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Forum Discussion
NMS300 External File Server settings fail
NMS300 v1.7.0.22 or 1.7.0.26
Running on clean install of Windows 11 Pro, firewall disabled, trying to connect to shared folder on another clean install of Windows 11 Pro machine (same subnet), firewall also disabled. Shared folder has full permissions for "everyone" and I can open it from File Explorer on the NMS machine.
I always get the error "Failed to connect External File Server. Please check the External File Server setting."
There do not appear to be any application logs to assist in troubleshooting. Is this even a functional feature?
3 Replies
Hah, finally figured it out! For anyone else struggling with this just think about the fact that the switches require telnet (not SSH) for backups. What would those same developers require for file shares? Of course, SMBv1 -- the service Microsoft has declared insecure and recommended years ago be disabled on company networks.
Excellent, this was so simple. Any improvement for SMBv2/V3 ?
Another question, the backup requires Telnet to work ?
A veritable anthology of insecure protocols 🙂
SMBv2/v3 ?
No, I tested extensively with v1 disabled and could never get it to work. Windows, Linux, and Apple devices could all connect just fine to the share, but Netgear's software could not. There are no settings in NMS to configure for this service, nor are there any logs that would help identify where NMS is failing to communicate. It really seems to be SMBv1 or nothing.
Telnet required for backups?
Appears to be. I have seen suggestions that SSH is possible, but all Netgear software (NMS, Engage, webGUI) and their documentation simply assumes telnet by default. I found it was easier to put management on a dedicated, isolated vlan instead of fighting with the software.
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