Chapter 2. How to Install and Test SAMBA

Andrew Tridgell

Samba Team

Jelmer R. Vernooij

The Samba Team

Karl Auer

Table of Contents

Obtaining and installing samba
Configuring samba
Editing the smb.conf file
SWAT
Try listing the shares available on your server
Try connecting with the unix client
Try connecting from a DOS, WfWg, Win9x, WinNT, Win2k, OS/2, etc... client
What If Things Don't Work?

Obtaining 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.

If you need to compile samba from source, check the appropriate appendix chapter.

Configuring samba

Samba's configuration is stored in the smb.conf file, that 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.

Editing the smb.conf file

There are sample configuration files in the examples subdirectory in the distribution. I suggest you read them carefully so you can see how the options go together in practice. See the man page for all the options.

The simplest useful configuration file would be something like this:

[global]
	workgroup = MYGROUP

[homes]
	guest ok = no
	read only = no
	

which would allow connections by anyone with an account on the server, using either their login name or "homes" as the service name. (Note that I also set the workgroup that Samba is part of. See BROWSING.txt for details)

Make sure you put the smb.conf file in the same place you specified in theMakefile (the default is to look for it in /usr/local/samba/lib/).

For more information about security settings for the [homes] share please refer to the chapter Securing Samba.

Test your config file with testparm

It's important that you test the validity of your smb.conf file using the testparm program. If testparm runs OK then it will list the loaded services. If not it will give an error message.

Make sure it runs OK and that the services look reasonable before proceeding.

Always run testparm again when you change smb.conf!

SWAT

SWAT is a web-based interface that helps you configure samba. SWAT might not be available in the samba package on 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 at "http://localhost:901/". Replace localhost with the name of the computer you are running samba on if you are running samba on a different computer than your browser.

Note that you can attach to SWAT from any IP connected machine but connecting from a remote machine leaves your connection open to password sniffing as passwords will be sent in the clear over the wire.

Try listing the shares available on your server

$ smbclient -L yourhostname

You should get back a list of shares available on your server. If you don't then something is incorrectly setup. Note that this method can also be used to see what shares are available on other LanManager clients (such as WfWg).

If you choose user level security then 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 -U% to the command line. This will not work with non-Samba servers)

Try connecting with the unix client

$ smbclient //yourhostname/aservice

Typically the yourhostname would be the name of the host where you installed smbd. The aservice is any service you have defined in the smb.conf file. Try your user name if you just have a [homes] section in smb.conf.

For example if your unix host is bambi and your login name is fred you would type:

$ smbclient //bambi/fred

Try connecting from a DOS, WfWg, Win9x, WinNT, Win2k, OS/2, etc... client

Try mounting disks. eg:

C:\WINDOWS\> net use d: \\servername\service

Try printing. eg:

C:\WINDOWS\> net use lpt1: \\servername\spoolservice

C:\WINDOWS\> print filename

What If Things Don't Work?

Then you might read the file chapter Diagnosis and the FAQ. If you are still stuck then try to follow the Analysing and Solving Problems chapter Samba has been successfully installed at thousands of sites worldwide, so maybe someone else has hit your problem and has overcome it.