6.6 DFS Junction Support in CIFS Linux

CIFS must be configured to support DFS Junctions. By default, DFS junction support is disabled. You must enable it on both source (the server that hosts the junction) and target (the server that is pointed to by the junction) servers in order for the junctions to work. The junctions that point to subdirectories are also supported with CIFS Linux. For more information, see Managing DFS Junctions in the OES 11 SP3: Novell Distributed File Services Administration Guide for Linux.

6.6.1 Prerequisites

Unicode must be enabled.
DFS must be enabled for CIFS on all host and target servers.
Both host and target CIFS servers must be running.
The VLDB server must be running.
CIFS clients should be able to resolve NetBIOS name of CIFS server on the target server. Without this, the clients will not be able to connect to the DFS Target.
CIFS users should have required rights on both DFS source and target volumes. Without this, the clients will not be able to perform required operations.

IMPORTANT:The CIFS clients accessing DFS junctions must be DFS aware. From Linux SMB clients, junctions on OES cannot be traversed through Novell CIFS.

6.6.2 Enabling DFS Support

To enable DFS junction support in CIFS Linux:

In iManager, click File Protocols > CIFS.
Browse to locate and select the server you want to manage.

Figure 6-6 Enabling DFS Support
Select the check box for Distributed File Services (DFS) Support to enable the DFS support in CIFS Linux.
Click OK.

NOTE:You can also enable DFS support for the CIFS server with the novcifs command line utility --dfs-support=yes|no.

6.6.3 Limitations

Junctions from Linux to a NetWare system work only when the junction target is the root of the volume. However if both the source and target is on a Linux system, then junctions to subdirectories also work.

Junctions in NetWare cannot point to volumes in Linux.
DFS is available only if Unicode (UTF8 format) is enabled.
Only CIFS shares are enabled with DFS support.