&author.tridge;
&author.jelmer;
&author.jht;
&author.kauer;
&author.danshearer;
How to Install and Test SAMBAObtaining and Installing Samba
Binary packages of Samba are included in almost any Linux or
UNIX distribution. There are also some packages available at
the Samba homepage. Refer to
the manual of your operating system for details on installing packages
for your specific operating system.
If you need to compile Samba from source, check
.Configuring Samba (smb.conf)
Samba's configuration is stored in the &smb.conf; file, which
usually resides in /etc/samba/smb.conf
or /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf. You can either
edit this file yourself or do it using one of the many graphical
tools that are available, such as the Web-based interface SWAT, that
is included with Samba.
Configuration file syntaxThe &smb.conf; file uses the same syntax as the various old
.ini files in Windows 3.1: Each file consists of various sections,
which are started by putting the section name between brackets ([])
on a new line. Each contains zero or more key/value-pairs seperated by an
equality sign (=). The file is just a plain-text file, so you can
open and edit it with your favorite editing tool.Each section in the &smb.conf; file represents a share
on the Samba server. The section global is special, since it
contains settings that apply to the whole Samba server and not
to one share in particular. contains a very minimal &smb.conf;.
minimal configurationA minimal smb.conf[global]workgroupWKGnetbios nameMYNAME[share1]path/tmp[share2]path/my_shared_foldercommentSome random filesExample Configuration
There are sample configuration files in the examples subdirectory in the
distribution. It is suggested you read them carefully so you can see how the options
go together in practice. See the man page for all the options.
It might be worthwhile to start out with the smb.conf.default
configuration file and adapt it to your needs. It contains plenty of
comments.
The simplest useful configuration file would contain something like shown in
.
simple configurationAnother simple smb.conf File[global]workgroup&example.workgroup;[homes]guest oknoread onlyno
This will allow connections by anyone with an account on the server, using either
their login name or homes as the service name.
(Note: The workgroup that Samba should appear in must also be set. The default
workgroup name is WORKGROUP.)
Make sure you put the &smb.conf; file in the correct place.
For more information about security settings for the
[homes] share please refer to
.
Test Your Config File with testparm
It's important to validate the contents of the &smb.conf; file using the &testparm; program.
If testparm runs correctly, it will list the loaded services. If not, it will give an error message.
Make sure it runs correctly and that the services look reasonable before proceeding. Enter the command:
&rootprompt; testparm /etc/samba/smb.conf
Testparm will parse your configuration file and report
any unknown parameters or incorrect syntax.
Always run testparm again whenever the &smb.conf; file is changed!
SWATswat
SWAT is a Web-based interface that can be used to facilitate the configuration of Samba.
SWAT might not be available in the Samba package that shipped with your platform,
but in a separate package. Please read the SWAT manpage
on compiling, installing and configuring SWAT from source.
To launch SWAT, just run your favorite Web browser and point it to
http://localhost:901/.
Replace localhost with the name of the computer on which
Samba is running if that is a different computer than your browser.
SWAT can be used from a browser on any IP-connected machine, but be aware that connecting from a remote
machine leaves your connection open to password sniffing as passwords will be sent over the wire in the clear.
More information about SWAT can be found in .List Shares Available on the Server
To list shares that are available from the configured Samba server execute the
following command:
&prompt;smbclient -L yourhostnameYou should see a list of shares available on your server. If you do not, then
something is incorrectly configured. This method can also be used to see what shares
are available on other SMB servers, such as Windows 2000.If you choose user-level security you may find that Samba requests a password
before it will list the shares. See the smbclient man page for details.
You can force it to list the shares without a password by adding the option
to the command line. Connect with a UNIX Client
Enter the following command:
&prompt;smbclient //yourhostname/aserviceTypically yourhostname is the name of the host on which &smbd;
has been installed. The aservice is any service that has been defined in the &smb.conf;
file. Try your user name if you just have a [homes] section in the &smb.conf; file.Example: If the UNIX host is called bambi and a valid login name
is fred, you would type:
&prompt;smbclient //bambi/fredConnect from a Remote SMB ClientNow that Samba is working correctly locally, you can try to
access it from other clients. Within a few minutes, the Samba host
should be listed in the Network Neighborhood on all Windows
clients of its subnet. Try browsing the server from another client
or 'mounting' it.Mounting disks from a DOS, Windows or OS/2 client can be done by running a command such as:
&dosprompt;net use d: \\servername\serviceTry printing, e.g.
&dosprompt;net use lpt1: \\servername\spoolservice&dosprompt;print filenameWhat If Things Don't Work?You might want to read .
If you are still stuck, refer to .
Samba has been successfully installed at thousands of sites worldwide.
It is unlikely that your particular problem is unique, so it might be
productive to perform an Internet search to see if someone else has encountered
your problem and has found a way to overcome it.Common Errors
The following questions and issues are raised repeatedly on the Samba mailing list.
Large Number of smbd Processes
Samba consists of three core programs: &nmbd;, &smbd;, and &winbindd;. &nmbd; is the name server message daemon,
&smbd; is the server message daemon, and &winbindd; is the daemon that handles communication with Domain Controllers.
If Samba is not running as a WINS server, then there will be one single instance of
&nmbd; running on your system. If it is running as a WINS server then there will be
two instances &smbmdash; one to handle the WINS requests.
&smbd; handles all connection requests. It spawns a new process for each client
connection made. That is why you may see so many of them, one per client connection.
&winbindd; will run as one or two daemons, depending on whether or not it is being
run in split mode (in which case there will be two instances).
Error Message: open_oplock_ipcAn error message is observed in the log files when &smbd; is started: open_oplock_ipc: Failed to get local UDP socket
for address 100007f. Error was Cannot assign requested.Your loopback device isn't working correctly. Make sure it is configured correctly. The loopback
device is an internal (virtual) network device with the IP address 127.0.0.1.
Read your OS documentation for details on how to configure the loopback on your system.The network name cannot be found
This error can be caused by one of these misconfigurations:
You specified an nonexisting path
for the share in &smb.conf;.The user you are trying to access the share with does not
have sufficient permissions to access the path for
the share. Both read (r) and access (x) should be possible.The share you are trying to access does not exist.