File naming rules for files and directories

The following characters are not allowed to be used on Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2016 naming for File Shares. For more information, see the Microsoft WSS 2016 documentation for the latest information.

Fundamental naming rules

The following fundamental rules enable applications to create and process valid names for files and directories, regardless of the file system:

  • Use a period to separate the base file name from the extension in the name of a directory or file.
  • Use a backslash (\) to separate the components of a path. The backslash divides the file name from the path to it, and one directory name from another directory name in a path. You cannot use a backslash in the name for the actual file or directory because it is a reserved character that separates the names into components.
  • Use a backslash as required as part of volume names, for example, the C:\ in C:\path\file or the \\server\share in \\server\share\path\file for Universal Naming Convention (UNC) names. For more information about UNC names, see the Maximum Path Length Limitation.
  • Do not assume case sensitivity. For example, consider the names OSCAR, Oscar, and oscar to be the same, even though some file systems (such as a POSIX-compliant file system) may consider them as different. NTFS supports POSIX semantics for case sensitivity but not the default behavior. For more information, see Create File.
  • Volume designators (drive letters) are similarly case-insensitive. For example, D:\ and d:\ refer to the same volume.
  • Use any character in the current code page for a name, including Unicode characters and characters in the extended character set (128-255), except for the following reserved characters:
    • < (less than)

    • > (greater than)

    • : (colon)

    • " (double quote)

    • / (forward slash)
    • \ (backslash)
    • | (vertical bar or pipe)
    • ? (question mark)
    • * (asterisk)
    • Integer value zero, sometimes referred to as the ASCII NUL character.
    • Any other character that the target file system does not allow.
  • Use a period as a directory component in a path to represent the current directory, for example .\temp.txt.
  • Use two consecutive periods (..) as a directory component in a path to represent the parent of the current directory, for example ..\temp.txt.
  • Do not use the following reserved names for the name of a file:
    • CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM1, COM2, COM3, COM4, COM5, COM6, COM7, COM8, COM9, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, LPT4, LPT5, LPT6, LPT7, LPT8, and LPT9. Also avoid these names followed immediately by an extension; for example, NUL.txt is not recommended.
  • Do not end a file or directory name with a space or a period. Although the underlying file system may support such names, the Windows shell and user interface do not. However, it is acceptable to specify a period as the first character of a name. For example, ".temp".

HPE StoreEasy management console supported characters

In HPE StoreEasy management console, support for UTF-8 characters is limited to 1 Byte and 2 Byte character sets.

HPE StoreEasy management console does not support 3 Byte or 4 Byte Character sets.

You cannot use the following characters in File shares, Quotas, and Quota templates names:

  • Back slash (\)
  • Front slash (/)
  • Colon (:)
  • Question (?)
  • Double quotes (")
  • Greater Than (>)
  • Lesser Than (<)
  • Caret (^)
  • Ampersand (&)
  • Apostrophe (')
  • Ampersand (@)
  • Brackets ({ }, [ ], ( ) )
  • Comma (,)
  • Dollar Sign ($)
  • Equal (=)
  • Exclamation (!)
  • Hyphen (-)
  • Hash (#)
  • Percent (%)
  • Tilde (~)
  • Backtick (`)
  • Pipe (|)

If you have created File shares, Quotas, and Quota templates names using Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2016 and the naming rules are not followed then:

  • Names are displayed with blanks or unresolvable images or characters.

  • Operations in the HPE StoreEasy management console fails

  • Actions are blocked and error messages are displayed. In the error messages, specific characters that caused the failure are not identified.