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To enable Spotlight search on the network share, follow this process from the Apple client:
System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy
sudo mdutil -i off /path/to/network/share
sudo mdutil -E /path/to/network/share
sudo mdutil -i on /path/to/network/volume
If enabling Spotlight search on the network volume fails, examine the permissions on the share. They may need to be made more permissive.
When Spotlight indexing has begun, keep an eye on the mdworker process running on the Apple client.
The Apple client system stores a local index of the network volume on its internal storage. Separate indexes are maintained for each network storage login and IP address. As a result, it is conceivable that multiple indexes of the same network volume could reside on a single Apple client. These indexes can grow large depending on the size and complexity of the volume being scanned. The Spotlight index files for network storage are located here:
/var/db/Spotlight-V100/LocalVolumes/
Note: As of macOS 12, listing the contents of this directory is not allowed.
Occasionally, users may find that Spotlight search of a network volume stops returning fresh results. The only fix for a “broken” Spotlight index is to disable search, erase the database, and reenable search, as outlined above.