Hi Unraid Community,

I am currently encountering an issue with my office Unraid server for the past few months and I would really appreciate your advice and suggestions.

 

Server Setup

Running Unraid OS 7.0.0-rc.1 (Trying different versions to try and fix the issue, same issue even for stable or before)

Shares configured for team collaboration (mixed OS clients: Windows & macOS)

Nextcloud AIO deployed via Docker

 

The Issues

Unraid Share Permission Problems

Users are able to access the Unraid shares but can only read and cannot write to the shared folders.

This happens intermittently despite the correct SMB share settings (Public/Private with appropriate user permissions).

Nextcloud Folder Lock Issues

Some external folders added via SMB in Nextcloud become locked/unavailable for users.

The only temporary fix I’ve found so far is enabling NetBIOS (under SMB settings). However, this is not ideal, and I’d prefer a more permanent resolution.

 

Troubleshooting Steps Taken So Far

Verified share permissions under SMB Settings and checked individual user access rights.

Ensured the folder ownership (using chown) and permissions (chmod) are set correctly.

Enabled NetBIOS under SMB settings (which temporarily resolves the issue, but I want to avoid relying on it as it also disables my Tailscale)

Checked logs but couldn’t identify any clear error messages.

Scoured the forums countless times but still haven’t found a solution that works.

 

Additional Context

What works for my user account doesn’t seem to work for others, and it’s causing my business partner a lot of frustration. He is even contemplating buying a Synology NAS to replace the Unraid server altogether as this issue has been ongoing for the past few months.

I’m at my wit’s end and considering restarting the system with a fresh Unraid install (while keeping my data and databases intact) as a last resort.

The strange thing is, I have a similar Unraid server at home and have never experienced these issues. This problem seems exclusive to my office setup, but it’s becoming a huge headache.

 

Questions

What could be causing the users to have intermittent read-only access to the shares?

Why would enabling NetBIOS temporarily resolve folder locks in Nextcloud? Is there a better solution?

Are there any specific SMB or Nextcloud settings I should double-check to ensure proper write access?

Could this be a network or permissions-related issue unique to the office environment?

Any guidance or similar experiences would be much appreciated!

 

I have attached the diagnostics files here
Thank you in advance for your help.

 

tower-diagnostics-20241217-1530.zip

Try running Tools > New Permissions on the offending share. 

5 hours ago, Veah said:

Try running Tools > New Permissions on the offending share. 

Have tried this countless times, still doesn't solve the issue sadly

Maybe create unRAID users with same Windows credentials being used to login by your partner.  Assign those users desired unRAID share permissions.

I believe I've attempted that previously without success, but I'll give it another try to be absolutely certain. I'll provide an update once I've tested it.

Read through the first post of this thread and its PDF files.

 

     https://forums.unraid.net/topic/110580-security-is-not-a-dirty-word-unraid-windows-1011-smb-setup/

 

It covers a lot of items necessary as well as some practical considerations to setting up a working SMB network in the (very) 'small office' and home situation.   It sounds like your users are getting logged-on with guest credentials at times.  (By the way in a business situation where your files probably contain private and/or confidential information, you should prevent any access to your Unraid server using a 'guest' account!)

 

SMB is a very complicated environment and things 'happen' behind the scenes that make it seem that getting things working sometimes requires more witchcraft than science. 

 

If you have a larger office, or don't have the time or expertise to devote to administrating the network, you may want to consider hiring a consultant to do the heavy lifting.