Folder Aggregation - include windows shares

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andrew.0101
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Folder Aggregation - include windows shares

Post by andrew.0101 »

Is it possible to include other windows shares in a portal folder?
(Operating a basic home network, no domain, active directory etc).

This would be incredibly useful, but all I get is an access denied error.
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dosborne
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Re: Folder Aggregation - include windows shares

Post by dosborne »

andrew.0101 wrote: Tue Nov 30, 2021 2:23 pm Is it possible to include other windows shares in a portal folder?
Not really sure what you are asking or trying to accomplish, but I have many folders that include mapped drives on other systems and / or symbolic links.
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andrew.0101
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Re: Folder Aggregation - include windows shares

Post by andrew.0101 »

I've added a Portal Folder where the host is the IP address of a Window 10 PC on my basic home network.
My Windows 10 PC has credentials stored to access this windows share, however when I click on the portal folder, there's a long delay then a "...is not accessible." error:

not-accessible.png

The manual https://docs.qnap.com/operating-system/ ... D026B.html has the following note:
  • Folder aggregation is supported in Samba networks only. QNAP recommends folder aggregation for a Windows Active Directory (AD) environment.
  • If access permissions are assigned to portal folders, the NAS and remote servers must be joined to the same AD domain.
I don't operate a domain or active directory, is it possible to include a windows share as a portal folder without Windows Active Directory?
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andrew.0101
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Re: Folder Aggregation - include windows shares

Post by andrew.0101 »

It appears this "Remote Folder Link" is implemented as a DFS - "Distributed File System" in Windows.

Still trying to determine if I can get this working on a basic Windows 10 home network, or if it requires a Server OS and/or an Active Directory environment.
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andrew.0101
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Re: Folder Aggregation - include windows shares

Post by andrew.0101 »

Oops, I've been using ip addresses for the hostname, which works fine for the nas but apparently not for the Windows share.

As soon as I switched the host name from the ip address to the PC name the Windows remote folder link came to life!
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andrew.0101
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Re: Folder Aggregation - include windows shares

Post by andrew.0101 »

OK, so I got lost on a crazy tangent, the remote folder links are pretty straight forward, no need for Active Directory of DFS, or sticking to UNC instead of ip hostnames either.

The thing to keep in mind is that accessing the "remote folder link" will only work if credentials are already stored for the host+share.

There is not prompt to enter credentials.

And if you stored credentials for \\PCName\share this will not give you access to \\192.168.1.50\share
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