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2.5.2.1 Create DFS Standalone Namespace

  • Article

Goal

To create a standalone DFS namespace for access by using SMB access protocols with extensions, as described in the Distributed File System (DFS): Namespace Referral Protocol [MS-DFSC].

Context of Use

The administrator is setting up a file server or is adding a namespace to an existing file server.

Actors

  • Admin tool

    The admin tool is the primary actor that triggers this use case. The admin tool is a program that offers management functionality to the administrator through the admin client. Typical admin tools are command-line tools and graphical shells, management utilities, and graphical management programs. The purpose of the admin tool is to correctly interpret, execute, and display the results of the commands that are issued by the administrator.

  • DFS Service

    The DFS Service is a supporting actor that provides the technology that helps administrators group shared folders that are located on different servers and present them to users as a virtual tree of folders that is known as a namespace.

  • Admin client

    The admin client is a supporting actor that implements client-side protocol components and consumes the file server administration services that are offered by the file server. The admin client is internal to the File Services Management system.

  • Authentication Services

    The Authentication Services is the supporting actor that is used for authentication purposes.

Stakeholders

  • Administrator

    The administrator is the person who administers the file server. The administrator has administrative rights and uses the File Services Management system to provide SMB File Services.

Preconditions

The administrator has identified a Distributed File System (DFS) Service and an existing SMB file share on the File Service that is to be promoted to a DFS namespace. A DFS Service is present, as described in the Distributed File System (DFS): Namespace Management Protocol [MS-DFSNM].

Trigger: The admin tool receives a request from the administrator to create a standalone DFS namespace on an SMB File Service.

Main Success Scenario

  1. The admin tool establishes a communication channel to the DFS Service, as described in [MS-DFSNM] section 2.1.

  2. The DFS Service authenticates the administrator through the mechanisms as described in the Authentication Services Protocols Overview [MS-AUTHSOD].

  3. The admin tool contacts DFS Service by using the NetrDfsAddRootTarget method ([MS-DFSNM] section 3.1.4.1.9) or the NetrDfsAddStdRoot method ([MS-DFSNM] section 3.1.4.4.1) to promote the share to a namespace on the file server.

  4. The DFS Service authorizes the administrator through the mechanisms of the NetrDfsAddRootTarget method ([MS-DFSNM] section 3.1.4.1.9) or the NetrDfsAddStdRoot method ([MS-DFSNM] section 3.1.4.4.1), as appropriate to the call.

  5. The DFS Service performs the action.

Postcondition

The named share is promoted to a DFS namespace on the SMB File Service.

Extensions

if the communication channel for the Distributed File System (DFS): Namespace Management Protocol [MS-DFSNM], cannot be established, or it becomes disconnected:

  • The admin tool might attempt to establish connection multiple times; ultimately, the use case ends with failure. Depending on when the connection failed, the DFS standalone namespace might or might not have been created.

If user authorization or authentication fails:

  • The use case ends with failure.