Security Compliance

How to migrate file server/share or directory that is managed in ARM

Recommended steps on how to move file resources to another File server so that ARM can still manage those resources.

First published date

4/17/2020 9:38 AM

Last published date

5/1/2023 1:41 PM

Overview

The main problem is that the file .id.8man, which exists in every ARM managed directory (System, Hidden) after copying, has a problem with the properties "Creation Date" or "Last Write Access". The ARM software uses these properties to determine whether the file is authentic (original) or a copy. Copies are not allowed and are deleted with each scan.

Product section

Access Rights Manager

Resolution

How can I move an ARM managed server, share or directory?

The main problem is that the file .id.8man, which exists in every ARM managed directory (System, Hidden) after copying, has a problem with the properties "Creation Date" or "Last Write Access". The ARM software uses these properties to determine whether the file is authentic (original) or a copy. Copies are not allowed and are deleted with each scan.

What does this mean in concrete terms?

There is a configuration switch that controls the described behavior (fileSystem.config.deleteId8ManFiles).

The ARM configuration switch in position "false" does two things:
- The check of the above mentioned properties is not executed; the files are not deleted.
- The files are accessed once for writing (similar to the UNIX 'touch' command)

After a successful ARM resource scan all .id.8man files are authentic again (original). The temporary configuration switch must be deleted again. The action is successfully completed. The procedure also works for subtrees, e.g. shares or directories.

Instructions:

1. Copy all data and directories to the new position
2. Add the configuration switch mentioned below to the pnServer.config.xml file found in C:\ProgramData\protected-networks.com\8MAN\cfg on the ARM Server. Save the file and restart the ARM-Service on the ARM Server.

<fileSystem.config.deleteId8ManFiles type="System.Boolean">false</fileSystem.config.deleteId8ManFiles>

Note: The above switch is necessary only in case the creation timestamp of the .id.8man file is in the future compared to the modification timestamp. This can happen when a simple copy/paste is performed in Windows.

3.Add the new resource scan config in ARM and scan it.
4. Remove the configuration switch again.
5. Restart the ARM service.
6. Done.

If the transfer/copy of the data will be done including also the NTFS rights, the permissions will be recognized and the actual ARM Groups will be reused. If necessary, new ARM groups will be created automatically when changing the permissions.