Dell Unity: CIFS NAS import from VNX2 to Unity cannot start initial copy
Summary: A CIFS NAS import from VNX2 to Unity cannot start initial copy.
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Symptoms
The Start CIFS import session job failed at the task Start initial copy for import session, with error:
The CIFS import session is in Start Failed status, with Health detail:
Failed: The system encountered an unexpected error. Try again and if that attempt fails then search for the error code on the support website or product forums, or contact your service provider, if available. (Error Code:0x6000003)
The CIFS import session is in Start Failed status, with Health detail:
The import session failed to provision the target resource. It may have failed during one of these steps: 'Validate before starting import', 'Create target NAS server', 'Create target file system(s)','Dump source file system quota(s)' or 'Add source export entries'. Check job and task status to get error details. After the error is fixed, resume the import session. If the error persists, cancel the import session.
Cause
On VNX2, a file system was mounted with a path like /fs1 and later unmounted. However, the mountpoint is not deleted, which leaves an obsolete mountpoint path /fs1. This file system is mounted again with a path like /FS1, with only upper case difference. Since VNX2 is a UNIX-like system, which is case sensitive, you can see two mountpoint paths. One is the obsolete path /fs1, the other is the active path /FS1.
The CIFS import session uses SMB protocol to connect to VNX2, and it starts the data copy by accessing mountpoint from C$. Because SMB protocol is case insensitive, it cannot see two names with only case difference, so VNX2 renames the second mountpoint path /FS1 to something like /FS~1. CIFS import then uses the mountpoint path to access the share, however, there’s no share for path /FS~1. So it cannot create the SMB connection
Resolution
1. On VNX2, delete the obsolete mountpoint /fs1.
Example: server_mountpoint test_vdm -delete /fs1
2. On VNX2, umount the file system.
Example: server_umount test_vdm -p fs1
3. On VNX2, delete the mountpoint for the file system.
Example: server_mountpoint test_vdm -delete /FS1
4. On VNX2, re-mount the file system.
Example: server_mount test_vdm fs1 /FS1
5. On Unity, resume the CIFS import session from Unisphere or uemcli.
Example: server_mountpoint test_vdm -delete /fs1
2. On VNX2, umount the file system.
Example: server_umount test_vdm -p fs1
3. On VNX2, delete the mountpoint for the file system.
Example: server_mountpoint test_vdm -delete /FS1
4. On VNX2, re-mount the file system.
Example: server_mount test_vdm fs1 /FS1
5. On Unity, resume the CIFS import session from Unisphere or uemcli.
Affected Products
Dell EMC Unity, Dell EMC Unity 500, Dell EMC Unity 500FArticle Properties
Article Number: 000188489
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 16 Oct 2025
Version: 5
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