Samba on a workgroup

J_K9 · 07-07-2005, 06:34 AM

Hi,

I have tried researching on how to get samba to work on a network, but I'm having some trouble.

First, I downloaded Smb4k, which automatically downloaded samba and smbfs with it (via apt-get). I ran smb4k, and configured it so that nmblookup would look in the workgroup "WORKGROUP". I tried searching for the other computers on the workgroup, but I couldn't find any. The funny thing is that I have one Windows laptop, an iMac G5, and this Ubuntu lappy, all supposedly connected to the workgroup WORKGROUP, but none of them can find each other except for Windows which can see the iMac but not connect to it! I *think* Ubuntu is connected to the workgroup, but I'm not really sure.

So I looked at this tut (which is on LQ) and I tried to follow it, but I got stuck at this bit:

Quote:

To change a users Samba password use the same command as above with out the -a option. Now you can start the Samba service.
# /etc/init.d/smb start

To have the Samba service start on boot, use the chkconfig tool:
# chkconfig –level 35 smb on

Apparently, Ubuntu doesn't have a /etc/init.d/smb folder. I managed to work my way around something else earlier on by discovering a /smb directory somewhere else (I've forgotten it, but at the time I tried "~/smb start" and that didn't work). The chkconfig tool doesn't exist on Hoary, and I can't get it via apt-get.

I also tried another random tut, but that didn't work either because it was done in the year 2000!

So, I finally rememered Ubuntuguide.org and I followed the instructions there. It works! I only have one problem: I can see my iMac in Places->Network, but there doesn't seem to be any shared folders on it. I can also see my Windows laptop now, but when I double-click it it opens and says _Sorry, couldn't display all the contents of "Windows Network: mslaptop"_ . I'm sure I'm sharing at least one folder on my Windows laptop. Any ideas? From the Windows laptop I can also see my Ubuntu laptop, but when I double-click it the only folder there is "Printers and Faxes", and I have just specified in Ubuntu's smb.conf that I wanted to share /home/public with read+write capabilities, but from Windows I can't even see the folder! Any help would be greatly appreciated, and if this is too confusing for you, please post and I'll try to explain it more easily!

J_K9

thekat · 07-07-2005, 01:56 PM

you have to create the shares and set permissions
on your Linux box for windows to see them..

Additionally, samba has to be running..
Ubuntu is mostly Debian so as root run:

Code:

/etc/init.d/samba start

hth

J_K9 · 07-07-2005, 03:51 PM

How do I create the shares and set the permissions? I found out (from ubuntuguide.org) that samba is actually in /etc/samba, but the command to start it is "sudo /etc/init.d/samba start". I do have it running though, and my current smb.conf can be found here. Please can you tell me how to set the shares? Thanks,

edit: Ahhhh, there seems to be something weird in my smb.conf: Samba has automatically added two lines to the end of [public] specifying that the folder isn't browseable! I'll try changing this setting and see if it works....

J_K9

J_K9 · 07-07-2005, 04:08 PM

...I did it! All I had to do was to change the last line from "browseable = no" to "browseable = yes" and it worked! Many thanks to ubuntuguide.org for their great documentation, because without them I wouldn't even have been able to set up Samba! Thank you thekat for replying too!

Yet, I still can't see any directories within my Windows computer from Ubuntu. This is what I do: Places->Network Servers->mslaptop. That takes me to "smb://mslaptop", and it comes up with an error saying _Sorry, couldn't display all the contents of "Windows Network: mslaptop"_ Any ideas on how I can fix this? Is there something I need to change on the Windows laptop? The folder is set to share as mslaptop/SharedDocs, and also allows users to change the files....odd. Wait: even though I can't see it in the file browser, when I type in "smb://mslaptop/SharedDocs" it comes up! I really don't mind doing it this way, but it would be wonderful if I could see the folder in "smb://mslaptop" in the first place...anyhoo...

J_K9

thekat · 07-07-2005, 10:32 PM

you have to have a share on XP..
you have to have guest enabled on XP for users to "browse" the share

hth

J_K9 · 07-08-2005, 04:28 AM

Oh OK. I'm not very sure about having the guest account enabled as it only leaves a hole in your system. Shares are automatic as far as I am aware of when NetBIOS is enabled...I think I'll stick to just typing in the shared folder manually!

One final question: could you please recommend me a network storage hard drive, which doesn't exceed 200GB but which you think is quite reliable? Thanks,

J_K9

thekat · 07-08-2005, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by J_K9
Oh OK. I'm not very sure about having the guest account enabled as it only leaves a hole in your system. Shares are automatic as far as I am aware of when NetBIOS is enabled...I think I'll stick to just typing in the shared folder manually!

You are behind a firewall right???
Most ISPs block netbios traffic.. so unless you are concerned on your
local network about others.. then this really isn't an issue.
Either way is OK...

Quote:

One final question: could you please recommend me a network storage hard drive, which doesn't exceed 200GB but which you think is quite reliable? Thanks,

never used nas.. but most drive makers have these available..
but to name some..
Maxtor, Lacie , but these tend to be rather expensive ..
a write up on Maxtor
here

me personally, I have extra space on my Linux Mail server for Samba shares..
Much cheaper solution since drives are less than $1 US / GIG these days..

hth

J_K9 · 07-08-2005, 01:36 PM

Thanks thekat! Yes I am behind a firewall, but sometimes I´m can never be sure what my brother´s up to! Thanks again for the mentions of Maxtor and Lacie, because I actually have an external hard drive from each of those vendors! Ivé just never had a network hard drive, that´s why I asked!

J_K9