[linux-cifs-client] Re: No legacy mount possible at all ANYMORE? - the kernel option CONFIG_CIFS_WEAK_PW_HASH

[simo]

On Sat, 2008-03-15 at 05:33 +0100, Guenter Kukkukk wrote:
> if (smbfs_has_been_removed && kernel_has_been_build_without_CONFIG_CIFS_WEAK_PW_HASH) {
>      printf ("Sorry, 2008 - you cannot mount ANY legacy server anymore!\n");
> }
> 
>  - the kernel module smbfs.ko will be removed very soon.
>  - also the (original!!!) samba userland helpers smbmount,
>    smbmnt and smbumount
> 
> The daily answer "just mount cifs" is _critical_ regarding
> legacy servers like win9x/me, os/2, dos, ...
> 
> WHY:
> ====
> Even if cifs vfs would support all features of smbfs -
> which is NOT the case - there's is a REAL problem NOW:
> 
>    if the todays or future kernels are _not_ build with
>    CONFIG_CIFS_WEAK_PW_HASH, then _all_ legacy support
>    just has _gone_ !
> 
> Any _new_ legacy additions to cifs vfs would be worthless,
> cause the _mount_ would not succeed at all.
> 
> TODAY:
> ======
> I feel a bit "flooded" by distro users, where smbfs has
> already been removed and cifs vfs has not been build for legacy
> usuage! Oh well ...
>  
> The new debian/ubuntu re-written "faking" smbmount and smbumount
> do not help at all - to me, that's "silly nonsense" - sorry!
> 
> WHAT CAN BE DONE?:
>  - leaving smbfs (and related stuff) in place
>  - inform all distro maintainers about this
>  - drop legacy mount support completely (!?)
>  - build 2 versions of cifs vfs
>    - one without CONFIG_CIFS_WEAK_PW_HASH
>    - one with CONFIG_CIFS_WEAK_PW_HASH
>    will lead to troubles with the distro maintainers
>  - the legacy customer has to build his own kernel


It seem to me, that the best way is to not make it a compile time
option, but a runtime option that you can change for example by writing
to /proc, more or less as we do for other similar options.

Then a user can instruct his OS to always enable/disable the weak method
depending on the policy they want to use.

Simo.

-- 
Simo Sorce
Samba Team GPL Compliance Officer <simo at samba.org>
Senior Software Engineer at Red Hat Inc. <ssorce at redhat.com>