Manage SMB using the GUI

This page provides procedures for setting up an SMB cluster over WEKA filesystems and managing the cluster itself, using the GUI.

Using the GUI, you can:

(not applicable for legacy SMB)

Configure the SMB cluster

An SMB cluster comprises at least three WEKA servers running the SMB-W stack.

Before you begin

Verify that the dedicated filesystem for persistent protocol configurations is created. If not, create it. For details, see

Procedure

From the menu, select Manage > Protocols.
From the Protocols pane, select SMB.
On the Configuration tab, select Configure.

4. In the SMB Cluster Configuration dialog, set the following properties:

Name: A name for the SMB cluster. This will be the name of the Active Directory computer object and the hostname part of the FQDN.
Domain: The Active Directory domain to join the SMB cluster.
Domain NetBIOS Name: (Optional) The domain NetBIOS name.
Encryption: Select the in-transit encryption mode to use in the SMB cluster:
- enabled: Enables encryption negotiation but doesn't turn it on automatically for supported sessions and sharing connections.
- desired: Enables encryption negotiation and turns on data encryption for supported sessions and sharing connections.
- required: Enforces data encryption on sessions and sharing connections. Clients that do not support encryption will be denied access to the server.
Servers: List 3-8 WEKA system servers to participate in the SMB cluster based on the server IDs in WEKA.
IPs: (Optional) List of virtual IPs (comma-separated) used as floating IPs for the SMB cluster to provide HA to clients. These IPs must be unique; do not assign these IPs to any host on the network. For an IP range, use the following format: a.b.c.x-y.
Config Filesystem: select the filesystem used for persisting cluster-wide protocol configurations.

Due to cloud provider network limitations, setting a list of SMB floating IPs in all cloud installations is impossible. In this case, the SMB service must be accessed using the cluster nodes' primary addresses.

Select Save.

Once the system completes configuration, the server statuses change from not ready (❌) to ready (✅).

Edit the SMB cluster

You can modify the encryption and IP settings according to your needs.

Procedure

In the SMB Cluster Configuration, select the pencil icon.

In the Edit SMB Configuration dialog, do the following:
- Encryption: Select one of the in-transit encryption enforcements: enabled, desired, or required.
- IPs: List of virtual IPs (comma-separated) used as floating IPs for the SMB cluster. (Floating IPs are not supported for cloud installations.)

3. Select Save.

Join the SMB cluster to Active Directory

To enable the SMB cluster to use Active Directory to resolve the access of users and user groups, join the SMB cluster to Active Directory (AD).

Before you begin

Ensure the AD Domain Controllers are reachable by all WEKA servers participating in the SMB cluster. This resolution enables the WEKA servers to join the AD domain.

Procedure

In the SMB Cluster Configuration, select Join.

In the Join to Active Directory dialog, set the following properties:
- Username and Password: A username and password of an account that has join privileges to the Active Directory domain. WEKA does not save these credentials; instead, a computer account is created for use by the SMB cluster.
- Server: (Optional) WEKA automatically identifies an AD Domain Controller server based on the domain name. You do not need to set the server name. In some cases, specify the AD server if required.
- Computers Org. Unit: The default AD organizational unit (OU) for the computer account is the Computers directory. You can define any OU in which to create the computer account that the joining account has permissions, such as SMB Servers or Corporate Computers.

Once the SMB cluster joins the Active Directory domain, the join status next to the domain changes to Joined.

To join an existing SMB cluster to a different Active Directory domain, select Leave. To confirm the action, enter the username and password to join the Active Directory domain.

Add servers to the SMB cluster

Adding servers to the SMB cluster can provide several benefits and address various requirements, such as scalability, load balancing, high availability, and improved fault tolerance.

You can add servers to an SMB cluster already joined to an Active Directory domain.

Procedure

On the Servers pane, select Add.
In the Add SMB Cluster Servers dialog, select one or more available servers (a maximum of eight servers) from the list.
Select Save.

Remove servers from the SMB cluster

If the SMB cluster has more servers than you need, you can remove the server.

The minimum required number of servers in an SMB cluster is three.

Procedure

On the Servers pane, select Remove.
To remove one server, select the three dots next to the server to remove and select Remove.

To remove more than one server, from the Remove SMB Cluster Servers dialog, select the servers to remove (click the X), and select Save.

Delete the SMB cluster

Deleting the SMB cluster resets its configuration data. Deleting an SMB cluster only applies to SMB-W.

Procedure

In the SMB Cluster Configuration, select the trash icon.

In the SMB Configuration Reset message, select Reset.

Display the SMB shares list

The Shares tab displays the SMB shares created in the system. You can also customize the table columns of the SMB shares.

Procedure

From the menu, select Manage > Protocols.
From the Protocols pane, select SMB.
Select the Shares tab. You can filter the list using any column in the table.

Once the SMB cluster is created, you can create SMB shares (maximum 1024). Each share must have a name and a shared path to the filesystem. It can be the root of the filesystem or a sub-directory.

Procedure

In the Shares tab, select +Create.
In the Add SMB Share dialog, set the following properties:
- Name: A meaningful and valid name for the SMB share.
  The name must meet the following requirements:
  - The share name must be no more than 80 characters in length.
  - The share name must not include the following characters: backslash (\), slash (/), colon (:), and semicolon (;).
  - Control characters in the range 0x00 through 0x1F (inclusive) are prohibited.
- Filesystem: The filesystem name that includes the directory to share. Select one from the list. A filesystem with Required Authentication set to ON cannot be used for SMB share.
- Description: A description or purpose of the SMB share.
- Path: A valid internal path, relative to the root, within the filesystem to expose the SMB share.
- Encryption: Select in-transit encryption enforcement of the share. The global cluster encryption settings can affect the actual encryption.
- Read Only: Select to set the share as read-only.
- Hidden: Select if you want to hide the share so it is not visible when viewing the list of system shares.
- Allow Guest Access: Select if you want guests to access without authentication.
- Access Permissions: Define the share access permissions. If you select ON, select the access type and the users or groups allowed to access the share (comma-separated users and groups list, add '@' as a group prefix).
- Files/Directories POSIX Mode Mask: Set the new default file and directory permissions in a numeric (octal) format created through the share.
- ACLs Enabled: Determines whether to enable the Windows Access-Control Lists (ACLs) on the share. Weka translates the ACLs to POSIX.
Select Save.

You can update some of the SMB share settings. These include encryption, hiding the share, allowing guest access, and setting the share as read-only or not.

SMB-W does not yet support share updates.

Procedure