Files Manage Namespaces - Document Details

This page contains Windows bias

About This Page

This page is part of the Azure documentation. It contains code examples and configuration instructions for working with Azure services.

View on GitHub 📚 View on Microsoft Learn

Bias Analysis

Detected Bias Types

windows_first

powershell_heavy

windows_tools

missing_linux_example

Summary

The documentation is heavily oriented toward Windows environments. All examples, instructions, and tooling references are for Windows Server, PowerShell, and Windows DNS. There are no Linux equivalents or cross-platform considerations, and the documentation assumes the use of Windows-specific infrastructure and management tools throughout.

Recommendations

Clearly state early in the documentation that DFS Namespaces is a Windows Server feature and is not natively available on Linux, but mention any possible alternatives or interoperability scenarios for Linux clients.
Where possible, provide guidance for Linux clients accessing DFS-N managed shares (e.g., using smbclient, mount.cifs, or other SMB tools on Linux).
If relevant, mention open-source or cross-platform alternatives to DFS-N (such as Samba DFS support or other namespace/virtualization solutions) and their compatibility with Azure Files.
Add a section on how non-Windows environments can interact with Azure Files and DFS-N, including any limitations or required configurations.
In sections about DNS, mention how to create CNAME records using Linux-based DNS servers (e.g., BIND) or via Azure DNS, not just Windows DNS.
Where PowerShell is used, note that these commands are for Windows and provide any possible cross-platform alternatives or clarify that Linux/macOS users will need to use Windows tools for DFS-N management.

Create Pull Request

Scan History

Date	Scan	Status	Result
2026-01-14 00:00	#250	in_progress	Clean
2026-01-13 00:00	#246	completed	Biased
2026-01-11 00:00	#240	completed	Biased
2026-01-10 00:00	#237	completed	Biased
2026-01-09 00:34	#234	completed	Biased
2026-01-08 00:53	#231	completed	Biased
2026-01-06 18:15	#225	cancelled	Clean
2025-08-19 00:01	#85	completed	Clean
2025-07-13 21:37	#48	completed	Biased
2025-07-12 23:44	#41	cancelled	Biased

Flagged Code Snippets

Install-WindowsFeature -Name "FS-DFS-Namespace", "RSAT-DFS-Mgmt-Con"

New-Item `
    -Path "HKLM:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs" `
    -Type Registry `
    -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
New-Item `
    -Path "HKLM:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters" `
    -Type Registry `
    -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
New-Item `
    -Path "HKLM:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters\Replicated" `
    -Type Registry `
    -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Set-ItemProperty `
    -Path "HKLM:SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dfs\Parameters\Replicated" `
    -Name "ServerConsolidationRetry" `
    -Value 1

# Variables
$oldServer = "MyServer"
$domain = Get-CimInstance -ClassName "Win32_ComputerSystem" | `
    Select-Object -ExpandProperty Domain
$dfsnServer = "CloudDFSN.$domain"

# Create CNAME record
Import-Module -Name DnsServer
Add-DnsServerResourceRecordCName `
    -Name $oldServer `
    -HostNameAlias $dfsnServer `
    -ZoneName $domain

# Variables
$namespace = "Public"
$type = "DomainV2" # "Standalone"
$takeOverName = $false # $true

$namespace = if ($takeOverName -and $type -eq "Standalone" -and $namespace[0] -ne "#") { 
    "#$namespace" 
} else { $namespace }
$dfsnServer = $env:ComputerName
$namespaceServer = if ($type -eq "DomainV2") { 
    Get-CimInstance -ClassName "Win32_ComputerSystem" | `
    Select-Object -ExpandProperty Domain
} else { $dfsnServer }

# Create share for DFS-N namespace
$smbShare = "C:\DFSRoots\$namespace"
if (!(Test-Path -Path $smbShare)) { New-Item -Path $smbShare -ItemType Directory }
New-SmbShare -Name $namespace -Path $smbShare -FullAccess Everyone

# Create DFS-N namespace
Import-Module -Name DFSN
$namespacePath = "\\$namespaceServer\$namespace"
$targetPath = "\\$dfsnServer\$namespace"
New-DfsnRoot -Path $namespacePath -TargetPath $targetPath -Type $type

# Variables
$shareName = "MyShare"
$targetUNC = "\\storageaccount.file.core.windows.net\myshare"

# Create folder and folder targets
$sharePath = "$namespacePath\$shareName"
New-DfsnFolder -Path $sharePath -TargetPath $targetUNC