Creating SMB shares with expansion variables in EMC Isilon OneFS

To make it easy for users in your organization to connect to a home directory through a Windows client, you can create an SMB share in EMC^® Isilon^® OneFS^®. The share specifies configurable permissions, performance, and security settings for each individual user. Managing SMB shares in OneFS 6.5 through 7.1 can be done manually for each user, or dynamically for a large number of users. To create an SMB share or home directory, you can take advantage of these approaches:

• Create unique SMB shares for user home directories
  • Dynamically create a unique share for each user home directory
  • Manually create a unique share for each user home directory
• Create a common SMB share for user home directories
  • Dynamically create user home directories in a common share
  • Manually create user home directories in a common share

Each one of these approaches is highlighted in the new white paper, “Managing SMB shares and user home directories in OneFS 6.5 and later.”

How to dynamically create an SMB share using expansion variables

One of the approaches, as described in “Managing SMB shares and user home directories in OneFS 6.5 and later,” is to dynamically create SMB shares and home directories for new users. Instead of creating per-user SMB shares, you can create a single share that includes expansion variables, such as %U for the user name. For example, when a new user logs in through Active Directory, OneFS automatically creates a unique SMB share and directory for that user.

To dynamically create unique SMB shares using name expansion variables, follow these steps:

In OneFS 7.0 and OneFS 7.1

To take full advantage of expansion variables in SMB shares, you should be running OneFS 7.0.2.9 and later, or OneFS 7.1.0.2 and later.

1. Log in to the OneFS web administration interface.
2. Click Protocols > Windows Sharing (SMB) > SMB Shares > Add a Share.
3. Type a share name (for example, Home) and optional description (for example, User Home Directories).
4. In the Directory to Be Shared box, type /ifs/home/%U. If you store home directories in another location, specify that location instead.
5. Click Apply Windows Default ACLs.
6. Select the Allow Variable Expansion check box.
7. Select the Auto-Create Directories check box.
8. Click Create.

In OneFS 6.5

1. Log in to the OneFS web administration interface.
2. Click File Sharing > SMB > Add Share.
3. Type a share name (for example, Home) and description (for example, User Home Directories).
4. In the Directory to share box, type /ifs/home/%U. If you store home directories in another location, specify that location instead.
5. Click Apply Windows default ACLs.
6. Select the Allow Username Expansion check box.
7. Selectthe Automatically Create User Directory check box.
8. Click Submit.

More information about SMB and home directories in OneFS

For more information about expansion variables, see the “Create an SMB share” and “Home directory creation in a mixed environment” sections in the OneFS web administration guides. The administration guide also provides configuration information for accessing home directories through FTP or SSH.

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