Microsoft Services for Network File System

Applies To: Windows Server 2003 R2

Microsoft Services for NFS is an update to the NFS components that were previously available in Windows® Services for UNIX 3.5. Microsoft Services for NFS includes the following new features:

• Active Directory Lookup. The Identity Management for UNIX Active Directory schema extension, available in Windows Server 2003 R2, includes UNIX user identifier (UID) and group identifier (GID) fields, which enables NFS clients to look up UNIX identity information directly from Active Directory.
  
   
• 64-bit support. Microsoft Services for NFS components can be installed on all editions of Windows Server 2003 R2, including 64-bit editions.
  
   
• Enhanced server performance.
  
   
• Support for UNIX special devices (mknod).
  
   

Microsoft Services for NFS enables you to support a mixed environment of Windows-based and UNIX-based operating systems. It also allows you to update your company's computers while supporting older technology during the transition phase. The following scenarios are examples of how enterprises can benefit from deploying Microsoft Services for NFS.

• Allow UNIX clients to access resources on computers running Windows Server 2003 R2. Your company may have UNIX clients accessing resources, such as files, on UNIX file servers. To take advantage of new Windows Server 2003 features, such as Shadow Copies for Shared Folders, you can move resources from your UNIX servers to computers running Windows Server 2003 R2 and then configure Microsoft Services for NFS to enable access by UNIX clients that are running NFS software. All of your UNIX clients will be able to access the resources using the NFS protocol with no changes required.
  
   
• Allow computers running Windows Server 2003 R2 to access resources on UNIX file servers. Your company may have a mixed Windows and UNIX environment with resources, such as files, stored on UNIX file servers. You can use Microsoft Services for NFS to enable computers running Windows Server 2003 R2 to access these resources when the file servers are running NFS software.
  
   
• Take advantage of new 64-bit hardware. You can run Microsoft Services for NFS components on 64-bit editions of Windows Server 2003 R2.

Microsoft Services for Network File System

NFS Authentication

User Name Mapping Service

What It Does

The User Name Mapping Service is the core authentication component of SFUv3. Whenever a UNIX user requests access to a Windows resource, or a Windows user requests access to a UNIX resource, User Name Mapping Service must map the UNIX user to the proper Windows user, or vice-versa.

While User Name Mapping Service is at the core of the authentication processes for SFUv3, it doesn't actually do the authentication. The authentication is performed by either the Windows Domain Controller if the access permissions requested are those of a Windows user, or the UNIX authentication mechanism if the access permissions are those of a UNIX user.

What Actually Happens?

When a UNIX user requests access to a file or folder (object) stored on a Windows NFS share, the first step is for the User Name Mapping Service to translate the UNIX user into the mapped Windows user. The request for access to the Windows object is then authenticated against a Windows Domain Controller using the SID of the mapped Windows user. If the mapped Windows user has the appropriate access permissions, the UNIX user who initiated the request is granted access to the object. Conversely, if the Windows user does not have sufficient permission to access the object, access is denied to the UNIX user. If the UNIX user doesn't have a mapped Windows account, or the User Name Mapping Server can’t be reached, the access is not mapped to a Windows user and thus the permissions of an anonymous user are used.

When a Windows user tries to access an object stored on a UNIX computer, the same process is used, in reverse, with one important difference – if User Name Mapping Server is using PCNFS as the authentication mechanism, the local passwd and group files on the User Name Mapping Server are used to obtain the encrypted password and UID/GID pair of the UNIX user.

One other important authentication occurs when a request comes to the User Name Mapping Service. The .maphosts file that resides in the Mapper subdirectory of the SFUv3 installation directory is checked to see if the computer requesting the user mapping is permitted to access the User Name Mapping Service. If it is not, the request for a user map is denied.

As you can see, there are several steps involved in any authentication. Any of the steps could cause an authentication failure; so its important to understand the process in order to effectively troubleshoot it.

Services for NFS Step-by-Step Guide for Windows Server 2008

Services for NFS command-line tools

Services for NFS provides the following Windows command-line administration tools. To run a tool, type its name at the command prompt. For information about the available parameters, at the command prompt, type toolname /?.

• mapadmin.  Administers User Name Mapping.
  
   
• mount.  Mounts NFS shared network resources.
  
   
• nfsadmin.  Manages Server for NFS and Client for NFS.
  
   
• nfsshare.  Controls NFS shared resources.
  
   
• nfsstat.  Displays or resets counts of calls made to Server for NFS.
  
   
• showmount. Displays mounted file systems exported by Server for NFS.
  
   
• umount.  Removes NFS-mounted drives.
  
   

Test scenario

This test scenario requires you to deploy Services for NFS in a lab environment to assess how this technology would function if deployed in your production environment. The instructions provided in this document will help you:

• Create an NFS shared resource on a computer running Windows Server 2008 and Server for NFS that can be mounted and used by a UNIX computer.
  
   
• Create an NFS shared resource on a UNIX file server that can be mounted and used by a computer running Windows Server 2008 and Client for NFS.
  
   

Prerequisites and assumptions

This guide assumes that you:

• Have basic familiarity with Windows and UNIX operating environments and file security.
  
   
• Know how to install and operate Windows Server 2008.
  
   
• Understand client-server interaction in a networked environment.
   

Etc

Society

Groupthink : Two Party System as Polyarchy : Corruption of Regulators : Bureaucracies : Understanding Micromanagers and Control Freaks : Toxic Managers :   Harvard Mafia : Diplomatic Communication : Surviving a Bad Performance Review : Insufficient Retirement Funds as Immanent Problem of Neoliberal Regime : PseudoScience : Who Rules America : Neoliberalism  : The Iron Law of Oligarchy : Libertarian Philosophy

Quotes

War and Peace : Skeptical Finance : John Kenneth Galbraith :Talleyrand : Oscar Wilde : Otto Von Bismarck : Keynes : George Carlin : Skeptics : Propaganda  : SE quotes : Language Design and Programming Quotes : Random IT-related quotes :  Somerset Maugham : Marcus Aurelius : Kurt Vonnegut : Eric Hoffer : Winston Churchill : Napoleon Bonaparte : Ambrose Bierce :  Bernard Shaw : Mark Twain Quotes

Bulletin:

Vol 25, No.12 (December, 2013) Rational Fools vs. Efficient Crooks The efficient markets hypothesis : Political Skeptic Bulletin, 2013 : Unemployment Bulletin, 2010 :  Vol 23, No.10 (October, 2011) An observation about corporate security departments : Slightly Skeptical Euromaydan Chronicles, June 2014 : Greenspan legacy bulletin, 2008 : Vol 25, No.10 (October, 2013) Cryptolocker Trojan (Win32/Crilock.A) : Vol 25, No.08 (August, 2013) Cloud providers as intelligence collection hubs : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2010 : Inequality Bulletin, 2009 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2008 : Copyleft Problems Bulletin, 2004 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2011 : Energy Bulletin, 2010 : Malware Protection Bulletin, 2010 : Vol 26, No.1 (January, 2013) Object-Oriented Cult : Political Skeptic Bulletin, 2011 : Vol 23, No.11 (November, 2011) Softpanorama classification of sysadmin horror stories : Vol 25, No.05 (May, 2013) Corporate bullshit as a communication method  : Vol 25, No.06 (June, 2013) A Note on the Relationship of Brooks Law and Conway Law

History:

Fifty glorious years (1950-2000): the triumph of the US computer engineering : Donald Knuth : TAoCP and its Influence of Computer Science : Richard Stallman : Linus Torvalds  : Larry Wall  : John K. Ousterhout : CTSS : Multix OS Unix History : Unix shell history : VI editor : History of pipes concept : Solaris : MS DOS :  Programming Languages History : PL/1 : Simula 67 : C : History of GCC development :  Scripting Languages : Perl history   : OS History : Mail : DNS : SSH : CPU Instruction Sets : SPARC systems 1987-2006 : Norton Commander : Norton Utilities : Norton Ghost : Frontpage history : Malware Defense History : GNU Screen : OSS early history

Classic books:

The Peter Principle : Parkinson Law : 1984 : The Mythical Man-Month :  How to Solve It by George Polya : The Art of Computer Programming : The Elements of Programming Style : The Unix Hater’s Handbook : The Jargon file : The True Believer : Programming Pearls : The Good Soldier Svejk : The Power Elite

Most popular humor pages:

Manifest of the Softpanorama IT Slacker Society : Ten Commandments of the IT Slackers Society : Computer Humor Collection : BSD Logo Story : The Cuckoo's Egg : IT Slang : C++ Humor : ARE YOU A BBS ADDICT? : The Perl Purity Test : Object oriented programmers of all nations : Financial Humor : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2008 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2010 : The Most Comprehensive Collection of Editor-related Humor : Programming Language Humor : Goldman Sachs related humor : Greenspan humor : C Humor : Scripting Humor : Real Programmers Humor : Web Humor : GPL-related Humor : OFM Humor : Politically Incorrect Humor : IDS Humor : "Linux Sucks" Humor : Russian Musical Humor : Best Russian Programmer Humor : Microsoft plans to buy Catholic Church : Richard Stallman Related Humor : Admin Humor : Perl-related Humor : Linus Torvalds Related humor : PseudoScience Related Humor : Networking Humor : Shell Humor : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2011 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2012 : Financial Humor Bulletin, 2013 : Java Humor : Software Engineering Humor : Sun Solaris Related Humor : Education Humor : IBM Humor : Assembler-related Humor : VIM Humor : Computer Viruses Humor : Bright tomorrow is rescheduled to a day after tomorrow : Classic Computer Humor

The Last but not Least Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand ~Archibald Putt. Ph.D

The statements, views and opinions presented on this web page are those of the author (or referenced source) and are not endorsed by, nor do they necessarily reflect, the opinions of the Softpanorama society. We do not warrant the correctness of the information provided or its fitness for any purpose. The site uses AdSense so you need to be aware of Google privacy policy. You you do not want to be tracked by Google please disable Javascript for this site. This site is perfectly usable without Javascript.

Last modified: March 12, 2019