Who's amazing with Samba?

[Jayce]

I want to freely exchange files between my XP Pro laptop and my Ubuntu desktop. I set it up this evening, made a username/password on my machine, etc. I named the samba "sambadesktop."

The how-to guide I followed said on my XP computer to do a \\sambadesktop @ the run box. So I did. But inside, all I see is "printers and faxes" when I expected my home directory to be there.

In my smb.conf file, where can I edit the path to say /home/jason? I know there's a way somehow, yet as I look through it I see multiple paths, all of which I don't think are wise to touch until I know for sure what I'm doing. Any input?

 

[CalcProgrammer1]

I've successfully configured it on my Linux PC's to work with my Windows (95/98SE/XP/Vista/Mobile 6) network just fine. Here's my smb.conf file:

#===================================
[global]
workgroup = HOME NETWORK
netbios name = Adam_Laptop
server string = Adam's Laptop (Ubuntu)
dns proxy = no
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 1000
syslog = 0
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d

security = share
username map = /etc/samba/smbusers
encrypt passwords = false

passdb backend = tdbsam guest
obey pam restrictions = yes

invalid users = root

passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\sUNIX\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\sUNIX\spassword:* %n\n .
socket options = TCP_NODELAY
domain master = no

wins support = no
[Desktop]
comment = Desktop
path = /home/adam/Desktop
public = yes
create mask = 0777
directory mask = 0777
writable= yes
force user = nobody
force group = nogroup
#===================================
available = yes
browsable = yes

netbios name is the name of your PC. It can't have spaces or certain special characters.
server string is the PC description.
workgroup is obviously the name of your workgroup.

Put network shares in []'s. [Desktop] means that when you browse to the PC on another PC, you'll see a folder called Desktop, which will be the folder in "path". Public means no password (I think, not sure).

 

[Jayce]

#
# Sample configuration file for the Samba suite for Debian GNU/Linux.
#
#
# This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the
# smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed
# here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options most of which 
# are not shown in this example
#
# Any line which starts with a ; (semi-colon) or a # (hash) 
# is a comment and is ignored. In this example we will use a #
# for commentary and a ; for parts of the config file that you
# may wish to enable
#
# NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command
# "testparm" to check that you have not made any basic syntactic 
# errors. 
#

#======================= Global Settings =======================

[global]

## Browsing/Identification ###

# Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will part of
   workgroup = WORKGROUP
   netbios name = sambadesktop

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
   server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable its WINS Server
;   wins support = no

# WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client
# Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but NOT both
;   wins server = w.x.y.z

# This will prevent nmbd to search for NetBIOS names through DNS.
   dns proxy = no

# What naming service and in what order should we use to resolve host names
# to IP addresses
;   name resolve order = lmhosts host wins bcast

#### Networking ####

# The specific set of interfaces / networks to bind to
# This can be either the interface name or an IP address/netmask;
# interface names are normally preferred
;   interfaces = 127.0.0.0/8 eth0

# Only bind to the named interfaces and/or networks; you must use the
# 'interfaces' option above to use this.
# It is recommended that you enable this feature if your Samba machine is
# not protected by a firewall or is a firewall itself.  However, this
# option cannot handle dynamic or non-broadcast interfaces correctly.
;   bind interfaces only = true



#### Debugging/Accounting ####

# This tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine
# that connects
   log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m

# Put a capping on the size of the log files (in Kb).
   max log size = 1000

# If you want Samba to only log through syslog then set the following
# parameter to 'yes'.
;   syslog only = no

# We want Samba to log a minimum amount of information to syslog. Everything
# should go to /var/log/samba/log.{smbd,nmbd} instead. If you want to log
# through syslog you should set the following parameter to something higher.
   syslog = 0

# Do something sensible when Samba crashes: mail the admin a backtrace
   panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d


####### Authentication #######

# "security = user" is always a good idea. This will require a Unix account
# in this server for every user accessing the server. See
# /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/ServerType.html
# in the samba-doc package for details.
;   security = user

# You may wish to use password encryption.  See the section on
# 'encrypt passwords' in the smb.conf(5) manpage before enabling.
   encrypt passwords = true

# If you are using encrypted passwords, Samba will need to know what
# password database type you are using.  
   passdb backend = tdbsam

   obey pam restrictions = yes

;   guest account = nobody
   invalid users = root

# This boolean parameter controls whether Samba attempts to sync the Unix
# password with the SMB password when the encrypted SMB password in the
# passdb is changed.
;   unix password sync = no

# For Unix password sync to work on a Debian GNU/Linux system, the following
# parameters must be set (thanks to Ian Kahan <<kahan@informatik.tu-muenchen.de> for
# sending the correct chat script for the passwd program in Debian Sarge).
   passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
   passwd chat = *Enter\snew\sUNIX\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\sUNIX\spassword:* %n\n *passwd:*password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .

# This boolean controls whether PAM will be used for password changes
# when requested by an SMB client instead of the program listed in
# 'passwd program'. The default is 'no'.
;   pam password change = no

########## Domains ###########

# Is this machine able to authenticate users. Both PDC and BDC
# must have this setting enabled. If you are the BDC you must
# change the 'domain master' setting to no
#
;   domain logons = yes
#
# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the location of the user's profile directory
# from the client point of view)
# The following required a [profiles] share to be setup on the
# samba server (see below)
;   logon path = \\%N\profiles\%U
# Another common choice is storing the profile in the user's home directory
;   logon path = \\%N\%U\profile

# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the location of a user's home directory (from the client
# point of view)
;   logon drive = H:
;   logon home = \\%N\%U

# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the script to run during logon. The script must be stored
# in the [netlogon] share
# NOTE: Must be store in 'DOS' file format convention
;   logon script = logon.cmd

# This allows Unix users to be created on the domain controller via the SAMR
# RPC pipe.  The example command creates a user account with a disabled Unix
# password; please adapt to your needs
; add user script = /usr/sbin/adduser --quiet --disabled-password --gecos "" %u

########## Printing ##########

# If you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
;   load printers = yes

# lpr(ng) printing. You may wish to override the location of the
# printcap file
;   printing = bsd
;   printcap name = /etc/printcap

# CUPS printing.  See also the cupsaddsmb(8) manpage in the
# cupsys-client package.
;   printing = cups
;   printcap name = cups

# When using [print$], root is implicitly a 'printer admin', but you can
# also give this right to other users to add drivers and set printer
# properties
;   printer admin = @lpadmin


############ Misc ############

# Using the following line enables you to customise your configuration
# on a per machine basis. The %m gets replaced with the netbios name
# of the machine that is connecting
;   include = /home/samba/etc/smb.conf.%m

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See smb.conf(5) and /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/speed.html
# for details
# You may want to add the following on a Linux system:
#         SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
   socket options = TCP_NODELAY

# The following parameter is useful only if you have the linpopup package
# installed. The samba maintainer and the linpopup maintainer are
# working to ease installation and configuration of linpopup and samba.
;   message command = /bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/linpopup "%f" "%m" %s; rm %s' &

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. If this
# machine will be configured as a BDC (a secondary logon server), you
# must set this to 'no'; otherwise, the default behavior is recommended.
;   domain master = auto

# Some defaults for winbind (make sure you're not using the ranges
# for something else.)
;   idmap uid = 10000-20000
;   idmap gid = 10000-20000
;   template shell = /bin/bash
;
; The following was the default behaviour in sarge
; but samba upstream reverted the default because it might induce
; performance issues in large organizations
; See #368251 for some of the consequences of *not* having
; this setting and smb.conf(5) for all details
;
;   winbind enum groups = yes
;   winbind enum users = yes

#======================= Share Definitions =======================

# Un-comment the following (and tweak the other settings below to suit)
# to enable the default home directory shares.  This will share each
# user's home directory as \\server\username
;[homes]
;   comment = Home Directories
;   browseable = yes

# By default, \\server\username shares can be connected to by anyone
# with access to the samba server.  Un-comment the following parameter
# to make sure that only "username" can connect to \\server\username
# This might need tweaking when using external authentication schemes
;   valid users = %S

# By default, the home directories are exported read-only. Change next
# parameter to 'yes' if you want to be able to write to them.
;   writable = yes

# File creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create files with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
;   create mask = 0700

# Directory creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create dirs. with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
;   directory mask = 0700

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
;[netlogon]
;   comment = Network Logon Service
;   path = /home/samba/netlogon
;   guest ok = yes
;   writable = no
;   share modes = no

# Un-comment the following and create the profiles directory to store
# users profiles (see the "logon path" option above)
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
# The path below should be writable by all users so that their
# profile directory may be created the first time they log on
;[profiles]
;   comment = Users profiles
;   path = /home/samba/profiles
;   guest ok = no
;   browseable = no
;   create mask = 0600
;   directory mask = 0700

[printers]
   comment = All Printers
   browseable = no
   path = /var/spool/samba
   printable = yes
   public = no
   writable = no
   create mode = 0700

# Windows clients look for this share name as a source of downloadable
# printer drivers
[print$]
   comment = Printer Drivers
   path = /var/lib/samba/printers
   browseable = yes
   read only = yes
   guest ok = no
# Uncomment to allow remote administration of Windows print drivers.
# Replace 'ntadmin' with the name of the group your admin users are
# members of.
;   write list = root, @ntadmin

# A sample share for sharing your CD-ROM with others.
;[cdrom]
;   comment = Samba server's CD-ROM
;   writable = no
;   locking = no
;   path = /cdrom
;   public = yes

# The next two parameters show how to auto-mount a CD-ROM when the
#	cdrom share is accesed. For this to work /etc/fstab must contain
#	an entry like this:
#
#       /dev/scd0   /cdrom  iso9660 defaults,noauto,ro,user   0 0
#
# The CD-ROM gets unmounted automatically after the connection to the
#
# If you don't want to use auto-mounting/unmounting make sure the CD
#	is mounted on /cdrom
#
;   preexec = /bin/mount /cdrom
;   postexec = /bin/umount /cdrom

Before I just copy your's and wing it, I'm going to try and figure mine out cause I know it's a minor issue.

Which one to I edit to /home/jason? I want to hit \\sambadesktop from the laptop and find my home directory and read/write anything I want. Which path do I change? Profiles?

 

[horndude]

all you need is this in there somewhere:

[jason]
path = /home/jason
writeable = yes
browseable = yes

or you can use the default "[homes]" entry which is normally included but commented out, if its active all home files will be seen

and make sure you add the samba password you want to use or you will get denied access:

smbpsswd -a <username>

 

[Jayce]

Wow. That did it. Thanks dude.

I should have known it too... I wonder why the how-to guide I was using didn't specify that.

Samba actually seems really easy to set up. It sounds like all I have to do is install it, establish a user via terminal, edit the config file like it was stated above, then use the appropriate connection path (i.e. in my case \\sambadesktop @ run prompt) and log in. Change your permissions to write as well.

Bam. Done. Great. Awesome!

Thanks to all of you. Cheers!

 

[horndude]

ya, it isn't hard, its another one of those "linux" things that seems hard and overwhelming but it isn't, plus lots of guys get freaked out about having to edit a text file------well, linux is entirely configured using text files, the GUI's ubuntu and others use do nothing more than modify text files to configure the system

with samba its edit the smb.conf file and add the directory you want to share, set the network restrictions, add the buffer stuff if you want(makes initial connection to windows faster), then do a quick commandline passwd addition to samba then restart samba--*poof* its done

 

[Jayce]

I'm not at home by now to verify this but I was wondering, can I add more paths to the list there? It'd be nice to make several paths so that way I can have my brothers and mother just type in the run box \\sambadesktop, click on their designated folder, and throw stuff over to back it up.

Is that possible? Or is only one path able to be used?

 

[horndude]

you can add as many directories as you want, what you can't do is add more than one server name or workgroup name

its pretty common to use the [homes] entry and have all home directories available for this very reason, that way everyone can have their own account on the fileserver, but you can do it individually as well

example

[jasons mom]
path = /home/jasonsmom
browseable = yes
writeable = yes

[jasons sister]
path = /home/jasonssister
browseable = yes
writeable = yes

that would add one for your mom and a sister, and by adding different passwords you can limit access, each user gets there own password which samba will verify before it allows access, you would just add more password entries by using the command:

smbpasswd -a <username> .........and add their usernames

the first part --------> [jason] for example, this is what will be seen when you click on network places in windows, each entry you have will be seen

the path entry sets where samba will serve from and allow access

browseable allows others or just the user to look around inside that directory

writeable allows the user to change or erase or add files

printable allows you to print files from there

samba also allows you to share the printer(s) connected to the linux box in the same fashion

just make sure whatever paths and users you add actually have an account already setup on the linux box beforehand if you want each one to have their own home directory account, and you can set all this up with just one password for everyone or each person can have their own password, samba is pretty flexible and easy to deal with

if you want a GUI to administer samba, look up a program called SWAT

 

[horndude]

always make sure you restart samba too after making changes or they won't take effect till you do, you don't have to reboot the whole machine

there's two types of init scripts in linux, redhats style and bsd style, both have samba scripts in /etc, simply find out where it is and do something like this:
for bsd style as root:
/etc/rc.d/rc.samba restart

samba actually runs as two separate daemons, samba itself and the nfs or nmb? daemon which is the network file service daemon ( I think ), the commandline window will show them restarting when you restart samba

 

[Jayce]

Horn - I didn't realize that. But I was doing individual commands for "start" and "stop." Is that the same effect??