Mapping UNIX names to UIDs and GIDs

Where Data ONTAP obtains UIDs and GIDs

For each UNIX name, Data ONTAP obtains the UID and the primary GID from the UNIX password database. Data ONTAP obtains secondary GIDs for the UNIX name from the UNIX group database.

For a CIFS user to have a UID and GIDs, you must create a UNIX account in the UNIX password database that corresponds to the user's UNIX name.

Users not in the password database

A CIFS user whose UNIX name does not exist in the password database can still obtain a UID if certain requirements are met. For information about CIFS users whose UNIX names are not in the password database, see Creating or disabling the default UNIX user account.

When a default /etc/passwd file is created

If your storage system is an NIS client before you run cifs setup, Data ONTAP does not automatically create the /etc/passwd file. If NIS is not enabled when you run cifs setup, Data ONTAP automatically creates the /etc/passwd file.

Note
If the NIS server fails and the storage system does not have the /etc/passwd file, CIFS users cannot connect to the storage system. You can create the /etc/passwd file to ensure that the storage system can obtain UNIX credentials for CIFS users even when NIS is unavailable.

Contents of the default /etc/passwd file

The default /etc/passwd file contains entries for these UNIX names:

root
pcuser
nobody

Format of the /etc/group and /etc/passwd files

For information about the format of the /etc/group and /etc/passwd files, see the Storage Management Guide.

Creating UNIX accounts for CIFS users with UNIX names

To create UNIX accounts for CIFS users, complete the following steps.

Step	Action
1	If you use...	Then...
	NIS but not the /etc/passwd file	Go to Step 2.
	The /etc/passwd file but not NIS	Go to Step 3.
2	Add the UNIX name of each CIFS user to the NIS password map. You are done.
3	Add an entry in the /etc/passwd file for the UNIX name of each user. Because Data ONTAP does not support a command for creating a password entry, use a UNIX host that supports the `passwd` command to create the /etc/passwd file on the host. Then copy the file from the host to the storage system.