3.2.4.1 Handling a Path Normalization Request

As specified in [MS-SMB2] section 3.3.5.9 and [MS-SMB] section 3.3.5.5, the SMB server invokes the DFS server to normalize the path name.

  • If the DFS namespace initialization (as specified in section 3.2.3) corresponding to the share in the path is not yet complete, the DFS server MUST fail the path normalization request with STATUS_DFS_UNAVAILABLE.

  • Otherwise, the DFS server matches the path name against DFS metadata. If the path matches or contains a DFS link, the DFS server MUST respond to the path normalization request with STATUS_PATH_NOT_COVERED, indicating to the client to resolve the path by using a DFS link referral request. Otherwise, the DFS server MUST change the path name to a path relative to the root of the namespace and return STATUS_SUCCESS. For example, if the path name is "\MyDomain\MyDfs\MyDir\file1", then the DFS server MUST change the path name to "MyDir\file1".