[jcifs] Re: AIX DFS and jCIS 0.8

[Derrick Williams]

Michael B Allen <mba2000 <at> ioplex.com> writes:

> Hi Derrick,
> 
> JCIFS DFS support is very complete and so far I'm not aware of any
> problems with it. However, the dce_login part sounds like it might give
> you a problem. We do not support DCE at this time. I recommend simply
> trying a test program with that environment. If it doesn't work, please
> send me a packet capture[1] and I will confirm that it will not work or
> fix it so that it will.
> 
> Mike
> 
> [1] http://users.erols.com/mballen/jcifs/capture.html
> 
> 


Hi Mike-

Thank you very much for your support! I was able to get on to an AIX box today 
with a DCE/DFS setup. The problem right off the bat was that there is no 
listener on port 139 on the target machines. I am not sure if there is a 
different port number - reading through the documentation seems to imply that 
DCE/DFS on AIX runs through UDP rather than TCP/IP. In any way I am not sure 
how to change the port number to connect to on jCIS, or even which port number 
if I could.

The way I use DFS filesystems is to issue a 'dce_login cell.host.com/dwilliam' 
command. It registers me for about 12 hours or so to allow me to use the 
directory. I then can use a file directory that was previously forbidden for 
me to use. I can also use a 'dce_login dwilliam at cell.host.com' for the same 
effect, so I know there is some action behind the scenes. It is not like my 
usual experience with jCIS, just give a server name, account information, a 
share name, and it always works like magic!

The physical machine the directory is on is transparent to me, I know this for 
a fact since I tried to find a target for jCIS to connect to! I just tried all 
the machines on the network for port 139 without any luck.

Maybe the DFS implementation on AIX is too reliant on DCE calls? For jCIS to 
work it would have to communicate with the DCE setup?

Sorry about the basic questions. As you can tell I'm not very clear on how DFS 
works, and its relationship to SMB. Any pointers to resources to understand it 
better is greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for your help!

-Derrick