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Filer_Windows08 - Windows Filer Appliance

Latest Version: 3.5.20

Functional Overview

Filer_Windows08 is an appliance that provides filesystem-level access to a volume with a Windows file system. Filer_Windows08 supports the following Windows file systems: ntfs08. Filer_Windows08 supports the following modes of operation:

• format: format the volume to the specified filesystem (for example, execute format)
• fscopy: perform a block-level copy from one volume to another followed by, as required, partition extend
• fsck: check the file system on the volume
• fsrepair: check and repair the file system on the volume
• manual: provide user-level access to the volume through both a Web GUI and root shell (through SSH)

In manual mode, Filer_Windows08 provides GUI access and root shell to the volume through its default interface. In this mode, Filer_Windows08 also optionally provides external network access for the user to copy files to and from the volume. Manual mode operation can be performed over one or two volumes.

Notes:

• The Filer appliances are used internally by CA AppLogic and should not be used in regular CA AppLogic applications.
• Filer_Windows08 is distributed without the appliance boot volume. See the Windows Server 2008 Filer Installation Reference for instructions on how to create this volume and include it in the Filer_Windows08 class.
• Filer_Windows08 only supports fscopy mode where the dst volume is of same size or larger than the src volume.

Resources

Terminals

The external interface is enabled. It is used for incoming and outgoing traffic and its network settings are configured through properties. It is only used in the manual mode and is not configured in all other modes.

The default interface is enabled. It is used for maintenance. Also, in the manual mode, it is used for accessing the Web GUI.

User Volumes

Properties

Operation Modes

The following table lists the supported mode for each of the supported file systems:

Filesystem Options

This section lists the file system options (as specified on fs_options) for each file system supported by Filer_Windows08.

• ntfs08
  • volume_label: the volume label for the dst volume. If empty, the vol_name property value is used instead.
  • active: create the new partition as active (bootable). Valid values are yes and no. If omitted, the default value of no is used during format while the value defaults to the src volume type during fscopy

Interface

The Filer appliances provide an HTTP interface on their default interface to collect status on non-manual volume operations and to access the Web GUI when in manual mode. The following functions are available by URL:

• /: interactive access to the dst volume through the Web GUI, only available in manual mode
• /api/status: returns the status for the current volume operation, only available in non-manual mode
  • The format of the output is the following: [progress=W, ]poll=X, status=Y, errortxt=Z
    • progress: integer, 0..100, progress of the current operation. If progress cannot be reported, then the progress field is not returned. Progress is not reported for the following modes:
    • format
    • fsck and fsrepair
    • poll: integer, recommended status poll interval, in seconds.
    • status: integer, status of the volume operation. See below for the list of statuses that can be returned by Filer_Windows08.
    • errortxt: string, error message, if an error occurred (for example, non-zero status)
  • The following is the list of statuses that Filer_Windows08 can return in the status field for a specific volume operation:
    • 0 - success
    • 100 - operation failed
    • 101 - operation not supported
    • 102 - operation not implemented
    • 103 - operation canceled
    • 104 - I/O error
    • 200 - no space left on volume
    • 201 - file system errors detected
    • 300 - out of memory
    • 400 - pending

Web GUI

The Filer appliances use a web-based file manager named eXtplorer to provide the Web GUI access to a volume (accessible only in manual mode). eXtplorer is released under the GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 2. The version of eXtplorer used in the filers have been modified. The following are the changes to eXtplorer:

1. Removed the login.
2. Updated eXtplorer not to display its own files.
3. Changed the file list to show the target for all links under the "Type" column.
4. Changed the tooltip generated when the mouse is over a directory in the directory list to show the symlink target if the directory is a symlink.
5. Changed symlink creation through the GUI to support orphaned links.
6. Changed delete file through the GUI to support deletion of symlinks.
7. Added an interface for editing the volume base path for any available volume.
8. Changed the generation of file & directory lists to support links.
9. Resolve relative & absolute links which include '..'.
10. Add UI for chgrp/chown, allowing numeric entries only.
11. Add owner/group to the file display.

The reference for the eXtplorer Volume Browser GUI can be found here.

The eXtplorer licenses and the source to the original un-modified eXtplorer can be found on the Filer appliances in /mnt/monitor/.volume_browser/LICENSES/.

NTFS Implementation Specifics

Carefully note the following implementation specifics and behaviors of Filer_Windows:

• Filer_Windows08 operations are limited to:
  • basic disks only (not dynamic disks)
  • MBR based partitions only (not GUID based partitions)
  • exactly one primary partition per disk except as noted below
• Filer_Windows08 supports Windows Server 2008 boot volumes having two partitions (the default result of installing 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2008 R2). Filer_Windows08 operates on disks with two partitions as follows
  • fsck: in fsck mode Filer_Windows08 checks the file system on both the partitions
  • fsrepair: in fsrepair mode Filer_Windows08 checks and repairs the file system on both the partitions
  • fscopy: in fscopy mode Filer_Windows08 performs block level copy of source to destination and if required extends the second partition on the dst disk
  • manual: in manual mode Filer_Windows08 mounts the second partition of the boot volume of Windows 2008 operating system
• Short names are enabled.
• fscopy is a block level copy operation and performed using the dd utility.
• If, during vol manage, you want access to the console but do not know the Administrator password, ssh to the appliance from a 3T shell and net user Administrator new-password to set a new Administrator password.
• Local user account SID's on a volume mounted on Filer_Windows08 are not recognized by Filer_Windows08. In manual mode, files owned by local user accounts will display without a recognized user name.
• See the Appliance Catalog Reference Guide for significant details on the operation of Windows appliances under CA AppLogic.

Typical Usage

The following sections describe the configuration of Filer_Windows08 in several typical use cases:

Formatting a volume

Example:

Filer_Windows08 executes format over the dst volume, specifying a filesystem type of ntfs08.

Block-level volume copy

Example:

Filer_Windows08 copies the contents of the src volume to the dst volume using the dd utility.

File system check

Example:

Filer_Windows08 executes chkdsk on the dst volume.

File system check with repair

Example:

Filer_Windows08 executes chkdsk with the repair option on the dst volume.

User level access to volume

Example:

Notes

• Filer_Windows08 is based on Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition Core Install 32-bit (either SP1 or SP2).
• Filer_Windows08 by default uses a random Administrator password for security purposes. If this is not desired, change the password as described in the Windows Appliance Notes.
• In non-manual mode, there is no SSH or GUI access.
• When performing filer operations on the boot volume of a Windows Server 2008 appliance, it is possible that in a very rare case the volume may become un-bootable as a result of a failed cleanup. For example, this may occur if the controller crashes during manual mode operation and the managed volume has the same disk signature as that of Filer_Windows08. If this happens, the following steps can be performed to fix the BCD store of the boot volume causing it to boot properly once again:
  • In a 3T shell manage the corrupted boot volume.
  • SSH into the filer appliance which is managing the volume and set the administrator password (net user administrator new-password).
  • Access the graphical console of filer and execute following commands in a command shell to generalize the BCD store:
    • bcdedit /store C:\appliance\mnt\vol\Boot\BCD /set {default} osdevice boot
    • bcdedit /store C:\appliance\mnt\vol\Boot\BCD /set {default} device boot
    • bcdedit /store C:\appliance\mnt\vol\Boot\BCD /set {bootmgr} device boot
    • bcdedit /store C:\appliance\mnt\vol\Boot\BCD /set {memdiag} device boot
    • bcdedit /store C:\appliance\mnt\vol\Boot\BCD /set {ntldr} device boot
  • Exit from the vol manage shell.

3rd party open source software used inside of the appliance

The Windows Filer uses the following 3rd party/open source packages