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Level 2

426 points

External SMB access not working

Hi Everyone,

I have a Lion Server setup running behind an AirPort Extreme which acts as our firewall and router. I'm having an issue getting external SMB (Windows File Sharing as it's called now) working. AFP works just fine for everyone, while SMB is only working on the internal network. Externally, AFP works just fine, but SMB results in the standard "Server cannot be contacted, etc." error - on both Macs and Windows machines.

I have tried numerous times to add a port mapping for SMB within the Server app and within the AirPort Utility. It doesn't work in either spot. I've restarted the APE too many times to count, and the same with the server itself. Anyone have any ideas? Have the SMB ports changed in Lion? Any help would be greatly appreciated - I'm pulling my hair out at this point!

Thanks,

-MRCUR

Mac OS X (10.7.1)

Posted on Sep 21, 2011 5:47 PM

17 replies

jquilty

Level 1

1 points

May 4, 2012 9:29 AM in response to MRCUR

I know this topic hasn't had a reply in a while but I was wondering if anyone was still having this issue. I've got the same setup; Server, AirPort, Ports forwarded. On the local network SMB from Windows machines works fine. Externally they can not. I've actually replaced the AirPort with a brand new one and same problem, I've even done a clean install of Lion Server and still same problem. Mac clients can connect fine externally but SMB does not work.

Running a port scan from outside shows available service ports responding but SMB is not listed. I went ahead and enabled the Default Host pointing to my server and again a port scan showed all the service ports except for SMB. When I run the netstat command listed by David Kurtz2 the server appears to be listening on port 445 but I do not see listings for 137-138 or 139.

I have this exact same setup on several other servers and they will accept SMB connections from Windows machines externally so I'm wondering if anyone has found what makes or breaks this.

Server: 10.7.3

AirPort Extreme 5th Gen: 7.6.1

simplic

Level 1

0 points

Nov 20, 2012 1:34 AM in response to MRCUR

If somebody are getting the same error:

I had the same problem. For some users it works, for others not. Some ISPs are blocking the standard SMB ports. I'm going to use VPN now. Hope this helps.

External SMB access not working