HOWTO: Setup Samba peer-to-peer with Windows

[TechMansoor]

Hello Januszky --

Doh! I forgot to add the -d switch to the ls command -- this tells ls to output the info for the directory itself (which is what we need), instead of just the directory contents (which we don't need just now, maybe not at all). So, if you could also post the results of the following, it would be much appreciated!

ls -ld /etc/samba/private
ls -ld /etc/samba/public
ls -ld /etc/samba/tmp

The contents of your smbusers file raises numerous issues, which I don't have time to get into right at the moment -- I should have time later this evening, however. Hopefully by then you'll also have posted the ls -ld output, and we can really go to town!

Cheers,

-- Eiríkr

OK. so after trying all three of these commands, I get a " no such file or directory" error on all three commands. I'm guessing samba now isn't configured correctly or actually installed correctly perhaps?

Originally I did a sudo apt-get install samba and hoped for the best...

It appeared to install correctly indeed.

Thanks so much for your help guys thus far.. you guys are awesome!!!

[januszky]

Eirikr, here's the new output:

[root@Triboot ~]# ls -ld /usr/smbroot/private
drwxrwx--- 2 root private 4096 2009-02-04 23:32 /usr/smbroot/private/

[root@Triboot ~]# ls -ld /usr/smbroot/public
drwxrwx--- 2 root public 4096 2009-02-04 23:32 /usr/smbroot/public/

[root@Triboot ~]# ls -ld /usr/smbroot/tmp
drwxrwx--- 2 root root 4096 2009-02-05 14:31 /usr/smbroot/tmp/
[root@Triboot ~]#

Not to worry about not being able to get to this right way. My time is your time -- whenever.

j

[TechMansoor]

Eirikr, here's the new output:

[root@Triboot ~]# ls -ld /usr/smbroot/private
drwxrwx--- 2 root private 4096 2009-02-04 23:32 /usr/smbroot/private/

[root@Triboot ~]# ls -ld /usr/smbroot/public
drwxrwx--- 2 root public 4096 2009-02-04 23:32 /usr/smbroot/public/

[root@Triboot ~]# ls -ld /usr/smbroot/tmp
drwxrwx--- 2 root root 4096 2009-02-05 14:31 /usr/smbroot/tmp/
[root@Triboot ~]#

Not to worry about not being able to get to this right way. My time is your time -- whenever.

j

mansoor@LocalFileServer:/$ sudo ls -ld /usr/smbroot/private
ls: cannot access /usr/smbroot/private: No such file or directory
mansoor@LocalFileServer:/$ sudo ls -ld /usr/smbroot/public
ls: cannot access /usr/smbroot/public: No such file or directory
mansoor@LocalFileServer:/$ sudo ls -ld/usr/smbroot/tmp
ls: invalid option -- '/'
Try `ls --help' for more information.
mansoor@LocalFileServer:/$ sudo ls -ld /usr/smbroot/tmp
ls: cannot access /usr/smbroot/tmp: No such file or directory
mansoor@LocalFileServer:/$


Indeed, these directories doesn't appear to be installed..what is up with that?

[Eiríkr]

mansoor@LocalFileServer:/$ sudo ls -ld /usr/smbroot/private
ls: cannot access /usr/smbroot/private: No such file or directory
mansoor@LocalFileServer:/$ sudo ls -ld /usr/smbroot/public
ls: cannot access /usr/smbroot/public: No such file or directory
mansoor@LocalFileServer:/$ sudo ls -ld/usr/smbroot/tmp
ls: invalid option -- '/'
Try `ls --help' for more information.
mansoor@LocalFileServer:/$ sudo ls -ld /usr/smbroot/tmp
ls: cannot access /usr/smbroot/tmp: No such file or directory
mansoor@LocalFileServer:/$


Indeed, these directories doesn't appear to be installed..what is up with that?

Just time for a quick note before running out the door -- these ls -ld commands are specific to Januszky's setup -- you can ignore them.

And your "display not found" problems are because you're ssh-ing in. You need to add the -X flag (that's a capital "X") to your ssh command line to enable proper X GUI program functionality -- otherwise the GUI program tries to run on the machine you've ssh-ed to, only without the proper display envars set, which doesn't work too well, as you've noticed. Read up on man ssh if you're interested in more, or google for "ssh x tunnel" for what might be easier-to-understand material.

Cheers,

-- Eiríkr

[TechMansoor]

Just time for a quick note before running out the door -- these ls -ld commands are specific to Januszky's setup -- you can ignore them.

And your "display not found" problems are because you're ssh-ing in. You need to add the -X flag (that's a capital "X") to your ssh command line to enable proper X GUI program functionality -- otherwise the GUI program tries to run on the machine you've ssh-ed to, only without the proper display envars set, which doesn't work too well, as you've noticed. Read up on man ssh if you're interested in more, or google for "ssh x tunnel" for what might be easier-to-understand material.

Cheers,

-- Eiríkr

I'm using putty if that makes a difference.

[dmizer]

dmizer, I checked out the seond link and I am sorry but I'm not at that level. I only looked at the first 2-3 pages but not all 85. I gathered that it may be about a different approach with smbfs (which I know zero about). I know it is basic but not me . . . yet. So, please excuse my ignorance (not knowing). I'm an old guy who messed with a little DOS & BASIC decades ago and 'nix is new to me but I'm not uncomfortable with command line stuff given direction. I'm at a genuine beginning stage now.

If you can follow this howto, you can follow that one. All you need to do is follow the first post. It looks like a lot, but it's really only a few edits. If you follow it closely, you will have working access to your Windows computers.

If it's still too much for you, you might try a different approach. Use FTP instead of Samba for file sharing. Try the 5th link in my sig.

[dmizer]

Anyway, try sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf instead, and let us know what happens.

Any time you use a graphical interface, you should invoke SU priveleges with gksudo or you will likely get GTK errors.

gksudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf

This is important to note because Ubuntu does not have a root account by default.

More information here: http://linux.die.net/man/1/gksudo

It's also important to note that sometimes GUI text editors add invisible characters to files, so it's really not a good idea to use them for editing conf files.

[Eiríkr]

I'm using putty if that makes a difference.

It makes a huge difference -- this means you're sitting in front of a Windows computer, so no X-based (i.e. Linux GUI) programs will run. You'll have to use vim, emacs, nano, or pico instead, since these are terminal-based. My personal preference is vim, but pick your poison. There should be cheat-sheets easily findable online for the commands used in any of these.

Cheers,

-- Eiríkr

[erictherev]

In other distros I have used in the past, I was able to configure samba for sharing, then have my file share box just show up on the Win network without making any modifications to the Win machines on the network. I have transferred the same smb.conf from distro to distro and have always had good luck with this.

I recently upgraded my system from a 160Gb hdd to a 320Gb hdd, and when doing so, I managed to lose my smb.conf. Now, I'm having a hard time reconfiguring my system to share files over the Win network. In most other distro, I did this via the kcontrol panel, but in Kubuntu 8.1.0, this feature is gone.

I need help setting up my system so that it will just share to everyone, without passwords and without having to modify settings on the Win boxes.

Here's my smb.conf, if it helps at all.

[global]
    ; General server settings
    netbios name = HONOGHR
    server string =
    workgroup = GALACTIC_EMPIRE
    announce version = 5.0
    socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_KEEPALIVE SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192

    passdb backend = tdbsam
    security = user
    null passwords = true
    username map = /etc/samba/smbusers
    name resolve order = hosts wins bcast

    wins support = yes

    printing = CUPS
    printcap name = CUPS

    syslog = 1
    syslog only = yes

; NOTE: If you need access to the user home directories uncomment the
; lines below and adjust the settings to your hearts content.
;[homes]
    ;valid users = %S
    ;create mode = 0600
    ;directory mode = 0755
    ;browseable = no
    ;read only = no
    ;veto files = /*.{*}/.*/mail/bin/

; NOTE: Only needed if you run samba as a primary domain controller.
; Not needed as this config doesn't cover that matter.
;[netlogon]
    ;path = /var/lib/samba/netlogon
    ;admin users = Administrator
    ;valid users = %U
    ;read only = no

; NOTE: Again - only needed if you're running a primary domain controller.
;[Profiles]
    ;path = /var/lib/samba/profiles
    ;valid users = %U
    ;create mode = 0600
    ;directory mode = 0700
    ;writeable = yes
    ;browseable = no

; NOTE: Inside this place you may build a printer driver repository for
; Windows - I'll cover this topic in another HOWTO.
[print$]
    path = /var/lib/samba/printers
    browseable = yes
    guest ok = yes
    read only = yes
    write list = root
    create mask = 0664
    directory mask = 0775

[printers]
    path = /tmp
    printable = yes
    guest ok = yes
    browseable = no

; Uncomment if you need to share your CD-/DVD-ROM Drive
;[DVD-ROM Drive]
    ;path = /media/cdrom
    ;browseable = yes
    ;read only = yes
    ;guest ok = yes

[Comics]
path = /home/shared/Comics/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[Gaming]
path = /home/shared/Gaming/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[ISOs]
path = /home/shared/ISOs/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[LEGO]
path = /home/shared/LEGO/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[Music]
path = /home/shared/music/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[Setup]
path = /home/shared/Setup/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[Torrents]
path = /home/shared/torrents/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[dmizer]

In other distros I have used in the past, I was able to configure samba for sharing, then have my file share box just show up on the Win network without making any modifications to the Win machines on the network. I have transferred the same smb.conf from distro to distro and have always had good luck with this.

I recently upgraded my system from a 160Gb hdd to a 320Gb hdd, and when doing so, I managed to lose my smb.conf. Now, I'm having a hard time reconfiguring my system to share files over the Win network. In most other distro, I did this via the kcontrol panel, but in Kubuntu 8.1.0, this feature is gone.

I need help setting up my system so that it will just share to everyone, without passwords and without having to modify settings on the Win boxes.

This should work for you (note, the "wins support = no" is an extremely important change):

[global]
    ; General server settings
    netbios name = HONOGHR
    workgroup = GALACTIC_EMPIRE
    socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_KEEPALIVE SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192

    security = share
    name resolve order = hosts wins bcast

    wins support = no

    printing = CUPS
    printcap name = CUPS

    syslog = 1
    syslog only = yes

[print$]
    path = /var/lib/samba/printers
    browseable = yes
    guest ok = yes
    read only = yes
    write list = root
    create mask = 0664
    directory mask = 0775

[printers]
    path = /tmp
    printable = yes
    guest ok = yes
    browseable = no

[Comics]
path = /home/shared/Comics/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[Gaming]
path = /home/shared/Gaming/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[ISOs]
path = /home/shared/ISOs/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[LEGO]
path = /home/shared/LEGO/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[Music]
path = /home/shared/music/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[Setup]
path = /home/shared/Setup/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes

[Torrents]
path = /home/shared/torrents/
browseable = yes
read only = no
guest ok = yes