- The server address � either a DNS name (
server.xxyyy.company.com), an IP address, or (if you follow tip 8) a WINS name. - The share name � the name of the "share point" the the server is serving the files under.
- Your user ID � your corporate Windows login ID.
- Your Windows account domain � where your user ID "lives" in the Windows world.
- (For tip 8) The Windows resource domain for workstations in your region -- a grouping of Windows machine names. In small-scale environments, the Windows account domain and resource domain might be the same.
The nine tips:
Note: these tips are written assuming a corporate intranet environment, but they'll work anywhere.)
Get Panther (Mac OS X v10.3) � earlier versions of Mac OS X have SMB functions, but Panther does it much better.
When creating your Mac OS X account, set your "Short Name" to your corporate user ID in lower case. This can save you much typing later! (You can only set your short name when you create your Mac OS X account. If you already have something else, remember this tip for next time you set up a machine.)
Use Finder's "Connect to Server" function with a "smb:" URL, rather than trying to browse to the server via the Network folder. Browsing is unwieldy and very slow in a large-scale corporate environment.
When responding to the "SMB/CIFS Filesystem Authentication" box, CAREFULLY read all the values. They all look very similar and are easily mis-read. A very common stumbling point is the domain name � in some environments it defaults to something that's close, but not quite correct.
Here's how to convert UNC names to "smb:" URLs: Add "smb:" to the front and flip all backslashes to forward slashes. Example: SERVERSHARE\Folder1\Folder2\File.dat becomes smb://SERVER/SHARE/Folder1/Folder2/File.dat
Use the smb URL scheme knowledgeably.
- Basic format:
smb://server/share - List all shares on a server:
smb://server - Specify an Windows domain and user ID:
smb://domain;user@server/share
This last format is the best format to use to add a share to your favorites or make an alias.
Example:
smb://DOMAIN;userid@server.xxyyy.company.com/SHARE� connect to the share (DNS name for server)
Example:smb://DOMAIN;userid@server.xxyyy.company.com� list the shares
Example:smb://DOMAIN;userid@SERVER/SHARE� connect to the share (WINS name for server)- Basic format:
Use server favorites and aliases to save typing. (And use the
smb://domain;user@server/shareURL format for your favorites and aliases.)Set your Windows workgroup/resource domain and WINS server:
- Find out your Windows resource domain for workstations in your office and local WINS server address. (Ask your desktop computer support people.)
- Launch the "Directory Access" utility (in the /Applications/Utilities folder).
- Click the padlock icon in the lower left of the window and authenticate as an admin user.
- Select SMB, and press Configure.
- Set Workgroup to your Windows resource domain, and WINS server to your WINS server IP address, and press OK.
- Press Apply and wait for a few seconds.
- Restart your Mac.
Advanced trick � use a
~/.nsmbrcfile to get the Windows account domain to default correctly. Place a text file called.nsmbrcin your home folder with the following two lines. Change the "workgroup=" value to your Windows account domain.[default] workgroup=DOMAIN
[robg adds: We've run versions of some of the above before as standalone hints, but this one really pulls it all together in one spot quite nicely...]

