I decided to replace my old backup device with a new Western Digital MyCloud Duo. I wanted to use it as a network backup device BUT, the directions say that it DOES NOT work with Linux. It will work with just about everything else. I am happy to say that it DOES work with Linux. In fact it works good, but it is not plug and play. You have to take steps to make it work. Here is how to do it.
I use MX Linux 19 which is Debian. Other versions of Linux may vary but the principles are the same.
1. You must have cifs-utils installed in your system.
Open a terminal and type: sudo apt install cifs-utils
You will have to enter your system password for this.
2. Next, you must make a "mount point" in your file system. To do this, you must make a folder inside the "/media" folder of your file system. You have to do this as a root user. In MX Linux it is pretty easy.
Open File manager and click on "File System"
Scroll down and open the "/media" folder.
RIGHT click in the folder and select "Open Root Thunar Here" (Thunar is the name of the file manager app.)
In the top menu, click on file then "Create Folder" and make a folder called "MyCloud". You can use some other name if you like but keep it simple. Exit the Root Thunar.
Note: A "mount point" is just a folder. That's all. There is nothing mystical about it, but you must have it. Your "/media folder" may have some other stuff in it. If so, leave it all alone and just make the folder. Some Linux systems use "/mnt" instead of "/media".
3. Next, plug your new WD MyCloud into your router and turn it on. Wait for it to spin up. You must now find out what the ip number of the MyCloud device is on your network. I use "arp-scan" to do this. If you do not have "arp-scan" you may need to first install it with package manager. Then you can open a terminal and type:
sudo arp-scan --interface=wlan0 --localnet
This will show you a list of all devices on your network along with all their ip numbers. On my network, the WD MyCloud is 192.168.0.113 yours will be different. When you determine the ip number, write it down.
4. You must now make an entry in the special file "fstab" located in your /etc folder. Use file manager to navigate to the "/etc" folder and find the file called "fstab". RIGHT click on the "fstab" file and then select "Edit as Root". You will have to type your password. Leave everything in the file alone but add a new line at the bottom like this.
//192.168.0.113/Public /media/MyCloud cifs guest,vers=1.0,uid=1000,iocharset=utf8 0 0
(The above is all one line. It must be done correctly, letter perfect.)
Save the "fstab" file and exit the root editor.
5. Open a terminal and type sudo mount -a
If all is correct, you should not get an error message and the MyCloud device should be mounted. You can make lots folders and sub-folders. Use it as any other disk drive. You can use the device for network attached storage. You can use your favorite backup app to backup to it, etc etc. If you purchased the single unit rather than the Duo, the setup is the same. The Duo unit gives you the extra protection of "RAID."
In the screen clip below, notice that MyCloud appears as a network drive on the left, the right window shows the contents so far. Your iPads, iPhones, and Mac, will not show here. They have their own setup. If you also have a Windows computer, you can mount this device as a network drive and it will be included too. In the example below, don't be confused by the word "Partition". These are just folder names I chose to use for my own reasons.
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