Microsoft KB Archive/912032

= Client for NFS in Windows Server 2003 R2 does not support the PCNFS authentication mechanism =

Article ID: 912032

Article Last Modified on 10/30/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition (32-Bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition (32-Bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise x64 Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter x64 Edition

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INTRODUCTION
Client for Network File System (NFS) in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 does not support the Personal Computer Network File System (PCNFS) authentication mechanism.



MORE INFORMATION
In earlier versions of Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX, Client for NFS supports authentication that is based on the PCNFS authentication mechanism. In these earlier versions, a PCNFS client sends the user name and the password in clear text to a PCNFS server to obtain the UNIX user identifier (UID) and the group identifier (GID). The UID and GID are required to identify UNIX users.

Windows Server 2003 R2 no longer supports this PCNFS authentication mechanism. However, the User Name Mapping service in Windows Server 2003 R2 can still use the password and the group files as sources for UNIX UIDs and GIDs.

The password and the group files in Windows Server 2003 R2 are sometimes referred to as PCNFS files for legacy purposes. However, these files do not depend on the PCNFS authentication mechanism. Windows Server 2003 R2 includes other authentication mechanisms such as Active Directory Lookup, User Name Mapping, and anonymous access.

For more information about these authentication mechanisms, see the Windows Server 2003 R2 Help documentation.

