When you installed your Raspberry Pi Operating System using the Raspberry Pi Imager app, you set up a username and a hostname. These are essentially the username and path to SSH into your Raspberry Pi.

Launch your command-line interface app (Terminal) and enter the following command, where username is the SSH username and hostname is the hostname you created in Raspberry Pi Imager:

ssh username@hostname.local

Then hit Enter

in Terminal, run the following command to ensure your Raspberry Pi Operating System is up to date:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

Sometimes this process can take a few minutes. As long as your Terminal window is still scrolling everything should be working as intended, but watch for prompts where you may need to acknowledge some installations and upgrades.

Netatalk is an open source software solution that will allow you to access your Raspberry Pi file directories from a remote computer (like your Mac).

This essentially allows you to run a Headless Raspberry Pi Operating System while still having access to the file storage through your main computer’s Finder.

Install Netatalk with the following command in Terminal:

sudo apt install netatalk

This might take a couple of minutes and you may need to confirm some installations, so keep an eye on Terminal to acknowledge the installation where needed.

With Netatalk installed you’ll need to make a few changes to the Netatalk Configuration file.

To access the Netatalk Configuration file enter the following command:

sudo nano /etc/netatalk/afp.conf

Hit Enter

This is where Netatalk gets a little bit awkward to work with, but for this guide you’re only going to make basic changes. More advanced settings will be covered in another guide.

All you’ll need to do is edit a couple lines in the Netatalk configuration file:

This line needs to have the semi-colon removed:

; [Homes]

So it should now look like this:

[Homes]

The following line needs to have the semi-colon removed, and you should replace the xxxx after the forward slash at the end of the line with home

; basedir regex = /xxxx

So it should now look like this:

basedir regex = /home

Your Netatalk configuration file should now look something like this:

You now have the most basic and simple Netatalk configuration settings that will allow you to directly access your Raspberry Pi storage directories.

To save the Netatalk configuration use the following commands in Terminal:

control + x

Then

Y (or Yes)

Hit Enter if you’re not automatically taken back to the previous Terminal view.

Anytime you make changes to your Netatalk confirguration file you’ll need to restart Netatalk for the changes to take effect.

To finalize your changes you can restart Netatalk with the following command in Terminal:

sudo systemctl restart netatalk

Give this a moment for Netatalk to restart. There may not be any visual feedback in your Terminal, but this should only take a moment regardless.

Now find the IP address for your Raspberry Pi using the following command:

hostname -I

Copy and save the IP address. The format will be #.#.#.# and it will look something like this:

0.0.1.24 2601:5631:e190:68d3:500f:e970:e970

You only want those first 4 numbers and you can ignore anything that comes after.

Almost there!

Open Finder and in the main navigation bar click Go -> Connect to Server (⌘k).

In the field for Server Address enter the following AFP address:

afp://#.#.#.#

Remember to replace the IP address in this example with your own.

Click Connect

If you’re prompted to Connect to the Raspberry Pi Netatalk Server again just click Connect again.

Now enter your Username and Password. This will be the same username and password you used when you installed and set up your Raspberry Pi OS Lite.

For example I’m using my Raspberry Pi to run a Headless Plex Server, so I’ve set up my Raspberry Pi with a user name plex, then entered the password I’ve set up for the plex user.

Click Connect

Your Finder will now auto-navigate you to a new server directory called Pi’s Home (or similar).

The name of the server might be slightly different depending on the default User for your Raspberry Pi.

For example I’m using my Raspberry Pi to run a Headless Plex Server, so I’ve set up my Raspberry Pi with a Plex user. My server is called plex’s home because I’ve added Plex as the main user.

In the screenshot below you can see where I’ve navigated to my Raspberry Pi Server called plex’s home, then I’ve created a new directory called Music, and I’ve started uploading a recent Bandcamp purchase from the artist Bastian Void.

From here I’ll be able to reference this folder from my Plex account to make more of my digital music library available to stream from anywhere.