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Create a cluster-managed file share

  • Article

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

To create a cluster-managed file share

  1. Using Windows Explorer, create a folder on the cluster disk.

    Caution

    • Do not create a share for this folder.

  2. Verify that the Cluster service account has Full Control rights to this folder for the NTFS file system.

    For more information on setting folder permissions, see "To set, view, change, or remove file and folder permissions" in Related Topics.

  3. Open Cluster Administrator.

  4. Create a Physical Disk resource for the drive on which the folder is located, a Network Name resource, and an IP Address resource, if these do not already exist, and place them in the same resource group.

  5. Create a File Share resource in the same resource group as the resources above.

    By default, Cluster Administrator will create a Normal File Share resource.

  6. Optionally, click Advanced to change the File Share resource type from Normal to DFS root or Share subdirectories.

    For more information on these three File Share resource types, see "File Share resource type" in Related Topics.

    Important

    • If the file share is configured as a DFS root, it must be dependent on a Network Name resource.

  7. Although it is not required, it is recommended that you set up the File Share resource so that it has a dependency on the Physical Disk resource as well as the Network Name resource.

    For more information on creating a new resource and setting up a dependency, see "To create a new resource" in Related Topics.

  8. In the details pane, click the File Share resource that you created, then on the File menu, click Properties.

  9. On the Parameters tab in Path, type the path to the folder whose subfolders you want to share.

  10. To configure file share permissions, click Permissions.

    For more information about setting permissions, including NTFS permissions, see "To set permissions on a shared resource" in Related Topics.

  11. On the File menu, click Bring online.

Caution

  • Always use the Cluster Administration tools and not Windows Explorer to manage these file shares. Changes made using Windows Explorer will be lost when these file shares fail over to other nodes in the cluster.

Notes

  • To perform this procedure, you must be a member of the Administrators group on the local computer, or you must have been delegated the appropriate authority. If the computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. As a security best practice, consider using Run as to perform this procedure.

  • To open Cluster Administrator, click Start, click Control Panel, double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Cluster Administrator.

Information about functional differences

  • Your server might function differently based on the version and edition of the operating system that is installed, your account permissions, and your menu settings. For more information, see Viewing Help on the Web.

See Also

Concepts

Set client-side caching for a File Share resource
File Share resource type
Create a new resource
Set, view, change, or remove permissions on files and folders
Set permissions on a shared resource