IBM Support

Content Collector cannot access SMB share folder on a remote Windows 2008 system using UNC path

Troubleshooting


Problem

If IBM InfoSphere Content Collector is installed on a Windows 2008 Server machine and is used for archiving files from the network into IBM FileNet P8, some files cannot be collected. Content Collector cannot retrieve files from a Windows 2008 file system in a WAN. Retrieving files from a Windows 2008 file system in a LAN and retrieving files from a Windows 2003 file system in a WAN works without problems.

Symptom

If Content Collector tries to retrieve files from a Windows 2008 file system in a WAN, it receives one of the following errors:

  • The specified path '<path>' is not a directory
  • The specified path '<path>' is no longer available

Cause

This problem occurs if SMB 2.0 is used. SMB 2.0 was introduced in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
The problem is related to local caching that is done on the IBM Infosphere Content Collector server with SMB 2.0. When the SMB 2.0 session is created, a local cache is set up. By default, this local cache is refreshed every 10 seconds. Checking if a file exists is done on this local cache, not on the server share. So the file requests are successful only if the local cache on the IBM Infosphere Content Collector server is updated and synchronized with the server share.

Resolving The Problem

As a workaround, disable SMB 2.0 on the IBM InfoSphere Content Collector machine:

  1. Run regedit on Windows Server 2008.
  2. Navigate to the key HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters
  3. Add the following registry value:
    Value name: Smb2
    Value type: REG_DWORD
    Value data: 0
    (0 = disabled, 1 = enabled)
  4. Reboot the server.
[{"Product":{"code":"SSAE9L","label":"Content Collector"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU053","label":"Cloud & Data Platform"},"Component":"Content Collector for File Systems","Platform":[{"code":"PF033","label":"Windows"}],"Version":"2.1;2.1.1","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"}}]

Document Information

More support for:
Content Collector

Software version:
2.1, 2.1.1

Operating system(s):
Windows

Document number:
413211

Modified date:
17 June 2018

UID

swg21456999

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