CIFS on/off
Displaying CIFS information

Stopping and starting CIFS

Configuring CIFS

Displaying CIFS information

The display in this window provides the following types of CIFS sessions information:

PC (user)
Name of the PC connected to the filer and name of the PC user.
#shares
Number of shares opened for the user.
#files
Number of files opened for the user.

The CIFS status field displays UP or DOWN, indicating whether CIFS is running.

Stopping and starting CIFS

To stop CIFS, click the Shutdown CIFS button. The filer waits a period of time, as specified in the Shutdown delay (for CIFS clients) field before it stops CIFS.

The Shutdown Delay Remaining field shows the amount of time left before CIFS service is stopped. During this time, you cannot configure CIFS or restart CIFS. If you want to stop the shutdown, click the Abort Shutdown button.

After CIFS is stopped, the CIFS Status field displays Down.

NOTE: Notify connected CIFS users before you stop CIFS. If they are editing open files when you stop CIFS, they will lose their changes since the last time they saved their files.

To start CIFS, click the Start CIFS button. The CIFS Status field displays Coming up. When CIFS service is started, the CIFS Status field displays Up.

Configuring CIFS

When CIFS is up, you cannot configure the service. You must first stop the service before you configure CIFS.

When CIFS is down, you configure the following fields:

  • Join NT Domain
  • Filer Name for CIFS
  • Domain/Group Name

Join NT Domain

You can configure this field only if the filer has never joined a Windows NT domain. If it is already part of a Windows NT domain, this field displays Yes.

If the filer does not belong to a Windows NT domain, you can specify Yes in this field so that the filer will be a member of a Windows NT domain. If you specify No, the filer will be a member of  a workgroup.

After you fill out the Join NT domain field, enter the domain or workgroup name in the Domain/Workgroup Name field.

The following table indicates the authentication features that are available to domains and workgroups.

Feature Domain Workgroup
Compatible with NT 4.0 SP3 (encryption) Yes No
Compatible with NT 4.0 SP3 message signing No No
Encrypted password sent to filer Yes No
UNIX password and group database determine UID and GID Yes Yes
UNIX password database contains password No Yes
Single login Yes No
Change password remotely Yes Yes (only with NIS)
Multiple net segments Yes No (unless the "workgroup" is really a  Windows NT domain with a Windows NT domain controller)

Installing the filer into a domain integrates the filer into your Windows NT domain topology. Install a filer into a domain if you want centralized administration. Installing the filer into a domain requires at least one Windows NT domain controller. Installing the filer into a workgroup enables you to serve Windows-based machines while maintaining a UNIX base. If you install the filer into a workgroup, you can use the /etc/passwd file or NIS for authentication.

When you enter the Windows NT domain name for the filer in the Domain Name/Group field, make sure that you have a permanent domain name; you cannot change the configuration later. Also, make sure that every user who might access the filer has a domain account.

For a user to connect to the filer through a domain controller, all of the following conditions must be satisfied:

  • The user must provide a login name and password that match the ones on the domain controller or one of its trusted domains.
  • The user must either be included in the filer's /etc/passwd file or, if NIS is being used, the NIS password map; or be a guest or generic user if there is a generic user account. The generic user account is for users who have an account in a trusted domain but do not have an entry in /etc/passwd or NIS.
  • The user must either appear in the lists of users in the filer's /etc/group file or the NIS group map for any groups to which they belong, or be a guest or generic user and the generic user account must appear in the filer's /etc/group file or the NIS group map.

If a filer is a member of a workgroup, it is not compatible with Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3.0, unless each client machine adds a registry entry to reenable plain-text passwords.

Filer Name for CIFS

By default, the host name you specified in setup is also used in CIFS connections. Specify a CIFS name if one or both of the following conditions are true:

  • The host name exceeds 15 characters.
  • The host name contains characters other than these:

    letters (A - Z), numerals (0 - 9), !, #, $, @, %, `, (, ), -, ^, _, {, }, and ~

If the host name does not meet the CIFS requirements, the filer automatically creates a name by eliminating the illegal characters from the host name or by truncating the host name to 15 characters.

Although the filer displays the CIFS name in uppercase, the name is not case-sensitive.

NOTE: If you plan to make the filer part of a domain, make sure that the name for the filer is the same as the one with which you registered the filer in the domain. After you added the filer to the domain, if you change the name of the filer, you must remove the old name from the domain, add the new name to the domain, and set up CIFS again.