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Q231964: NFS Server and File Permissions

Article: Q231964
Product(s): Microsoft Windows NT
Version(s): winnt:4.0 SP3,4.0 SP4
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): 
Last Modified: 06-AUG-2002

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 4.0 SP3, 4.0 SP4, used with:
   - Microsoft Windows NT Services for UNIX Add-On Pack 
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SUMMARY
=======

This article describes how to set up file permissions on your Windows NT network
file system (NFS) exports to work with UNIX NFS workstations.

MORE INFORMATION
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You do not need to perform these steps when using only anonymous authentication,
although the results can give you some insight into how NTFS file permissions
are reflected onto UNIX workstations.

NOTE: The following instructions assume that the Windows NT Server-based NFS
computer is configured to use default values for advanced options and security
permissions.

On the Microsoft Windows NT Server-based NFS computer:

1. Always set the NTFS permissions on your export (and all folders and files
  underneath the export) to Full Control for Everyone, the Administrators
  group, and the Administrator user.

2. If your export folder is empty, create a dummy file called dummyfile in your
  NFS export folder.

3. If you are not using a network information service (NIS) server, copy the
  Etc/Passwd and Etc/Group files from the appropriate UNIX computer to the
  Winnt\System32\drivers\etc folder.

  NOTE: Leave the password fields blank. It is recommended that UIDs and GIDs be
  unique as a whole, as well as user names and groups as a whole. For example,
  do not use 1001 for a user and a group, and do not have a wheel user in
  addition to a wheel group.

4. Map each user and each group to a unique Windows NT user and group. You can
  do this using Server for NFS User Manager.

5. Map the UNIX root user to the Windows NT Administrator user and the group
  root or wheel to the Windows NT Administrators group.

On the UNIX NFS client:

1. Log on as root (only root can mount an NFS export). Mount the export on your
  UNIX workstation by typing

  mount <ntserver>:/<F/export/home/user> /<mnt>

where <ntserver> is the host name of the Windows NT Server-based computer,
<F/export/home/user> is the path to the export, and <mnt> is a
locally available mount point.

2. Check the permissions by typing:

  ls -l

  Output similar to the following example is displayed:

  -rwxrwxrwx 1 root root dummyfile

3. Assign the appropriate owners to the files and folders by typing:

  /usr/ucb/chown -R user.group /mnt

NOTE: In some UNIX operating systems, the chown command does not take a group
parameter. In these situations, you need to type "chgrp -R group /mnt" (without
the quotation marks) in addition to this command.

4. Assign appropriate permissions to the files and folders by typing:

  chmod -R g-w,o-wx /mnt

5. Verify the new permissions by typing:

  ls -l

Output similar to the following example is displayed:

  -rwxr-xr-- 1 user group dummyfile

If you are unable to change the permissions on a file or if you receive "access
denied" error messages, use the following steps:

1. On the Windows NT Server-based NFS computer, assign Full Control to the
  export for Everyone, the Administrators group, and the Administrator user.

2. On the UNIX NFS client, copy the file to a different name (you must do this
  as a user, not as root). Delete the original file in Windows NT and rename
  the file to its original name.

Some Windows NT users and groups cannot be mapped to equivalent UNIX users or
groups. They may be displayed as nobody4 or nogroup. Special groups that exhibit
this behavior include:

- Everyone

- Network

- Interactive

- System

- Authenticated users

Additional query words:

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Keywords          :  
Technology        : kbWinNTsearch kbWinNTSsearch
Version           : winnt:4.0 SP3,4.0 SP4
Issue type        : kbinfo

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