I am running CentOS 4.0 as a file server joined to an NT 4 PDC domain.
I am running Winbind for authentication. Security = Domain. Everything seems to have set up correctly. I created Linux accounts for every User on my PDC for the purpose of creating Samba accounts according to the smbpasswd man page. Without creating any Samba User Accounts, I am able to logon, control permissions and connect to my Samba shares through my Linux accounts from my WindowsXP/2000/98 workstations. This confuses me because I was under the impression that I needed Samba accounts in order to connect my Windows workstations to my Samba server.

Are Samba Accounts Really Necessary?

Is my setup such that I don't need the Samba accounts?

If so, what types of setups would require the Samba accounts?


Thank You for Your Help

My understanding is, "no, you don't."

smbpasswd is needed only if you are using password-style authentication or when Samba is to be the primary domain controller (PDC). In your case, Samba has been told to verify credentials by asking the PDC, which is another machine. Therefore it has no need for passwords of its own.

It is also my impression that you do not need Linux accounts under this scenario.

sundialsvcs

Thanks for the responce.

My impression is also that there is no need for the Linux accounts but I've not figured that out yet. I think it has something to do with setting up PAM with Winbind. I'll keep working at it.

Thanks Again.
It helps to have some confirmation that I'm doing something right.