Unable to connect to my Azure file share from both Windows and Mac devices

Question

Hi,

I am unable to connect to my Azure File Share using the provided commands. I am also unable to to ping the URL or have a successful test when checking the port. I have verified it is not my ISP. I have tried from multiple providers and an Azure support tech was also unable to communicate to my end point. I am trying to connect to my dev environment at \***share.file.core.windows.net\dcf

Any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

@SScott
I have edited out your complete share name, but before doing so I tested and confirmed Test-NetConnection succeeded in reaching port 445. The SMB protocol requires TCP port 445 to be open; connections will fail if port 445 is blocked. You can check if your firewall is blocking port 445 with the Test-NetConnection cmdlet. To learn about ways to work around a blocked 445 port, see the Cause 1: Port 445 is blocked section of our Windows troubleshooting guide.

To check if your firewall or ISP is blocking port 445, use the AzFileDiagnostics tool or Test-NetConnection cmdlet.

Azure Files only allows connections using SMB 3.0 (with encryption support) from outside the region or datacenter. SMB 3.0 protocol has introduced many security features including channel encryption which is very secure to use over internet. However its possible that port 445 has been blocked due to historical reasons of vulnerabilities found in lower SMB versions. In ideal case, the port should be blocked for only for SMB 1.0 traffic and SMB 1.0 should be turned off on all clients.

If you have ever been blocked using Azure Files due to your ISP's port 445, you can setup a Point to Site VPN to your Azure Files. Refer to the suggestions mentioned in the GitHub article

You can mount the file share on your local machine by using the SMB 3.0 protocol, or you can use tools like Storage Explorer to access files in your file share. From your application, you can use storage client libraries, REST APIs, PowerShell, or Azure CLI to access your files in the Azure file share.

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