Help Setting up FIle Server
 

Hello,
Well im new to linux and i need to setup a file server , my question is how to go about it. what distribution would you reccomend, and how to setup samba.
I have a 60 gig hd all for linux should i partition it into three drives
boot drive = 5 gig for all linux files
swap = 2 gig
other partitiion = 53 gig

the computers are all windows based from win98 to win xp
there are 8 users that need to be able to access the file server
with specific folders for each

bob mark and dan need to be able to share files in a folder named Work

marcy lucy need to be able to shard a folder named= docs

stev and dan need access to a share names burn
and then laneey needs acess to all of them

all i know is im haviing a hell of a time setting this up
i tried knoppix with a hdinstall
and it doesnt work i just want to download a version install
run a file server
and be able to configure the server through the web with webmin
any help would be appreciated
any distribution that has a gui would be best
for awhile

thanks for yout time.

i think most of distors are ok for a file server. i have redhat 8.0 which works as a filserver and internet sharing box. u can prefer fedora(redhat) slackware debian mandy suse and others. i would prefer fedora 1, cos i know it more than others. :)
i can say 2 gig is too much for swap space. prefer 256 MB or 512 MB. i use 256 MB swap for my file server.
u can create a partition for shared area. so u can use dump command to backup that partition. (this partition type must be etx2 or ext3).

also u can use SWAT to configure samba. i dont know if webmin samba configuration tool is better than SWAT.

Thanks MAxut
 

Well how hard is it to setup up fredora ? is gentu any good as well. ? if someone could possible just take me step by step through setting this up it would be great email me and we can msn messange if someone would be willing to help me do this id really appreciate it.

I love linux im just a newbie

So someone give me a version of linux thats easy to config and doesnt have to many processes.

i need to be able to file server, ftp server, ssh, vnc, and manage the file server and samba through swat. id really like to know should i use swat or webmin

and if you have a running server that does all this then please tell me what distro you are using and help me set it up .

u can do all of them with most of distro. installing fedora is as easy as intalling windows. just choose costum install and choose neccessary packets. also u can install those ppackets after install. so dont worry about it. just start to install.
i have icq (licq). uin 89572249

Continuing on this thread:

I have Samba running on SuSE 9 on a server for the entire small office. Am behind external firewall, so running this test in the open with no protection from the internal network.

Accounts/home directories on the Linux underlying OS (Server on which Samba is running) are the same as on the XP boxes.

Password encryption on Linux is MD5, also on the XP boxes. Passwords are the same.

All the WinXP clients can "see" the Samba Server and can execute a drive map part of the way.

The XP machines yield a "Pop-UP" calling for username and password for access.

This is where things break. Typing the username/password combination doesn't allow access.

What to do?????

melissa

Using Mandrake 10.0
 

I know you're just looking for a quick fix here and Mandrake is a perfectly acceptable method of doing this -- especially for a newbie. It's really easy to install and really easy to maintain -- if you'd like me to write out specific details on how to get it working for your particular installation, I'd be glad to -- but I'd rather not post the details on here for fear of too many people knowing how your filesystem is laid out. Just send me a private message.

I could even throw together a sample SMB.conf file for you if you'd like. I got nothin' better to do today at work as it is. ;-)


Glad to help a newbie,
Adam
:cool:

I'd like to see your sample smb.conf, Adam... I have Samba sort-of working but am constantly running into sharing permissions issues (e.g. some machines can see all the shares, others can't) that hurt my tiny little brain. Any chance to see an experienced user's smb.conf is a good thing.

sample smb.conf
 

Hey all.

Don't forget that your Linux shared have to have permissions set also. I'm using what KICKEN asked for as just an example.

In this example, you'll need to create the following linux users, groups, and directories.

create these linux group names : (addgroup command)
workshare, docsshare, burnshare


then add these users to the system (or reassign their groups):
username: bob --> member of bob and workshare
username: mark --> member of mark and workshare
username: dan --> member of dan, workshare, and burnshare
username: marcy --> member of marcy and docsshare
username: lucy --> member of lucy and docsshare
username: stev --> member of stev and burnshare
username: laneey --> member of laneey, workshare, docsshare, and burnshare

then, log in as root and run the following commands to create the needed directory structure:
cd /usr/
mkdir shared
cd shared
mkdir work
mkdir burn
mkdir docs
chgrp -R workshare work
chgrp -R burnshare burn
chgrp -R docssahre docs

(that will keep ownership of the directory with ROOT, but group ownership in the directory will be of the specific group)


Somebody correct anything I messed up (typo's etc) -- I didn't have a chance to run the stuff through SAMBA to check it, as I'm at work right now. So I may have some slightly off syntax.



sample smb.conf file is below: generally located in /etc/samba
------------------------------------------------------------

[global]
workgroup = <widows workgroup name>
netbios name = <name of this server>
server string = <name of the fileserver (description)>
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 50
log level = 3
; hosts allow = 192.168.1. 192.168.2. 127.

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

security = user
encrypt passwords = yes
smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192

; interfaces = 192.168.12.2/24 192.168.13.2/24
; remote browse sync = 192.168.3.25 192.168.5.255
; remote announce = 192.168.1.255 192.168.2.44
; local master = no
; os level = 33
; domain master = yes
; preferred master = yes
; domain logons = yes
wins proxy = no
dns proxy = no

#Useful commands -- if you have people on older legacy OS's such
#as windows 95, 98 -- you might make their shares set all cases to lower
# NOTE: These can be set on a per share basis or left in the global
; preserve case = no
; short preserve case = no
; default case = lower
; case sensitive = no


[homes]
comment = Home Directories
browseable = no
writable = yes

[work]
comment = Work Share
path = /usr/shared/work
valid users = @workshare
public = no
writable = yes
printable = no
browseable = yes

[docs]
comment = Docs Share
path = /usr/shared/docs
valid users = @docsshare
public = no
writable = yes
printable = no
browseable = yes


[burn]
comment = Burn Share
path = /usr/shared/burn
valid users = @burnshare
public = no
writable = yes
printable = no
browseable = yes

Hey Mooseman1982 i would really appreciate a walk through on install, setup and config I'm going to use mandrake 10 will that work ? okay since we don't want to fill up the message thread email me please and then we can instant message. just add kicken_acid@hotmail.com to your msn messanger and we can talk or however you want to do it thanks.