OS X Lion: Guidelines for connecting to a DFS namespace via SMB

Summary

Ensure that the following guidelines are followed when connecting to a DFS namespace via SMB in OS X Lion.

Products Affected

Lion Server, OS X Lion

  • DFS referrals can use a mix of Netbios or DNS namespaces. For example, when a user connects to smb://root.dfs.namespace/some/share, it could be referring to smb://filer/share. In order to resolve the DFS referral correctly, verify the WINS server is set up correctly in Networking preferences, in System Preferences; or verify that the DNS Suffix is correct.  If OS X Lion does not resolve the DFS referral via WINS, the connection will fall back to appending the DNS search path.
  • If Kerberos authentication is not used when connecting, it may be necessary to append the Netbios domain name when connecting via DFS.  For example, in the authentication window for the username field type "DOMAIN\USERNAME". The following example provides a way to connect when accessing a DFS namespace using an URL:
    smb://DOMAIN;USERNAME@root.dfs.namespace/DfsRoot/DfsLink
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