Inconsistent back-end access to NAS devices after updating to Filr 3.4.2

  • 7023503
  • 07-Nov-2018
  • 14-Jan-2019

Environment

Filr 3.4.2 Net Folders

Situation

After the upgrade to Filr 3.4.2 access to Net Folders created for data stored on a NAS device is inconsistent.
Either the data is not displayed or an error "insufficient rights" is displayed when accessing the data.

In the famtd.log "Invalid Parameter" is logged for paths hosted on the NAS device.

Resolution

As several NAS devices have a proprietary SaMBa stack not supporting SMB3 or even SMB2 it could be that the Filr appliance has been reconfigured to use only NTLM communication with the Net Folder Servers.

When the NAS device supports it, you can opt to reconfigure Filr to limit the Samba signature to SMB2.
This is achieved by editing the /etc/opt/novell/filr/.smb/smb.conf and changing the value for the "client max protocol" to SMB2.

Customers using NAS devices that require NTLM (NT1) as Samba Signature and have their Net Folder Server smb.conf configured in this way can contact Micro Focus Customer Care and request a PTF refering to this TID.

Cause

The smb library that was shipped with Filr 3.4.2 added a trailing NULL (0) in the NT1 (Samba 1) level of it's CIFS Samba communication.
This caused the "invalid parameter" condition.

Status

Reported to Engineering

Additional Information

Although there are several ways to update the /etc/opt/novell/filr/.smb/smb.conf file, you can achieve this from the server prompt using vi.
  • Access the Filr appliance server prompt, either using the hypervisor tools or ssh
  • Execute, as superuser: vi /etc/opt/novell/filr/.smb/smb.conf
  • Use the "i" key to enable editing
  • Use the cursor keys to navigate to the client max protocol entry
  • Replace SMB3 by SMB2 (or NT1 if NTLM is required).
  • Disable editing the file by using the Esc key
  • Write the changes and save the file by typing :wq then hit the Enter key.

The default /etc/samba/smb.conf is used to control the way how the appliance maps the cifs drive used for /vashare (in case this is not a NFS but Samba share).
The /etc/opt/novell/filr/.smb/smb.conf is used to control how the Filr connects to the samba network shares used for the Filr Net Folder Servers.