SMB / CIFS

FileCatalyst provides an EFS driver to connect to Server Message Block (SMB) shares, sometimes referred to as Common Internet File System (CIFS) shares. Typically on Windows or Linux, a SMB / CIFS share would need to be mounted and authenticated in order for FileCatalyst to access it. In the case of Windows when running FileCatalyst as a service, accessing SMB shares requires the service account to have permissions to access any shares you wish to assign to user accounts. This EFS driver provides a convenient way to access one or more different shares, and removes the hassle of dealing with permissions on the service account. On Linux or Mac, it removes the need to mount the share before assigning it as a home directory for a user account.

Version Support

The following table shows which versions of FileCatalyst officially support the SMB / CIFS EFS driver. Note that FileCatalyst introduced support for EFS in v3.5 (for Amazon S3). Subsequent FileCatalyst versions have added support for other drivers. Newer drivers are designed to be backwards compatible in principle, but are not tested or officially supported in earlier product versions unless specified in the table below.

Version Compatible Supported
3.5 Yes No
3.6 Yes No
3.7+ Yes Yes

Prerequisites

  • For best performance, run your FileCatalyst server on the same network as your SMF / CIFS share.

Getting Started

  1. Install FileCatalyst Server 3.7 or higher.

  2. On first run, install the provided license key from your sales rep.

  3. On File Systems tab, click "New."

  4. Select "SMF / CIFS" from the Type drop-down menu.

  5. Enter your Username, Password, and host/ip of the share.

  6. Click the Test button to ensure that the credentials are entered correctly.

  7. Click the Save button.

  8. Make sure File System appears in the list.

  9. Create a new user or Edit an existing user. Under the Home Directory section (located on Account Information panel for New user, or Account Settings when editing an existing user) the File System type drop down should have an option "SMF / CIFS". Select it and click Browse.

  10. Select a home directory like you normally would. Note that the top level directories are the shares. User accounts will only have READ access at the top level, and will have access to all shares if this is set as the home directory.

You have now successfully setup the FileCatalyst Server to connect to your SMF / CIFS share.

URL Composition

When manually defining an SMF / CIFS EFS URL (i.e. not using the Browse button, or when no static File System has previously been defined) as part of a User home directory or Virtual File/Folder path, the following URL composition should be followed.

Scheme:smb

Default Endpoint: blank

Full Syntax: smb://<username>:<password>@<host or IP>/<share>/<path>

Limitations

  • SMB / CIFS driver supports up to SMB v2 protocol - Speeds may not be comparable to natively mapped or mounted SMB/CIFS shares that use SMB v2 or higher.

  • Also see Common EFS Limitations.

Notes

The following is a list of notes that should be considered when using this file system.

  1. The FileCatalyst SMB / CIFS EFS implementation is based on JCIFS.

  2. LINK feature will not work if user is on the root path - FileCatalyst LINK requires the ability to create a directory FC_OUTBOX to store files uploaded to the server. If the user home directory is stored in the root path of the SMB / CIFS account (as opposed to inside a defined share), the server will not be able to create the required folder to temporarily hold files. It is recommended that the user home directory be defined inside an existing share.