Dell Unity: Some svc_cifssupport commands fail when the domain account password contains special characters

Summary: Some svc_cifssupport commands require the password of the domain admin user to be specified and fail when the domain account password contains special characters. This article describes how to specify a password when special characters are included. ...

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Symptoms

The following is an example of an error with the setspn option: 
svc_cifssupport <NAS_server_name> -sets -add <SPN> -compname <comp_name> -domain <full_domain_name> -admin <admin_name> 
<NAS_server_name> : Enter Password for <admin_name>: Pa!!sword$

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SetSpn::getAdminCreds: gss_acquire_cred_ext failed: Miscellaneous failure. Preauthentication failed.
SetSpn::ModifySpn(add): Failed to get Admin creds for user <admin_name>

Error 4020: <NAS_server_name> : failed to complete command
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Cause

Some special characters are not accepted by Unity CLI directly.

Some svc_cifssupport commands require the password of the domain admin user to be specified. These commands fail when the domain account password contains special characters unless additional steps are performed to account for the special characters.

Options that may cause a failure include the following:

-nltest option (Check network logon on an SMB server)
-setspn option (Manage Windows security principal for a given system name)

Resolution

With the -nltest option, the command succeeds if the password is enclosed in single quotes (') and special characters such as $ are escaped with a backslash (\). 
svc_cifssupport <NAS_server_name> -nltest -nb  <comp_name> -user <user_name> -dom <domain> -usrpwd 'Pa!!sword\$'

With the -setspn option, escaping special characters with a backslash (\) is sufficient. There is no need to enclose the password in single quotes ('). 
svc_cifssupport <NAS_server_name> -sets -add <SPN> -compname <comp_name> -domain <full_domain_name> -admin <admin_name> 
<NAS_server_name> : Enter Password for <admin_name>: Pa!!sword\$

Additional Information

The following articles were also used as references when dealing with this situation:

- Dell EMC Unity, VNXe: Issues with special characters in admin password when using UEMCLI (User Correctable)
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000062950/dell-emc-unity-vnxe-issues-with-special-characters-in-admin-password-when-using-uemcli-user-correctable

- Dell EMC Unity: Adding SPN fails with error Execution failed: valid_passwd: Precondition violated. (User Correctable)
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-in/000052740/dell-emc-unity-adding-spn-fails-with-error-execution-failed-valid-passwd-precondition-violated-user-correctable

Affected Products

Dell EMC Unity, Dell Unity 300, Dell EMC Unity 300F, Dell EMC Unity 350F, Dell EMC Unity 400, Dell EMC Unity 400F, Dell EMC Unity 450F, Dell EMC Unity 500, Dell EMC Unity 500F, Dell EMC Unity 550F

Products

Dell EMC Unity XT 380, Dell EMC Unity XT 380F, Dell EMC Unity XT 480, Dell EMC Unity XT 480F, Dell EMC Unity 600, Dell EMC Unity 600F, Dell EMC Unity 650F, Dell EMC Unity XT 680, Dell EMC Unity XT 680F, Dell EMC Unity XT 880, Dell EMC Unity XT 880F , Dell EMC Unity Family |Dell EMC Unity All Flash, Dell EMC Unity Family, Dell EMC Unity Hybrid, Dell EMC UnityVSA Professional Edition/Unity Cloud Edition ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000193087
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 10 Sept 2025
Version:  3
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