Data Domain: Configuring a CIFS Share

A CIFS share is an existing folder on the Data Domain system that can be made available to other devices in the network if granted access. The share can be any folder under the /backup or /ddvar directories. Also, it does not have to be given the exact name of the folder, although it is recommended to avoid confusion. See the steps below on creating a CIFS share.

1. Prepare the Data Domain system.

Connect with an admin user to the Data Domain system using the Command line Interface(CLI) 180649.

Verify that CIFS is enabled 181518.

Verify that the file system is enabled 181308 (required for mapping a drive to the data volume, ie., \backup)

Determine the hostname of the Data Domain system.181553 At the Data Domain system prompt type:

# hostname

If you are sharing a folder under the \backup directory, make sure that the folder exists before attempting to use it as a share. Otherwise when trying to create the share you get the below error: 

path does not exist.

To add a folder under the /backup directory you must access the device using cifs 180423, browse to the /backup directory and right click to create a new folder.

2. Create a share.

On the Data Domain system prompt type:

# cifs share create <share-name> path <file-path>{max-connections <max-connections> |clients <clients> | browsing {enabled | disabled} |writeable {enabled | disabled} | users <users> | comment <comment>}

Example:

# cifs share create backup path /backup

3. Grant the client access to the share.

On the Data Domain system prompt the following modifying options are available:

# cifs share modify <share> {max-connections <max connections> | clients <clients> | browsing {enabled | disabled} | writeable {enabled | disabled} | users <users> | comment <comment>}

Use the "clients <clients>" option to add clients. The client list is a comma-separated list of clients that are allowed to access the share. Other than the comma delimiter, there should not be any white space (blank, tab) characters. The list must be enclosed in double quotes.

Some valid client lists are:

"host1,host2"
"host1,10.24.160.116"

Some invalid client lists are:

"host1  "
"host1 ,host2"
"host1, 10.24.160.116"
"host1 10.24.160.116"

Example:

# cifs share modify backup clients
"srvr24.yourdomain.com,srvr24,10.24.160.116"

To delete a client, you can use the cifs share modify command and change the client list as you prefer. Whenever you are editing the client list you have to type the entire list out when using the modify command. If you intend to add a client it must be listed in your command among the rest of the clients. If you only type a single client when modifying the share, it overwrites the client list with only one entry.

NOTE: When using the users option, do not use the asterisk (*) as the Data Domain system will not interpret this symbol as a wildcard but attempt to look for a user with the name of *.

4. Other useful options

To make the share visible run the command:

# cifs share <share> browsing enabled

Example:

# cifs share backup browsing enabled

To allow the share to be writable run the command:  (This option is only applicable for very old DD OS versions.  Modern DD OS versions do not support this option.  Use access control on the file/directory to control write access)

# cifs share <share> writeable enabled

Example:

# cifs share backup writeable enabled

5. Connect to the CIFS share

On the Windows system, click the start button and choose Run and then type the hostname and directory of the CIFS share as follows:

\\<DDhost.DDdomain.com>\<sharename>

6. Troubleshoot access to the CIFS share

Make sure that the folder being shared exists on the DDR

# cifs share show

You should see the following warning if the file does not exist or was misspelled on creation:

WARNING: The share path does not exist!

Confirm the share is enabled.

# cifs share show

--------------- share backup ---------------

enabled: yes

path: /backup

Confirm that all client information is on the access list and spelled correctly. 181315

Verify that network connectivity is working properly 180564.

7. For more details and troubleshooting issues regarding adding Users and Groups to a CIFS share, check the following KB.