine]
 path = /mnt/data/timecapsule/
 valid users = me you someone
 time machine = yes
 appledouble = ea


# Nor did I require this.
#[Shared Media]
# path = /mnt/data/torrents/
# valid users = me you someone

Obviously, don't forget to create the mount point.

mkdir /mnt/data/timecapsule

Set the correct perms

chmod 775 /mnt/data/timecapsule

You will also need to change the group as this will currently be root:root

chown -R root.user /mnt/data/timecapsule

or

chgrp -R user /mnt/data/timecapsule

Create & Format the destination filesystem

Create the partition.
(I just used the whole 1Tb disk)

# fdisk /dev/sdb

Once the partition is defined, set the filesystem type of af.

Disk /dev/sdb: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xb59eb59e

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 1953525167 1953523120 931.5G af HFS / HFS+

Install the tool for formatting the filesystem.

Version 332.14_p1 at the time of writing.

emerge -av diskdev_cmds

Then format it

mkfs.hfsplus -v timemachine /dev/sdb1

Automount at boot time.  Add it to /etc/fstab

/dev/sdb1 /mnt/data/timecapsule hfsplus rw,noatime,user 0 1

Now mount it.

mount -a

Start the netatalk daemon. (I use systemd)

systemctl start netatalk

If all went to plan, the filesystem is mounted and the netatalk daemon running.  On the Mac, when you open Timemachine, you should automagically see your server.
Select it and enter the account details.  For security reasons, I created a new user on the server and set /sbin/nologin as the shell.  This way, the user has no access to the server and is not privileged to do anything.