Authentication Manager Backup Fails with "Failed to Validate Remote Location" on Windows Shared Folder
8 days ago
Originally Published: 2015-04-15
Article Number
000055977
Applies To
RSA Product Set: SecurID
RSA Product/Service Type: Authentication Manager
RSA Version/Condition: 8.x
Issue
When configuring a Windows Shared Folder as a backup destination in the RSA Authentication Manager Operations Console, the backup validation fails and returns an error.
 
Symptoms:
  • Navigating to Maintenance > Backup and Restore > Manage Backups and selecting Windows Shared Folder as the backup location returns the following error: Failed to validate remote location
  • The backup does not complete and no backup file is created on the shared folder
  • The System Log report shows the following error entry:
ERROR    26113    Create backup via OC    Operations Console administrator “RSAAdmin” 
attempted to create a backup at “\\sample.com\RSA_Backup\201504151135.RSAbackup”    
Failure Unexcepted exception caught    RSAAdmin    UNEXPECTED_EXCEPTION    testAM81pri.kangnet.local
ℹ️ NOTE: To access the System Log report, navigate to Reporting > System Log in the Operations Console.
 
Cause
The "Failed to Validate Remote Location" error is caused by one or more configuration issues between the Authentication Manager appliance and the Windows Shared Folder. This commonly occurs when the backup destination is configured in the Operations Console without first verifying network connectivity, authentication protocol compatibility, or shared folder permissions. The three most frequent root causes are:
 
  • NTLMv2 policy enforcement — The Windows server's local or group security policy requires NTLMv2 but the Authentication Manager version does not support it

 

  • DNS resolution failure — Authentication Manager cannot resolve the Windows server hostname used in the shared folder path

 

  • Insufficient directory permissions — The user account configured for the shared folder does not have write access to the backup destination directory
ℹ️ NOTE: NTLMv2 support was introduced in RSA Authentication Manager 8.1 SP1 Patch 1. If you are running an earlier version, NTLMv2 policy enforcement will always cause this error.
 
Resolution
Phase 1 — Test Network Connectivity:
 
Step 1: In the Operations Console, navigate to Administration > Network > Network Tools and ping the Windows Shared Folder server hostname.

 If the ping succeeds — proceed to Phase 2.

 

Phase 2 — Test Share Mount

Step 2: SSH  into the Authentication Manager primary server.

  •  

Step 3: Switch to the root user.
⚠️ CAUTION: The following command elevates your session to root. Proceed carefully.
sudo su -
Step 4: Create a temporary test directory for the mount: 
mkdir /opt/rsa/am/backup/test
Step 5: Attempt to mount the Windows Shared Folder to the test directory:
 
mount.cifs //<backup-server>/<share-name> /opt/rsa/am/backup/test -o user=<share-user>,domain=<domain-name>
Enter the remote share password when prompted.
  • ✅ If the mount succeeds — proceed to Phase 3.
  • 🚨 If the mount fails — proceed to Step 6 to test NTLMv2 authentication.
Step 6: If Step 5 failed, retry the mount with NTLMv2 authentication: 
mount.cifs //<backup-server>/<share-name> /opt/rsa/am/backup/test -o user=<share-user>,domain=<domain-name>,sec=ntlmssp
OR
mount.cifs //sample.com/Share /opt/rsa/am/backup/test -o user=<Share_User>,domain=<Name>, sec=ntlmsspi
 
ℹ️ NOTE: If this command succeeds but Step 5 failed, the Windows server is enforcing NTLMv2. Ensure you are running RSA Authentication Manager 8.1 SP1 Patch 1 or higher, which includes NTLMv2 support.
 
Phase 3 — Test Write Permissions
 
Step 7: Create a test file on the mounted share to verify write permissions:
echo "test" > /opt/rsa/am/backup/test/test.txt
Step 8: Confirm the test file was created successfully on the remote share:
ls /opt/rsa/am/backup/test/test.txt

 

✅ If the file is present — the share is mounted correctly and permissions are sufficient. Retry the backup configuration in the Operations Console.
 
🚨 If the file is not created — the user account does not have write permissions on the shared folder. Grant write access to the configured user account on the Windows server and retry.
 
Step 9 — Verify: Return to the Operations Console, navigate to Maintenance > Backup and Restore > Manage Backups, and re-run the backup. Confirm the backup completes successfully and the status no longer shows Failed to validate remote location.
 
Notes

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