Assimilation Fails with a NEG_TOKEN_INIT Mechtype Error

Applies to: Hammerspace 5.2 and later.

Symptom

You are assimilating a volume with Include SMB/AD metadata during assimilation selected, and it fails with an error like this:

Failure while validating SMB server 'nas.asgard.loc' and share 'home'.
Make sure server and share are correct. Reason returned by server:
[errorCode=5000: INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR, args=[Status: 500,
Output: SPNEGO(gse_krb5) creating NEG_TOKEN_INIT for cifs/nas.asgard.loc
failed (next[(null)]): NT_STATUS_INVALID_PARAMETER

SPNEGO: Could not find a suitable mechtype in NEG_TOKEN_INIT]]

Cause

Hammerspace requires certain service principal names on the Active Directory computer object of any NAS it assimilates.

Here, the computer object for nas.asgard.local has no CIFS/nas.asgard.local service principal name. The same error appears if you use the single-label hostname nas without a matching cifs/nas entry.

Resolution

Take care editing Active Directory objects. Mistakes can break client access.

Add the service principal name in either of two ways. In these examples the computer account name is nas.

Using setspn

Requires administrative access.

Command:

setspn -s CIFS/nas.asgard.local nas

The syntax is setspn -s service/name hostname.

Using Active Directory Users and Computers

Requires administrative access, and Advanced Features enabled from the View menu.

Browse to the computer object — do not search for it.
Right-click it and select Properties.
Open the Attribute Editor tab.
Scroll to servicePrincipalName and click Edit.
Enter CIFS/nas.asgard.local in Value to add and click Add.
Click OK.