I'm trying to get a samba server running, but I'm not having very much luck with it. I've already done the smbpasswd -a root thing and set a password, already configured a smb.conf, seems good and all ... but not for some reason ... any ideas?

Please post your smb.conf file. What kind of errors do you get? What computers are you trying to connect. Is it a share in your linux trying to get it from an XP box?

Please be more specific, so we will be able to help you!

This is between 98SE and RH9. When I run smbd, it appears to be working just fine, but the 98SE box can't see GREEN (RH9 server).

# 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 (perhaps too
# many!) 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 commentry 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]

# workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name
workgroup = GREY

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
server string = GREEN

# This option is important for security. It allows you to restrict
# connections to machines which are on your local network. The
# following example restricts access to two C class networks and
# the "loopback" interface. For more examples of the syntax see
# the smb.conf man page
; hosts allow = 192.168.1. 192.168.2. 127.

# if you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
printcap name = /etc/printcap
load printers = yes

# It should not be necessary to spell out the print system type unless
# yours is non-standard. Currently supported print systems include:
# bsd, sysv, plp, lprng, aix, hpux, qnx, cups
printing = cups

# Uncomment this if you want a guest account, you must add this to /etc/passwd
# otherwise the user "nobody" is used
; guest account = pcguest

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

# Put a capping on the size of the log files (in Kb).
max log size = 0

# Security mode. Most people will want user level security. See
# security_level.txt for details.
security = user

# Use password server option only with security = server
# The argument list may include:
# password server = My_PDC_Name [My_BDC_Name] [My_Next_BDC_Name]
# or to auto-locate the domain controller/s
# password server = *
; password server = <NT-Server-Name>

# Password Level allows matching of _n_ characters of the password for
# all combinations of upper and lower case.
; password level = 8
; username level = 8

# You may wish to use password encryption. Please read
# ENCRYPTION.txt, Win95.txt and WinNT.txt in the Samba documentation.
# Do not enable this option unless you have read those documents
encrypt passwords = yes
smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd

# The following is needed to keep smbclient from spouting spurious errors
# when Samba is built with support for SSL.
; ssl CA certFile = /usr/share/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt

# The following are needed to allow password changing from Windows to
# update the Linux system password also.
# NOTE: Use these with 'encrypt passwords' and 'smb passwd file' above.
# NOTE2: You do NOT need these to allow workstations to change only
# the encrypted SMB passwords. They allow the Unix password
# to be kept in sync with the SMB password.
unix password sync = Yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *New*password* %n\n *Retype*new*password* %n\n *passwd:*all*authentication*tokens*updated*successfully*

# You can use PAM's password change control flag for Samba. If
# enabled, then PAM will be used for password changes when requested
# by an SMB client instead of the program listed in passwd program.
# It should be possible to enable this without changing your passwd
# chat parameter for most setups.

pam password change = yes

# Unix users can map to different SMB User names
; username map = /etc/samba/smbusers

# 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 = /etc/samba/smb.conf.%m

# This parameter will control whether or not Samba should obey PAM's
# account and session management directives. The default behavior is
# to use PAM for clear text authentication only and to ignore any
# account or session management. Note that Samba always ignores PAM
# for authentication in the case of encrypt passwords = yes

obey pam restrictions = yes

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See speed.txt and the manual pages for details
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192

# Configure Samba to use multiple interfaces
# If you have multiple network interfaces then you must list them
# here. See the man page for details.
; interfaces = 192.168.12.2/24 192.168.13.2/24

# Configure remote browse list synchronisation here
# request announcement to, or browse list sync from:
# a specific host or from / to a whole subnet (see below)
; remote browse sync = 192.168.3.25 192.168.5.255
# Cause this host to announce itself to local subnets here
; remote announce = 192.168.1.255 192.168.2.44

# Browser Control Options:
# set local master to no if you don't want Samba to become a master
# browser on your network. Otherwise the normal election rules apply
; local master = no

# OS Level determines the precedence of this server in master browser
# elections. The default value should be reasonable
; os level = 33

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. This
# allows Samba to collate browse lists between subnets. Don't use this
# if you already have a Windows NT domain controller doing this job
; domain master = yes

# Preferred Master causes Samba to force a local browser election on startup
# and gives it a slightly higher chance of winning the election
; preferred master = yes

# Enable this if you want Samba to be a domain logon server for
# Windows95 workstations.
; domain logons = yes

# if you enable domain logons then you may want a per-machine or
# per user logon script
# run a specific logon batch file per workstation (machine)
; logon script = %m.bat
# run a specific logon batch file per username
; logon script = %U.bat

# Where to store roving profiles (only for Win95 and WinNT)
# %L substitutes for this servers netbios name, %U is username
# You must uncomment the [Profiles] share below
; logon path = \\%L\Profiles\%U

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable it's WINS Server
; wins support = yes

# 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

# WINS Proxy - Tells Samba to answer name resolution queries on
# behalf of a non WINS capable client, for this to work there must be
# at least one WINS Server on the network. The default is NO.
; wins proxy = yes

# DNS Proxy - tells Samba whether or not to try to resolve NetBIOS names
# via DNS nslookups. The built-in default for versions 1.9.17 is yes,
# this has been changed in version 1.9.18 to no.
dns proxy = no

# Case Preservation can be handy - system default is _no_
# NOTE: These can be set on a per share basis
; preserve case = no
; short preserve case = no
# Default case is normally upper case for all DOS files
; default case = lower
# Be very careful with case sensitivity - it can break things!
; case sensitive = no

#============================ Share Definitions ==============================
;[homes]
; comment = Home Directories
; browseable = no
; writable = yes
; valid users = %S
; create mode = 0664
; directory mode = 0775
# If you want users samba doesn't recognize to be mapped to a guest user
; map to guest = bad user


# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
; [netlogon]
; comment = Network Logon Service
; path = /usr/local/samba/lib/netlogon
; guest ok = yes
; writable = no
; share modes = no


# Un-comment the following to provide a specific roving profile share
# the default is to use the user's home directory
;[Profiles]
; path = /usr/local/samba/profiles
; browseable = no
; guest ok = yes


# NOTE: If you have a BSD-style print system there is no need to
# specifically define each individual printer
;[printers]
; comment = All Printers
; path = /var/spool/samba
; browseable = no
# Set public = yes to allow user 'guest account' to print
; guest ok = no
; writable = no
; printable = yes

# This one is useful for people to share files
;[tmp]
; comment = Temporary file space
; path = /tmp
; read only = no
; public = yes

# A publicly accessible directory, but read only, except for people in
# the "staff" group
;[public]
; comment = Public Stuff
; path = /home/samba
; public = yes
; writable = yes
; printable = no
; write list = @staff

# Other examples.
#
# A private printer, usable only by fred. Spool data will be placed in fred's
# home directory. Note that fred must have write access to the spool directory,
# wherever it is.
;[fredsprn]
; comment = Fred's Printer
; valid users = fred
; path = /home/fred
; printer = freds_printer
; public = no
; writable = no
; printable = yes

# A private directory, usable only by fred. Note that fred requires write
# access to the directory.
[death]
comment = death
path = /mnt/shared/Shared
valid users = nes_power
public = no
writable = yes
printable = no

# a service which has a different directory for each machine that connects
# this allows you to tailor configurations to incoming machines. You could
# also use the %U option to tailor it by user name.
# The %m gets replaced with the machine name that is connecting.
;[pchome]
; comment = PC Directories
; path = /usr/local/pc/%m
; public = no
; writable = yes

# A publicly accessible directory, read/write to all users. Note that all files
# created in the directory by users will be owned by the default user, so
# any user with access can delete any other user's files. Obviously this
# directory must be writable by the default user. Another user could of course
# be specified, in which case all files would be owned by that user instead.
;[public]
; path = /usr/somewhere/else/public
; public = yes
; only guest = yes
; writable = yes
; printable = no

# The following two entries demonstrate how to share a directory so that two
# users can place files there that will be owned by the specific users. In this
# setup, the directory should be writable by both users and should have the
# sticky bit set on it to prevent abuse. Obviously this could be extended to
# as many users as required.
;[myshare]
; comment = Mary's and Fred's stuff
; path = /usr/somewhere/shared
; valid users = mary fred
; public = no
; writable = yes
; printable = no
; create mask = 0765

OK, your smb.conf looks OK.

1. Can you ping from one box to another?
2. Are your boxes on the same IP range? It will never work if you have one box to 192.168.2.12/255.255.255.0 and the other to 192.168.5.20/255.255.255.0.
3. Don't expect to "see" linux box from the "Network Neighborhood" of the Win98SE box. Just forget it and don't ask why
4. Did you add the user nes_power (first with adduser and then with smbpasswd -a)?
5. Did you try to open a browser window and type i.e. //192.168.0.10?

Let me know hot it goes!

Is nmbd also running? If not then check the logs for errors. Also make sure the firewall isn't running. Is the network is operating correctly? Is the RH box configured for a static IP or DHCP?

In a DOS prompt box try:
net view

This should display all computers running smb.

server string = GREEN is a description string and will not be the name you see in network neighboorhood. The default is the linux hostname or to specify a name in the smb.conf:
netbios name = GREEN

To see the hostname of the linux box use the command hostname i.e.:
hostname

The hostname should not be localhost. If so then add the netbios name = GREEN to the smb.conf.

Hi!

Here's a minimal smb.conf that works just fine between my Rh9 box and a Win98 box:

[global]

netbios name = GREEN
workgroup = YOURWORKGROUP
security = share
log file = /var/log/samba.log
log level = 1
socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_RCVBUF=16384 SO_SNDBUF=16384
wins support = yes
domain logons = no
logon drive = f:
logon home = \\stefan\%U
os level = 99
preferred master = yes
local master = yes
hosts allow = windows.machine.ip.here
encrypt passwords = yes
browseable = yes
lanman auth = yes
lm announce = yes

[stefanhd]
path = /mnt/win/
guest ok = yes
writeable = yes
create mode = 0666
directory mode = 0777
browseable = yes
public = yes

Hope this helps,

Wow, great help guys!

I'm gonna try that configuration!! ... with a little modification of coarse

Hey btw - what's "logon drive" and "logon home"?

Hey Orange! happy birthday!!

yaaaaay!! Thanks dtournas!! 17 for me!

bump

Only relevant if wanting to use Samba as a PDC with Win machines logging on to the domain. If you want to do that after getting the Samba server up and running successfully I suggest you read the Samba docs first (anyway) as they contain a lot of useful information about how Windows networking works.

What it gives you for Win9x/Me is not true NT logon ability (you don't have machine trust accounts and you can always ignore requests for logon passwords and mash your machine up regardless) but it does allow you to control access to network resources on the Samba server by way of login scripts which can do automatic drive mappings dependant on user and also time synchronisation for example. You can also have roaming profiles (if you really want to) where personalised settings per user on the Win box are stored on the network so that (in theory) whenever you log on from whatever machine you get the same desktop. logon drive and logon home in this context are where the first network drive is mapped to and where your profile is stored. Have a look on your Win box at the various 'net use' commands (open a DOS box and type net use ?).