How to Manage Windows File Shares Using PowerShell? , Ranjan.info

built-in smbshare The PowerShell module allows you to create, configure and manage shared network folders in Windows. In this article, we will see how to manage file shares (SMB network folders) using PowerShell. You can use these examples to quickly and easily manage your SMB file servers and shared folders in various automation scenarios.

The SMSshare module contains 42 PowerShell cmdlets for managing shared network folders. You can display the full list of cmdlets in a module:

Get-Command -Module SMBShare

To display the current configuration of your Windows SMB Server:

Get-SmbServerConfiguration

AnnounceComment :
AnnounceServer : False
AsynchronousCredits : 64
AuditSmb1Access : False
AutoDisconnectTimeout : 15
AutoShareServer : True
AutoShareWorkstation : True
CachedOpenLimit : 10
DurableHandleV2TimeoutInSeconds : 180
EnableAuthenticateUserSharing : False
EnableDownlevelTimewarp : False
EnableForcedLogoff : True
EnableLeasing : True
EnableMultiChannel : True
EnableOplocks : True
EnableSecuritySignature : False
EnableSMB1Protocol : True
EnableSMB2Protocol : True
EnableStrictNameChecking : True
EncryptData : False
IrpStackSize : 15
KeepAliveTime : 2
MaxChannelPerSession : 32
MaxMpxCount : 50
MaxSessionPerConnection : 16384
MaxThreadsPerQueue : 20
MaxWorkItems : 1
NullSessionPipes :
NullSessionShares :
OplockBreakWait : 35
PendingClientTimeoutInSeconds : 120
RejectUnencryptedAccess : True
RequireSecuritySignature : False
ServerHidden : True
Smb2CreditsMax : 2048
Smb2CreditsMin : 128
SmbServerNameHardeningLevel : 0
TreatHostAsStableStorage : False
ValidateAliasNotCircular : True
ValidateShareScope : True
ValidateShareScopeNotAliased : True
ValidateTargetName : True

You can change the SMB server options by using Set-SmbServerConfiguration cmdlet.

For example, to disable the legacy SMB 1 protocol, run the following command:

Set-SmbServerConfiguration -EnableSMB1Protocol $false -Force

To display a list of the SMB protocol versions used by active clients to connect to file shares on the current SMB file server:

Get-SmbConnection

To set a bandwidth limit for SMB file traffic, you can configure the QoS policy for your SMB server (How to configure SMB bandwidth limit?) For example, the command below sets the maximum bandwidth for SMB traffic to 10 MB. will limit to:

Set-SmbBandwidthLimit -Category Default -BytesPerSecond 10MB

Creating a Shared Folder on Windows with PowerShell

To display a list of shared folders available on the computer, run this command:

Get-SmbShare

You can view multiple administrative shares and Distribution Shared folders on this computer.

To create a new shared folder, run the command below:

New-SmbShare -Name Scripts -Path C:\PS -FullAccess woshub\mun_admins, woshub\mun-man01$ -ChangeAccess "woshub\mun-man01_scripts_rw" -ReadAccess "$env:USERDOMAIN\domain users" –description "PowerShell scripts for admin"

In this example, we created a shared folder and granted access to domain groups and a computer account.

Additionally, when creating a shared folder, you can use the following options:

• -CachingMode [None|Manual|Programs|Documents|BranchCache] – set the caching mode for offline access (Windows Offline Files);
• -EncryptData $True – to enable SMB traffic encryption;
• -FolderEnumerationMode [AccessBased | Unrestricted] – To enable access-based enumeration. Allows to hide items that the user does not have permission to access from the shared folder;
• -CompressData $True – to enable compression when sending files over SMB;
• -ConcurrentUserLimit 50 – to set the limit of simultaneous connections to the folder (0 by default, unlimited);
• -Temporary – To create a temporary shared folder (disappears after next Windows restart).

You can display a full list of shared folder settings:

Get-SmbShare -Name scripts| select *

To remove a network shared folder:

Remove-SmbShare Scripts

To add write permissions to a shared folder’s ACL list for a user:

Grant-SmbShareAccess -Name Scripts -AccountName "woshub\b.hoffmann" -AccessRight Change –force

Display current shared folder access list:

Get-SmbShareAccess scripts

To remove a security group from a share’s ACL:

Revoke-SmbShareAccess -Name Scripts -AccountName Everyone –Force

To block access to a shared folder (a denied permission has a higher priority):

Block-SmbShareAccess -Name Scripts -AccountName woshub\ExternalGuests -Force

How to View and Manage Open Files in Windows Shares?

You can use the SMBSshare cmdlets to view a list of files opened by users on a shared folder on a Windows file server.

To display a list of opened files with username, computer name (IP address), and file path:

Get-SmbOpenFile|select ClientUserName,ClientComputerName,Path,SessionID

To show a list of files opened by a specific user:

Get-SMBOpenFile –ClientUserName "woshub\b.hoffmann" |select ClientComputerName,Path

To close a file opened by a remote user and locked by a user:

$sessn = New-CIMSession –Computername munfs01
Get-SMBOpenFile -CIMSession $sessn | where {$_.Path –like "*sale_report2022.docx"} | Close-SMBOpenFile -CIMSession $sessn

Map SMB Network Drives with the SmbMapping Cmdlets

The SmbMapping cmdlets are used to manage network drives.

To map a network shared folder to a network drive You:Run command below:

New-SmbMapping -LocalPath U: -RemotePath \\munfs01\scripts -UserName b.hoffmann -Password my22pass –Persistent $true -SaveCredential

• Without it strong option, the mapped network drive will be available only until the computer is restarted;
• save credentials The option allows saving user credentials to the Windows Credential Manager.

To display a list of mapped network folders:

Get-SmbMapping

To remove a network drive:

Remove-SmbMapping U: -force