Connecting a Macintosh to SBS 2003 Server via SMB

With the release of OS X, people running Macintoshes in a Windows environment can now connect to Windows servers using SMB shares instead of AppleTalk shares. There are trade-offs, of course, but this additional method of connection increases the Macintosh ability to integrate into a Microsoft network.

This information applies to Macintosh computers running OS 10.3.x only — Updating the Macintosh OS to the latest version is highly recommended.

1. Update Macintosh to the latest version of 10.3 (recommended)

2. If the server domain ends with “.local”
   • Follow these steps to fix .local name lookups on the Macintosh
3. Configure Directory Access
   1. Open Directory Access (Macintosh HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Directory Access).

   2. Click the lock to make changes.
   3. Enter password for local Macintosh account.
   4. Select SMB and click Configure.
   5. Enter the NetBIOS name of the domain in the Workgroup field.
   6. Enter the IP address of the server in the WINS server field.
   7. Click OK twice.
   8. Click Apply and close Directory Access.
4. Disable SMB Encryption on the SBS Server
   • Follow these steps to disable SMB signing on the SBS server.
5. Join the Macintosh to the Active Directory Domain (optional - see Side Note at the end of this post)
   1. Open Directory Access (Macintosh HD -> Applications -> Utilities -> Directory Access).

   2. Click the lock to make changes.
   3. Enter password for local Macintosh account.
   4. Select Active Directory and click Configure.
   5. In the Active Directory Forest field, enter the fully-qualified domain name of your SBS domain (i.e., domain.local).
   6. In the Active Directory Domain field, enter the fully-qualified domain name of your SBS domain (i.e., domain.local).
   7. In the Computer ID field, enter a unique network name for the Macintosh.
      *Note: If you have multiple domains in your Active Directory forest, you would enter the FQDN of the root domain in the Forest field and the FQDN of the child domain in the Domain field.

   8. Click the arrow next to Show Advanced Options.
   9. Clear the checkbox next to Authenticate in multiple domains.
   10. Enable the checkbox for Prefer this domain server and enter the fully-qualified domain name of your SBS server (i.e., server.domain.local).
   11. Click Bind.
   12. Enter the username and password for a domain account that has permissions to add a workstation to the domain. If you want the Macintosh to belong to an OU or container other than Computers.domain.local, make the appropriate changes in the Computer OU field.
   13. Click OK. The Macintosh will go through a five-step process to join the domain. When it is successful, the Bind button will change to Unbind.
   14. Click OK.
   15. Click the Authentication tab.
   16. Select Custom Path from the Search drop-down menu.
   17. Click Add.
   18. Select /Active Directory/domain.local and click Add.
   19. Click the Services tab.
   20. Enable the checkbox next to Active Directory.
   21. Click Apply.
   22. Quit Directory Access.
6. Connect to a share on the SBS server from the Macintosh
   1. From the Finder, press Command-K (Apple key + K).
   2. In the Server Address field, enter “smb://netbiosservername/sharename” (no quotes) and click Connect.
   3. Enter the domain username and password for access and click OK.
   4. A new window with the contents of the share will open.
      *Note: You can also enter “smb://netbiosservername/” without the sharename and after you authenticate you will be prompted to select which share to connect.
7. Connect to a share on the SBS server from the Macintosh - Alternate method
   1. Open Macintosh HD.

   2. Click the Network icon in the left panel.
   3. Should see several items: “Servers” and one or more folders with the NetBIOS and fully-qualified names of the domain.
   4. Double-click on one of the domain folders.
   5. After a moment, and icon for the server should appear in the folder. Double-click on the server icon.
   6. Enter network authentication information � domain should be filled in, will probably need to change the username � and click OK.
   7. Select a share from the popup list and click OK.
   8. The share now appears as an icon on the desktop and in the left panel of the Macintosh HD window.

Side Note: I’ve experienced mixed performance on the Macintosh when joined to the Active Directory domain. You should not need to join the Macintosh to the domain (unlike a Windows-based PC) to access the shares.