DiskShare Quick Start Guide

This document is used as a step-by-step configuration guide that will allow you to quickly make Windows directories and files available to a network of NFS clients. It is written from a support analyst’s point of view and deals primarily with the necessary steps to get DiskShare functioning in a typical and common workflow. Note, Windows is referred to throughout this document; however, it is a generic term for the DiskShare supported operating systems mentioned in this document.

Additional Support Documents are located in the DiskShare\Support subdirectory. For detailed information regarding DiskShare configuration and user mapping see the DiskShare HELP, the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, and the DS_Mapping.doc support document.

DiskShare is a Windows-based NFS Server that allows you to share Windows directories to UNIX or Linux clients. DiskShare supports Windows NT, 2000, and Windows XP. Note, before installing DiskShare, you must confirm that no other NFS server applications reside on the system.

Windows directories are shared (or exported) to NFS Clients thru the use of Windows Explorer, the DiskShare Configuration dialog, or the DiskShare Command-Line utility.
In a typical DiskShare workflow, you must specify two access levels. One access level controls user and group privileges for files and directories. The other controls machine level access or NFS client access to the Windows resource.

The steps below highlight a typical DiskShare workflow to demonstrate the ease of DiskShare’s ability to share Windows directories to UNIX or Linux clients.

Create an NFS share (or NFS export).
Define machine level access.
Define user level access.
Mount the Windows directory from the Unix or Linux NFS client system.

These steps are provided in detail in the following section. It is suggested that they be followed to get a better understanding of a typical DiskShare workflow. Note, DiskShare must be installed and the system rebooted in order to proceed.

1. Create an NFS SHARE

Select Windows Explorer and create a new folder named atest. Right-click on the new directory and click Properties. Now select the NFS Sharing tab, such that, it will be shared to UNIX and/or Linux client systems.

Select Shared As to make this directory an NFS share as shown in Figure 1, the NFS Share Access Configuration dialog displays. Do not close this dialog continue to Step 2.

Sharing a Windows Directory using DiskShare and NFS

Figure 1. Sharing a Windows Directory using DiskShare and NFS

Define machine level access.

Click the Access Configuration button if the NFS Share Access Configuration dialog is not displayed. This dialog indicates that all machines have READ-WRITE access (or Global Permission) to mount the current Windows directory, see Figure 2.

Figure 2. Defining Machine Level Access for the NFS Share

Steps b) and c) below demonstrate the use of DiskShare Client Groups. A Client Group is a listing or group of NFS client systems. The use of Client Groups can speed up the DiskShare configuration.

If you wish to bypass the steps to add NFS client systems and Client Groups and if your intention is to grant access for all NFS Client machines, you can skip to Step d).

Click the ADD button to add specific NFS client systems or Client Groups. The Add Clients and Client Groups dialog displays allowing you to add all necessary systems that will be mounting the current Windows NFS share. This is demonstrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Specifying Machine Level Access for NFS Clients

Add or key in any and all NFS client hostnames or IP Addresses that need to mount this NFS Share as shown in Figure 4.

NOTE

By default a new Windows directory is usually owned by ‘Administrators’, and the group ‘Everyone’ will have read and write access. If you mounted this directory as an NFS share and did a directory listing from UNIX and/or Linux, as shown below,

ls –ld /mnt , you would see something similar to,

d------rwx /mnt

In this case, regular users would have read/write access. They could create and delete their own files and directories. However, the UNIX and/or Linux root user (or super user) would come over as ‘other’, that is, unless additional DiskShare user mapping configuration is done.

It is sometimes necessary to specify ‘Root Access’ for NFS client systems. This is true when, Windows directories are owned by ‘Administrators’ and when there is a need to have root (or super user) access from an NFS client system.

In the case where ‘Administrators’ owns a Windows directory, DiskShare will hard-code and define ‘root’ as the owner of the NFS share.

In this special case and in order to obtain super user privileges from an NFS client system, ‘root access’ for the NFS client system must be specified. This is demonstrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Specifying ‘Root Access’ for NFS Client Systems

Click OK to close all dialogs and to create the current NFS share.

Verify that DiskShare has exported the Windows directory. Select Start – Programs – DiskShare – Showmounts. Accept all defaults and click Apply.

Another dialog displays indicating the exported file systems on the Windows machine. Record the exported file system exactly as it is given in the dialog. You must use the exact syntax when you mount the NFS share from the NFS client system.

NOTES

In Step 2, DiskShare defined machine level access only. User (and Group) privileges are defined by using the DiskShare User Manager utility.
You must use the exact syntax as given in the Showmounts results when mounting the NFS share from an NFS client system.

Define User Level Access.

Security systems between Windows and UNIX and/or Linux are very different. For instance: A ‘user’ owns files on UNIX and Linux systems, while ‘groups’ typically own Windows desktop files.

DiskShare must be configured properly to maintain security for file sharing between Windows and UNIX and/or Linux. The DiskShare User Manager utility allows you to map Windows user accounts to UNIX and/or Linux user accounts. DiskShare account mapping is necessary to maintain and control read and write access from UNIX and/or Linux users.

To properly configure DiskShare in order to maintain security between Windows and UNIX and/or Linux, it is suggested that you review the following support documents, located in the Support subdirectory of the DiskShare product directory.

DS_Mappping.doc – Explanation and Examples of User and Group Mappings.
DS_Authentication.doc - Explanation of DiskShare Authentication and its relationship to Windows NT's LSA Service.

You may or may not encounter security or permission issues; however, it is suggested that you continue to Step 4 to fully understand the typical DiskShare workflow and concept.

Mount the Windows Directory from the UnIX machine.

While UNIX and Linux systems vary from operating system to operating system, the information below will show how to mount a Windows directory from a UNIX system running the Solaris operating system.

Note most UNIX and/or Linux machines require root or super user or an equivalent account to make an NFS mount. Use the following syntax as a guide to mount NFS shares from a UNIX and/or Linux machine:

mount <pc_hostname>:/<NFS_share_name> /<UNIX_mount_point_name>

This example demonstrates how to mount a Windows NFS share from a Solaris machine, whereas,

The PC hostname is ‘bbtpc’.
The Windows NFS exported directory is d:\atest.
The UNIX mount point is /mnt.

Here is the syntax to mount the NFS share noted above to a Solaris machine,

mount bbtpc:/d/atest /mnt

To confirm that the Windows directory has been mounted to the Solaris machine, view the results of the UNIX and/or Linux ‘df’ command, as shown below.

/mnt (bbtpc:/D/atest)

Once a Windows NFS share has been mounted by an NFS client system, UNIX and/or Linux users can access Windows files and directories. New files can be created or existing files can be copied to the NFS share provided that a) permissions on the share be set to full control for ‘Everyone’ or b) account mapping has been properly configured for the specific UNIX and/or Linux user attempting to write to the NFS resource.

NOTE

With Windows 2000 and later, the Local Security Policy – “Let Everyone Permissions apply to Anonymous Users” affects the access granted to NFS users who are ‘anonymous’.

The setting for this policy was enabled in Windows 2000, but is disabled in Windows XP. For more details regarding this Local Security Policy and its affect on ‘anonymous’, see the worldpermissionandsecuritypolicy.doc.

If after you have mounted your NFS share and if you encounter permission-related issues, it is suggested that you review the support documents mentioned in this document OR contact SSC Support for technical assistance.