[SOLVED] Editing read-only samba.conf

anon091 · 12-30-2009, 02:03 PM

I need to create a temporary samba share on a server already running samba, with multiple shares. I did a vi smb.conf in /etc/samba, but its warning me that its a read-only file, so I did a q! to get out of it because that didn't seem right.

Am I doing something wrong?

Dave_Devnull · 12-30-2009, 02:07 PM

It depends which user you are trying to edit the file as. If the file belongs to root with write permissions only for root, it's probable that you are editing it as a vanilla user.

You can usually force a write with w! followed by q - given sufficient privileges but the short answer is you may need to be root / owner to edit it.

jschiwal · 12-30-2009, 02:08 PM

You could have used ":wq!" instead to save your changes. My smb.conf file has rw permissions for root.
Run "testparm" to validate your changes. Then restart samba of course.

anon091 · 12-30-2009, 02:09 PM

the file has -rw-r--r-- on it, does that help clear it up? I just dont want to break the server!

xode · 12-30-2009, 02:10 PM

Which linux distribution is this on (RHEL or CentOS) and what version is it? What program do you normally use to manage your samba shares?

anon091 · 12-30-2009, 02:12 PM

RHEL, not sure what version. I only have access to the CLI, so I thought I could only vi the config file.

xode · 12-30-2009, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_Devnull

It depends which user you are trying to edit the file as. If the file belongs to root with write permissions only for root, it's probable that you are editing it as a vanilla user...

That would certainly cause vi to say the file is read-only. Regarding belonging to root with write permissions only for root, I would hope that is the case. Otherwise, his system has major security problems.

anon091 · 12-30-2009, 02:21 PM

I'm not logged in as root right now, so I'm guess I'm secure :-) even though I can't the share I need haha

xode · 12-30-2009, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjo98

RHEL, not sure what version. I only have access to the CLI, so I thought I could only vi the config file.

My recommendations:

(1) Open a terminal shell.
(2) su root
(3) Enter root's password.
(4) cd /etc/samba
(5) cp smb.conf smb-backup30dec2009.conf (i.e. make a copy of your file before changing it so that you can restore the original if you need to)
(6) vi smb.conf (make your changes)
(7) restart samba and test your new smb.conf.

anon091 · 12-30-2009, 02:40 PM

Ok, so if i can't su to root, i'm kinda screwed then, right?

Dave_Devnull · 12-31-2009, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjo98

Ok, so if i can't su to root, i'm kinda screwed then, right?

You sure is girlfriend ;-)

Is this your own box that you are in charge of, or is it a corporate server you are trying to 'tweak'?

anon091 · 12-31-2009, 08:22 AM

It's a box i'm partially in charge of. I'm just trying to copy a bunch of files up to it from my PC, to save me hours of time before I drop them in a watched folder to import into my system.

worm5252 · 12-31-2009, 10:28 AM

You have to be root or you have to be part of the root group in order to change that file my friend.

anon091 · 12-31-2009, 10:30 AM

OK, thanks everybody. I think I'm just going to copy all the files to one of the servers I loaded, then rsync them over to that one. happy new year!