---
title: "Managing SMB Open Files"
slug: "managing-smb-open-files"
tags: ["5.4"]
updated: 2026-10-28T01:53:34Z
published: 2026-10-28T01:53:34Z
canonical: "docs.vastdata.com/managing-smb-open-files"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vastdata.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Managing SMB Open Files

**NOTE**: This feature is available starting with VAST Cluster 5.4.1.

For each SMB-enabled view, you can list all open files and/or SMB byte-range locks for a certain directory and unlock the files as needed. The following actions are supported:

- List all open files and directories under a certain path
- Close selected files or folders (will close all open handles on files)
- Unlock all SMB byte-range locks on selected files
- List all open handles of a single chosen file or folder
- Release selected open handles of a single chosen file or folder

To list open files, you run an open file query. You can create a new query or select one of queries that you've run previously.

- [Managing Open SMB Files in VAST Web UI](/docs-5-4/docs/managing-smb-open-files-tg#managing-open-smb-files-in-vast-web-ui)
- [Managing Open SMB Files in VAST CLI](/docs-5-4/docs/managing-smb-open-files-tg#managing-open-smb-files-in-vast-cli)

## Managing Open SMB Files in VAST Web UI

- [Run an Open File Query](/docs-5-4/docs/managing-smb-open-files-tg#run-an-open-file-query)
- [View All Open Handles for a File](/docs-5-4/docs/managing-smb-open-files-tg#view-all-open-handles-for-a-file)
- [Close Open Handles](/docs-5-4/docs/managing-smb-open-files-tg#close-open-handles)
- [Release Byte-Range Locks for a File](/docs-5-4/docs/managing-smb-open-files-tg#release-byterange-locks-for-a-file)

### Run an Open File Query

To search for open files on an SMB view:

1. From the left navigation menu, select **Element Store** and then **Views** to open the **Views** page.
2. Right-click an SMB-enabled view and choose **Open SMB Files** -> **SMB Locks & Open Handles** to open the **SMB Locks & Open Handles** dialog.
3. Do either of the following:
  - If you want to create and run a new query, use the **Define query** pane:
    - In the **File prefix** field, enter the path to the directory to search for open files.
    - This field is prepopulated with a path to the current view's root directory. Append it with a relative path to the directory you want. If you omit the ending slash, it will be added automatically when processing the query.
    - Note that the search will not include subdirectories.
    - Select **Return only files with byte-range-locks** if you want the query to return only files that have SMB byte-range locks on them. If this checkbox is not selected, both open handles and byte-range locks are displayed.
    - Click **Start query**.
  - If you want to rerun one of prior queries, select the query you want in the **Past queries** pane and click **Start query**.

- VAST Cluster runs the query and displays a list of open files. For each file, there is an indication whether it has SMB byte-range locks on it.

### View All Open Handles for a File

To list all open handles for a file included in open file query results:

- Right-click the file and choose **List All Open Handles**.

A list of open handles for the file is displayed, including the following information per handle:

| **Client IP** | The IP address of the client. |
| --- | --- |
| **Share Access** | SMB share permissions. |
| **Username** | The name of the user for which the handle was created. |
| **Session ID** | The ID of the session where the handle was created. |
| **Unique ID** | The unique ID of the handle. |
| **Has Locks** | Indicates whether the file has byte-range locks on it. |
| **Access mask** | A list of SMB access masks. |
| **Lease** | Indicates whether there is a lease on the file. |

### Close Open Handles

To close all open handles and release all SMB byte-range locks for a file:

1. [Run](/docs-5-4/docs/managing-smb-open-files-tg#run-an-open-file-query) an open file query for the path where the file resides.
2. Right-click the file in the query results and choose **Close All Handles and Locks**.

To close one or more specific handles for a file included in open file query results:

1. [Run](/docs-5-4/docs/managing-smb-open-files-tg#run-an-open-file-query) an open file query for the path where the path resides.
2. Right-click the file in the query results and choose **List All Open Handles** to [view](/docs-5-4/docs/managing-smb-open-files-tg#view-all-open-handles-for-a-file) a list of open handles for the file.
3. Select one or more handles you want to close. Up to five handles can be selected.
4. Right-click the selection and choose the option to close handles.
5. Click **Yes** in the confirmation prompt.

### Release Byte-Range Locks for a File

To release byte-range locks for a file:

1. [Run](/docs-5-4/docs/managing-smb-open-files-tg#run-an-open-file-query) an open file query for the path where the file resides.
2. Right-click the file in the query results and choose **Release Byte-Range Locks**.

## Managing Open SMB Files in VAST CLI

Use the following VAST CLI commands to manage SMB open files:

| Create a query to search for open files | `openfilesquery create` |
| --- | --- |
| Delete an open file query | `openfilesquery delete` |
| List open file queries | `openfilesquery list` |
| View details of an open file query | `openfilesquery show` |
| Run an open file query | `openfilesquery list-open-files` |
| Close an open file | `openfilesquery close-open-file` |
| Retrieve open file handles for a file | `openfilesquery query-open-file-handles` |
| View open file handles for a file | `openfilesquery list-open-file-handles` |
| Close a particular file handle | `openfilesquery close-open-file-handle` |