This is the client VFS module for the SMB3 NAS protocol as well
- older dialects such as the Common Internet File System (CIFS)
+ as for older dialects such as the Common Internet File System (CIFS)
protocol which was the successor to the Server Message Block
(SMB) protocol, the native file sharing mechanism for most early
PC operating systems. New and improved versions of CIFS are now
- called SMB2 and SMB3. These dialects are also supported by the
- CIFS VFS module. CIFS is fully supported by network
- file servers such as Windows 2000, 2003, 2008, 2012 and 2016
- as well by Samba (which provides excellent CIFS
- server support for Linux and many other operating systems), Apple
- systems, as well as most Network Attached Storage vendors, so
- this network filesystem client can mount to a wide variety of
- servers.
+ called SMB2 and SMB3. Use of SMB3 (and later, including SMB3.1.1)
+ is strongly preferred over using older dialects like CIFS due to
+ security reaasons. All modern dialects, including the most recent,
+ SMB3.1.1 are supported by the CIFS VFS module. The SMB3 protocol
+ is implemented and supported by all major file servers
+ such as all modern versions of Windows (including Windows 2016
+ Server), as well as by Samba (which provides excellent
+ CIFS/SMB2/SMB3 server support and tools for Linux and many other
+ operating systems). Apple systems also support SMB3 well, as
+ do most Network Attached Storage vendors, so this network
+ filesystem client can mount to a wide variety of systems.
+ It also supports mounting to the cloud (for example
+ Microsoft Azure), including the necessary security features.
The intent of this module is to provide the most advanced network
file system function for SMB3 compliant servers, including advanced
cluster file systems for fileserving in some Linux to Linux environments,
not just in Linux to Windows (or Linux to Mac) environments.
- This filesystem has an mount utility (mount.cifs) that can be obtained from
+ This filesystem has a mount utility (mount.cifs) and various user space
+ tools (including smbinfo and setcifsacl) that can be obtained from
- https://ftp.samba.org/pub/linux-cifs/cifs-utils/
+ https://git.samba.org/?p=cifs-utils.git
+ or
+ git://git.samba.org/cifs-utils.git
- It must be installed in the directory with the other mount helpers.
+ mount.cifs should be installed in the directory with the other mount helpers.
For more information on the module see the project wiki page at
+ https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/LinuxCIFS
+ and
https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/LinuxCIFS_utils