Set up file share. Script fails, and can't even ping the IP address associated with the share.

Question

*We're trying to set up a file share in Azure to back up some files from a Windows 2012 STD server. We mapped a TCP port of 445 through the sonicwall firewall, and tested same. Sample telnet is going out to the Inet. No response coming back. I also can't ping the ip address attached to the FQDN that the test script Azure created for our Azure storage account and resource group / file share.

Any ideas on how I can troubleshoot this? Apparently despite charging a price premium for cloud storage compared to Wasabi et al, Microsoft will not offer any tech support to new accounts.

Thanks*

Answer 1

Hello bcairo@drcairo.com,

Greetings! Welcome to Microsoft Q&A Platform.

I understand that you are encountering some connectivity issues with your Azure file share setup.

Azure Files only allows connections using SMB 3.0 (with encryption support) from outside the region or datacenter as Windows Server 2012 supports SMB 3.0, which includes encryption. 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.

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.

• This article lists common problems that are related to Microsoft Azure Files when you connect from Windows clients. It also provides possible causes and resolutions for these problems: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/files/storage-troubleshoot-windows-file-connection-problems. Also refer this article.
• Ensure that the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of your Azure storage account resolves correctly to the appropriate IP address. You can use the nslookup command to verify this.
• Check if there are any virtual network or firewall rules configured on your storage account that might be blocking access. You can temporarily set the storage account to allow access from all networks to test if this resolves the issue
• Make sure your network configuration allows outbound traffic to Azure’s IP ranges. Sometimes, specific IP ranges need to be whitelisted in your firewall settings.
• Use the AzFileDiagnostics tool to validate the client environment and diagnose any issues with mounting the Azure file share.

Hope this answer helps! please accept the answer else, please let us know if you have any further queries. I’m happy to assist you further.

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