SMB: Cannot mount //path/folder read-only
Summary
Install the cifs-utils package on Linux if you receive this error mount: cannot mount //path/folder read-only when trying to mount a remote SMB file system.
Details
While trying to mount a remote SMB directory on a CentOS 7.x server, this error happened:
[jemurray@linux-host ~]$ sudo mount -v -t cifs -o username=jemurray,vers=3.0 //192.168.16.8/jemurray /mnt
mount: //192.168.16.8/jemurray is write-protected, mounting read-only
mount: cannot mount //192.168.16.8/jemurray read-only
This was logged:
May 22 14:08:23 linux-host kernel: Status code returned 0xc000006d STATUS_LOGON_FAILURE
May 22 14:08:23 linux-host kernel: CIFS VFS: Send error in SessSetup = -13
May 22 14:08:23 linux-host kernel: CIFS VFS: cifs_mount failed w/return code = -13
To resolve the issue, the cifs-utils package needs to be installed:
[jemurray@linux-host ~]$ sudo yum install cifs-utils
Loaded plugins: fastestmirror, langpacks
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
* base: mirrors.gigenet.com
* epel: mirror.sfo12.us.leaseweb.net
* extras: centos.mirrors.hoobly.com
* perfSONAR: mirror.net.cen.ct.gov
* updates: mirrors.gigenet.com
Resolving Dependencies
--> Running transaction check
---> Package cifs-utils.x86_64 0:6.2-10.el7 will be installed
--> Finished Dependency Resolution
Dependencies Resolved
===============================================================================================================================================================================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
===============================================================================================================================================================================================
Installing:
cifs-utils x86_64 6.2-10.el7 base 85 k
Transaction Summary
===============================================================================================================================================================================================
Install 1 Package
Total download size: 85 k
Installed size: 175 k
Is this ok [y/d/N]: y
Downloading packages:
cifs-utils-6.2-10.el7.x86_64.rpm | 85 kB 00:00:00
Running transaction check
Running transaction test
Transaction test succeeded
Running transaction
Installing : cifs-utils-6.2-10.el7.x86_64 1/1
Verifying : cifs-utils-6.2-10.el7.x86_64 1/1
Installed:
cifs-utils.x86_64 0:6.2-10.el7
Complete!
Prior to installing the cifs-utils package the mount.cifs command was not available:
[jemurray@linux-host log]# stat /usr/sbin/mount.cifs
File: ‘/usr/sbin/mount.cifs’
Size: 41016 Blocks: 88 IO Block: 4096 regular file
Device: fd00h/64768d Inode: 33947173 Links: 1
Access: (0755/-rwxr-xr-x) Uid: ( 0/ root) Gid: ( 0/ root)
Access: 2020-05-22 14:10:30.456201338 -0500
Modify: 2017-08-03 11:58:33.000000000 -0500
Change: 2020-05-22 14:10:24.825131521 -0500 <------- Install date
Birth: -
Per the man page, mount.cifs is needed to pass specific arguments such as username and password for authenticated mount points:
mount.cifs mounts a Linux CIFS filesystem. It is usually invoked indirectly by the mount(8) command when using the “-t cifs” option.
Running an strace confirms the system is looking for mount.cifs:
sudo strace mount -v -t cifs -o username=jemurray,vers=3.0 //192.168.16.8/jemurray /mnt
...
stat("/sbin/mount.cifs", 0x7ffe09793b80) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
stat("/sbin/fs.d/mount.cifs", 0x7ffe09793b80) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
stat("/sbin/fs/mount.cifs", 0x7ffe09793b80) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
Mounting the drive after installing cifs-utils, was successful:
[jemurray@linux-host ~]$ sudo mount -v -t cifs -o username=jemurray,vers=3.0 //192.168.16.8/jemurray /mnt
Password for jemurray@//192.168.16.8/jemurray: ******************
mount.cifs kernel mount options: ip=192.168.16.8,unc=\\192.168.16.8\jemurray,vers=3.0,user=jemurray,pass=***************