Samba file server for OS X 10.9 or 10.10

[neufena2]

I run a small home server and have never had a problem setting up a Samba server for my Mac clients. Since upgrading to 14.04 (with Samba4) I have been unable to connect from either OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) or the new 10.10 (Yosemite) beta.

I've search all over the net for a guide to setting up a simple file server with Samba4 or a way to downgrade to Samba3. Has anyone out there managed to set up a a samba server accessible from the OS X versions I mentioned?

For now I have switched to Netatalk/AFP but would prefer to get Samba sorted out.

[Morbius1]

Please post the output of the following command from the Ubuntu machine:

testparm -s

Question: Are all your client machines running either Linux or OSX? If they are this becomes far far simpler than if you have to deal with Windows.

[neufena2]

All my clients are OS X, no Windows to worry about here. I've gone back the the default config then added one share, trying to keep things simple.

If I use Connect To Server in Finder with the direct smb:// url to the IP of the server then wait about 2 mins the login box appears. I enter my login details as I would log into the linux box and then press connect. After about 5-8 mins it will error out.

Here's the testparm -s output:

Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf
rlimit_max: increasing rlimit_max (1024) to minimum Windows limit (16384)
Processing section "[printers]"
Processing section "[print$]"
Processing section "[shares]"
Loaded services file OK.
Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE
[global]
server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)
server role = standalone server
map to guest = Bad User
obey pam restrictions = Yes
pam password change = Yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
unix password sync = Yes
syslog = 0
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 1000
dns proxy = No
usershare allow guests = Yes
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
idmap config * : backend = tdb


[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
create mask = 0700
printable = Yes
print ok = Yes
browseable = No


[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /var/lib/samba/printers


[shares]
comment = Shares
path = /mnt/WD/Shares
read only = No

[Morbius1]

If I use Connect To Server in Finder with the direct smb:// url to the IP of the server then wait about 2 mins the login box appears. I enter my login details as I would log into the linux box and then press connect. After about 5-8 mins it will error out.

So you''re using ip addresses not names. Even so that's a long wait.

Did you add the linux user to the samba password database:

sudo smbpasswd -a user-name

And do the Linux permissions allow access to that shared folder by that user:

ls -al /mnt/WD

EDIT: There was an odd bug some time ago about smb://ip-address. I never experienced it myself but the solution was to use cifs://ip-address instead. It may have been fixed by now so this may no longer be relevant.

[neufena2]

I can use DNS if that helps but I thought I'd try as simple as possible.

I added the user and password but no change.

The /mnt/WD/Shares folder is world 777 so no permission issues.

I tried cifs:// but that did not work either. Also I believe that forces OS X to use SMB1 which is very slow.

I'm going to try and get some logs recorded to see if that give any ideas

[Morbius1]

Using ip addresses is the most direct and eficient way. I thought this was more a host discovery question in the beginning but now it seems to be something else.

You might want to disable the firewall on Ubuntu if you've done anything with it just to see if it's in the way here.

When you say it "errors out" what is the error message you get?

EDIT: you can ping the ip address of the Ubuntu server , right?

[neufena2]

The more I look into it the more it seems to be an OS X issue. The only other client I have available is Android, I tried that and it works perfectly.

I'll try and find a good Mac forum to try from that side.

[neufena2]

I've taken my mac into my office to try with a Samba 3.6.3 server. It connects quickly with no problems so I'm back looking at Samba 4 being the issue.

I've taken a copy of the work smb.conf and will see if matching the config on the home server makes any difference. If not I'll be looking for a way to downgrade to Samba 3.

[Morbius1]

All I can tell you is that in my network everything works just as it did with Samba3. In fact I set up an avahi ( the Linux Bonjour ) service file for samba so that the Linux host automatically shows up under Shares in Finder so that the OSX users don't have to use "Connect to Server". It all runs without incident.

Maybe I'm just fixated on this issue but maybe it's not Samba but what you are sharing.

Is /mnt/WD just a folder or is it the mount point for another partition?
If it's a mount point how are you mounting it? - If it's through /etc/fstab can you post the line you are using to mount it?
And in order for access to happen the entire path has to be at least accessible to the remote user so what are the permissions of:

ls -dl /mnt

ls -dl /mnt/WD

[neufena2]

Thanks for the help. I really wish I could work it out. I've tried everything I can think of so far.

It is a mounted external drive. The fstab line is:
UUID=b1f2a862-2cbc-434d-bbce-fb62999f175b /mnt/WD ext4 relatime 0 2

ls -dl /mnt returns:
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Apr 6 19:27 /mnt

and ls -dl /mnt/WD returns:
drwxrwxrwx 13 root root 4096 Jul 28 19:26 /mnt/WD

which all looks fine to me. When I get home from work I'll try a temp share on the main drive instead of the mounted drive.