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I have a CentOS 6 machine with a simple samba share that I am trying to setup as a DFS server, so it can point clients to folders on other servers. Following the samba documentation for setting this feature up, I have added the correct lines to smb.conf to make the share msDSF compatible, and restarted the smb service as well as all the Windows7 clients as the instructions also said was necessary.

Here is the catch: the DFS shares work on Mac clients and linux clients perfectly - that is to say the symlinked folders redirect the clients' traffic to the referenced server. Here are the working example symlinks I made in the DFS root share "test2" :

ln -s msdfs:192.168.255.2\\footage

and

ln -s msdfs:server2\\footage

This link redirects the traffic to the share "footage" on the server at ip 192.168.255.2. The symlink using the hostname (instead of the ip) of the destination server also works fine on Mac and Linux clients.

On Windows 7 clients, however, the link shows up as a shortcut folder icon, which is my first warning sign that something is odd, because I thought it should be a transparent redirection like it is on the Mac and Linux clients. I am guessing that when correctly set up, the Windows7 client should present it as a regular folder, not as a shortcut or junction or any other symlink. When I click on the folder shortcut icon, I get the classic "Location is not available" error, where it references the folder shortcut but not the link it is supposed to point to. Other folder-to-folder symlinks shared through the samba share on the server work correctly on the Windows7 clients.

One other piece of information that might be critical: the Linux server is not on the domain or the DNS, but the Windows7 clients are. This is because a different department manages those servers. Would that even matter? From what documentation I could find, it should ping the DFS server for the redirect once it realizes it is not a real folder, not needing the DNS or Domain to do any nameservice or authentication work.

Other notes: Server is CentOS 6.5, SMBv3. Windows7 clients have the interface connected to the subnet that these servers are on as the priority in their server order and binding, but there is no DNS on this subnet.

My servers run in a company with Mac and Windows7 clients, where I have them all connecting to one share for access to shared media. I need to use DFS because some clients can generate lots of traffic and disk i/o, causing other clients that require low latency to have issues. If I separate out the media that the low latency clients use from the media the high traffic clients use, everything will be perfect.

Here is my smb.conf:

[global]
workgroup=WORKGROUP
security=share
unix extensions = no
strict locking = no
NetBIOS name = myworkdfs
server string = myworkdfs
strict allocate = Yes
read raw = Yes
write raw = Yes
socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY
deadtime = 15
host msdfs = yes

[test2]
guest ok = yes
read only = no
path = /mnt/mydfsfolder
msdfs root = yes
wide links = yes
follow symlinks = yes

Thanks!

Kevvvin
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1 Answers1

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On Windows clients folder targets in a DFS share indeed have a folder shortcut icon if said folders have targets. So nothing odd.

As you didn't mention it may it be a permission problem?

If I understand your setup correctly your try to access \myworkdfs\test2\footage, right?

Is footage also shared via SMB/samba?

humble.adm1n
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  • OK good to know the icon is displaying correctly. I know it is not a permissions problem because I checked the server and also because it works fine on the mac. – Kevvvin Jul 06 '16 at 17:38
  • Do you use the same user on your Mac and Windows client? You say your windows client is on a domain whereas your Macs and Linux clients are not. – humble.adm1n Jul 06 '16 at 17:42
  • On the 3rd question) That is correct - i am trying to access \myworkdfs\test2\footage from a Windows7 client. "footage" is shared via samba and is accessable by that Windows7 client directly – Kevvvin Jul 06 '16 at 22:01
  • Re: humble.admin's question, yes we use the same user, and yes the mac is logging into the windows domain, however the linux client is not. – Kevvvin Jul 06 '16 at 22:07