NET Share

The NET Share command is used to manage file/printer shares.

Syntax
      NET SHARE sharename=drive:path [/GRANT:user,[READ | CHANGE | FULL]]
             [/USERS:number | /UNLIMITED]]
                [/REMARK:"text"]
                   [/CACHE:Manual | Documents | Programs | BranchCache | None ]

      NET SHARE sharename /DELETE

      NET SHARE devicename /DELETE

      NET SHARE drive:path /DELETE

To modify an existing share, the syntax above can be simplified to NET SHARE sharename ...
with the one exception of the /GRANT option.

Access-based Enumeration

By default new shares on Windows Server will have Access-based Enumeration (ABE) available, but OFF by default:
Server Manager ➞ File and Storage Services ➞ sharename ➞ Properties ➞ Settings ➞ Enable Access-based enumeration.

ABE doesn’t hide the list of the network shared folders on a file server, it hides only their contents, displaying only those objects a user has NTFS permissions to access (at least read), and all inaccessible resources are not displayed (hidden).
Enabling ABE will add a small extra load to the server.

ABE can also be enabled or disabled with PowerShell:

Get-SmbShare FolderName | Set-SmbShare -FolderEnumerationMode AccessBased
Get-SmbShare FolderName | Set-SmbShare -FolderEnumerationMode Unrestricted

Filename Limits

When creating shares you should be aware that the mapped drive will always be shorter than the real path on the server. This can cause issues with the 260 character filename limit.

For example, if you have a folder on a server called E:\workgroups\ thats mapped for the users as X:\
A legal filename created on a client via the mapped drive:
X:\something\... 158 chars
then becomes on the server
E:\workgroups\something\...168 chars (which some server backup software may fail to read.)

You can minimise this issue by keeping the server path as short as possible E:\wg\

To create file shares, File and Printer sharing must be enabled on the (server) computer.

Examples

Display the details of the local share called workgroups:

NET SHARE workgroups

Display the details of all local shares, including the folder/pathname that is being shared:

NET SHARE

To retrieve share details from a remote machine, use WMIC share

Create a new local file share:

NET SHARE workgroups=C:\work /REMARK:"workgroups share" /CACHE:No

Limit the number of users who can connect to a share:

NET SHARE workgroups /USERS:15

Remove any limit on the number of users who can connect to a share:

NET SHARE workgroups /UNLIMITED

Delete a share:
NET SHARE workgroups /DELETE

Delete an Admin share n.b this is NOT recommended,
the share will reappear after a reboot unless you also set the AutoShareServer registry key:

NET SHARE C$ /DELETE

Delete all shares that apply to a given device:

NET SHARE devicename /DELETE
In this case the devicename can be a printer (Lpt1) or a pathname (C:\Docs\)

“Don’t worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats” ~ Howard Aiken

Related commands

NET.exe - Manage network resources.
NET USE - Connect to a file share (Drive MAP).
NET VIEW - View existing file/printer shares (local or remote).
Enable Admin Shares
WMIC share - View remote file/print shares.
Q149427 - Change Password from the CMD prompt.
Equivalent PowerShell: New-SMBshare - Create an SMB share.


 
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