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Enable BranchCache on an existing SMB share

Contributors netapp-thomi

You can enable BranchCache on an existing SMB share by adding the branchcache share property to the existing list of share properties.

About this task
  • If BranchCache is enabled on the SMB share, the share must have the offline files configuration set to manual caching.

    If the existing share's offline files setting is not set to manual caching, you must configure it by modifying the share.

  • You can set the branchcache property on a share even if BranchCache is not configured and enabled on the storage virtual machine (SVM).

    However, if you want the share to offer cached content, you must configure and enable BranchCache on the SVM.

  • When you add the branchcache share property to the share, existing share settings and share properties are preserved.

    The BranchCache share property is added to the existing list of share properties. For more information about using the vserver cifs share properties add command, see the man pages.

Steps
  1. If necessary, configure the offline files share setting for manual caching:

    1. Determine what the offline files share setting is by using the vserver cifs share show command.

    2. If the offline files share setting is not set to manual, change it to the required value: vserver cifs share modify -vserver vserver_name -share-name share_name -offline-files manual

  2. Enable BranchCache on an existing SMB share: vserver cifs share properties add -vserver vserver_name -share-name share_name -share-properties branchcache

  3. Verify that the BranchCache share property is set on the SMB share: vserver cifs share show -vserver vserver_name -share-name share_name

Example

The following command enables BranchCache on an existing SMB share named “data2” with a path of /data2 on SVM vs1:

cluster1::> vserver cifs share show -vserver vs1 -share-name data2

                      Vserver: vs1
                        Share: data2
     CIFS Server NetBIOS Name: VS1
                         Path: /data2
             Share Properties: oplocks
                               browsable
                               changenotify
                               showsnapshot
           Symlink Properties: -
      File Mode Creation Mask: -
 Directory Mode Creation Mask: -
                Share Comment: -
                    Share ACL: Everyone / Full Control
File Attribute Cache Lifetime: 10s
                  Volume Name: -
                Offline Files: manual
Vscan File-Operations Profile: standard

cluster1::> vserver cifs share properties add  -vserver vs1 -share-name data2 -share-properties branchcache

cluster1::> vserver cifs share show -vserver vs1 -share-name data2

                      Vserver: vs1
                        Share: data2
     CIFS Server NetBIOS Name: VS1
                         Path: /data2
             Share Properties: oplocks
                               browsable
                               showsnapshot
                               changenotify
                               branchcache
           Symlink Properties: -
      File Mode Creation Mask: -
 Directory Mode Creation Mask: -
                Share Comment: -
                    Share ACL: Everyone / Full Control
File Attribute Cache Lifetime: 10s
                  Volume Name: -
                Offline Files: manual
Vscan File-Operations Profile: standard