Old Aliases not working under SMB share from new Windows Server

[peted57]

Am transitioning from a Netgear ProNAS running AFP to a Windows SAN running SMB protocol.

Initial test, when contents moved to SAN is that I can access all other files BUT all previously created aliases turn into UNIX icons and won't open the original file that they point to.

When I create a NEW alias on the SAN over the share, it has the correct ICON and does open the correct file.

How can all the legacy ALIASES be fixed or restored (we have thousands of these).

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

 

[satcomer]

Because when you first make that alias it is tied to the original sever file! Once a new Server was installed you need to redo all you shortcuts, especially when the Server name/ IP changes!

 

[run2win]

Am transitioning from a Netgear ProNAS running AFP to a Windows SAN running SMB protocol.

Initial test, when contents moved to SAN is that I can access all other files BUT all previously created aliases turn into UNIX icons and won't open the original file that they point to.

When I create a NEW alias on the SAN over the share, it has the correct ICON and does open the correct file.

How can all the legacy ALIASES be fixed or restored (we have thousands of these).

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

The reason is that the alias contains the SMB or AFP at the beginning. Similar to a URL containing http:// at the beginning. We went through the same thing in the transition from older versions of server to the newer Apple versions of server that prefer SMB vs. AFP. The other thing to consider is the links within inDesign documents. We never explored this deeply enough to see if there were ramifications to this as well. You can turn on AFP and SMB but in some cases you will get two mounts at the same time (one SMB and one AFP). This can be confusing to the users.

You will need to evaluate the time it will take to convert the aliases. It MAY not be that extensive OR it may not be worth the trouble to switch from AFP to SMB.

The main benefit to switching to security. AFP has not been updated in some time. There are some encryption routines that are only supported on SMB. Long-term it will be better to be over to SMB. Right now both protocols are supported but Apple may drop support for AFP long-term. As mentioned the new server supports both which can have confusing results to the users.

Hope that helps.

 

[peted57]

Because when you first make that alias it is tied to the original sever file! Once a new Server was installed you need to redo all you shortcuts, especially when the Server name/ IP changes!

This would explain the Alias not finding the original - but not the alias actually changing to a UNIX icon and unusable.