Unable to map CIFS shares or log into LogBrowser with correct credentials on 3xx0 and 5xx0 appliances.

Problem

Mapping shares of a  3xx0  and  5xx0  appliance to a Windows machine fails to authenticate. Additionally, this also applies when trying to log into LogBrowser page and receiving "Invalid Credentials" error with known correct appliance login password.

Error Message

When attempting to map a CIFS share from a 5xx0 appliance (e.g., \\<appliance-name>\incoming patches) to a Windows OS machine, the mapping fails to authenticate.  The appliance is pingable, and nslookup returns correct ip/hostname of the appliance. 

This also applies when trying to log into LogBrowser page and receiving "Invalid Credentials" error with known correct appliance login password.

Cause

Samba on the appliance maintains a separate password file that should be updated automatically when the admin account password is changed.  Under certain circumstances (upgrade especially), the Samba password file may be reverted or corrupted, causing the user-defined admin password to fail.  /var/log/samba/smbd.log does not show any authentication failures for the mapping attempts.

Solution

To resolve the issue, it is necessary to change the admin password on the appliance via CLISH which will also update/sync the Samba password file.

1. Open an ssh session and log into the Appliance CLISH as an administrator.

2. Enter the following command:

Main menu>Settings>Password admin

3. Enter password as prompted

Old Password     :
New Password     :
Confirm password :
- [Info] User 'admin' password changed.

4. Attempt to map the appliance share