I've been stuck on this problem for the last couple of days and I can't find a solution on the internet that works.
I have a Windows Server 2012 instance running on Amazon AWS with a public IP address. I am using it as an SCCM (System Center 2012 Configuration Manager) Server (so it is a Domain Controller also). I realize that it's probably not best practice to use a public IP here, but I'm in a weird position where we are not connecting any of the Clients to the actual Domain (they are Workgroup computers all around the world). The goal here is to use SCCM to deploy software packages to all of the Clients, which are not on the same LAN/VPN/Domain.
This is my first time setting something up like this, so I followed this guide. I am able to get the Workgroup computers to show up in the SCCM Server Device list (via manual client install), but these Workgroup computers need access to the Server's shares to download the software packages. On Amazon, I opened all ports and allowed all IPs to communicate with the Server. I am able to RDP into the Server from any Workgroup computer using the IP address, but cannot access the Server's SMB shares even though I am attempting the connection with a Domain account with access to those shares.
I decided to see if I can even connect to the shares locally on the Server. Logging in with an account with administrator privileges, I can access \\localhost\shares without
a problem. But when I try to do \\X.X.X.X\shares,
it asks for user/pass (confirming that it is able to connect) and I put in the correct credentials for the account with administrator privileges (using DOMAIN\ACCOUNT), but it continually says that the user/pass is incorrect. After I click cancel, an error
comes up saying "Error Code 0x80004005 Unspecified Error".
It is crazy to me that the administrator account that is logged in cannot access the local shares via the public IP address... obviously no remote computer would be able to access the shares if the Server itself cannot. I have tried disabling the firewall, but this makes no difference. I am able to ping the IP from the Server and I get a response.
I have searched around the internet for a solution but nothing has worked. Here are some of the suggestions I've found (that have failed):
- Making sure "Client for Microsoft Networks" and "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is installed and enabled for the Ethernet Adapter
- Enabling NetBIOS over TCP/IP in IPv4 properties
- Ensuring IPv6 is disabled
- Server, TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper, and Workstation (services) are all running
Any ideas? Sorry for such a long post, just wanted to get as many details as I could. All help is appreciated. Thanks!
Shawn