Migrate SMB / CIFS Shares
to or from any cloud.
Any SMB / CIFS share — Windows file server, NAS, Samba host, mapped drive — is reachable to Mover through the Agent.
Mover is the one-time cloud migration tool from Files.com — built for moving data between 20+ cloud providers and any on-prem storage reachable through the Files.com Agent. For SMB / CIFS, that means installing the Agent on a host that can reach the SMB / CIFS share, then pointing Mover at any of the supported cloud destinations on the other side.
When teams migrate SMB / CIFS
The common situations.
Three or four real triggers below. Decommissioning aging hardware, consolidating into a cloud, tiering cold data to discount storage, or running hybrid setups where both sides need to stay in sync — the SMB / CIFSside runs through the Agent; the cloud side runs through Mover's native connectors.
Retiring a Windows file server into the cloud
Decommissioning a Windows Server file share into S3, Azure Blob, OneDrive, or SharePoint as part of a data center exit, Active Directory rebuild, or cloud-first strategy.
Migrating a department-level SMB share
Finance, HR, engineering, or design shares that have lived on a domain file server for years moving to a managed cloud destination — usually OneDrive or SharePoint for collaboration access, S3 for archive.
Pulling cloud data back to an SMB share for compliance
Reverse direction: replicating specific cloud datasets to a regulated SMB share for retention, audit, or air-gapped backup. The Agent provides the write path.
Setup
4 steps to first dry run.
The Agent installs and configures the same way regardless of the source — what changes is the mount or share path it reads from. For the full Agent install reference, see the Files.com Agent page.
Identify the SMB share path.
Windows UNC path (\\server\share) or Linux mount point. The host running the Agent needs network access to the share and read/write permissions matching the migration direction.
Mount the share on the Agent host.
Windows: map the network drive via Explorer or "net use" command. Linux: mount via cifs-utils (mount -t cifs //server/share /mnt/share -o credentials=/etc/smbcreds). The host needs to be domain-joined or have valid credentials for the share.
Configure the Agent.
In the Agent TOML config, set the root path to the mounted share. For Windows UNC paths the format is \\server\share; for mount points it's the local path. Choose permission_set based on migration direction.
Connect and migrate.
Create the Files.com Agent connection in Mover, run a dry run, launch when the numbers look right. The Agent reads or writes through the normal SMB stack.
Common Questions
Frequently asked.
Specific to SMB / CIFS. For the broader Agent FAQ (auto-update, logging, bandwidth limits, etc.), see the Files.com Agent page.
Do I need the Agent host to be domain-joined?
Not strictly. The Agent host needs valid credentials to mount the SMB share — that can be via Active Directory domain membership (most common) or local credentials cached for the share. Either works.
What about NTFS ACLs and share-level permissions?
NTFS ACLs don't transfer to most cloud destinations — cloud platforms have their own permission models (S3 ACLs/policies, OneDrive/SharePoint sharing, etc.). Mover migrates file content; access controls are re-established on the destination side.
Can I migrate DFS namespace shares?
Yes. Mount the DFS path on the Agent host the same way any client would. The Agent reads through the resolved share without needing to understand the DFS layer.
What about long file names or paths past 260 characters?
Long-path support depends on the Agent host's configuration. On Windows, enable long-path support in Group Policy or the registry. The Agent itself handles long paths; the limitation is the host OS.
Reached through the Files.com Agent
SMB / CIFS Shares migrations run the same way as every other Agent setup.
The Agent is the same component across every on-prem or network-share source. Install once, point at a path, migrate to any of the 20+ Mover destinations.
Run a dry run before any data moves.
Connect SMB / CIFS via the Agent, run a free dry run, see the exact size, file count, and price.