Ubuntu 8.10, 64bit
Inter Dual Core Quad Processor
2GB DDR2
Inter 775 Socket
Two ACER 193W Monitors

I had setup a network between my older computer (Windows XP Professional) and my laptop(Windows Vista Home Premium). I replaced the Windows XP computer with this computer running Linux. When I try to access the other computer in the network, it shows me two Network Groups, the one I created and another named "WORKGROUP". Every time I try to access the network I created, it displays a small alert window saying that the operation is being performed and that I can stop it by clicking cancel. After waiting for a few seconds, the operation fails and as a result I cannot access the network. I have already setup permissions on the folders in my "home" so they can be seen from the other computer, but it is still not working.

Update:

I tried the instructions specified in the Ubuntu Help Center and everything went just fine. Samba was downloaded & configured, but still nothing when it comes to accessing the network. Now, when I click on network, I can get to the point where I see the icon for my home network, "MCHOME", but when I click on it I still get a couple of error messages. Would this be a Windows Vista or ubuntu problem? Do I need to install the Ubuntu Server in order to access a home network?

Error messages:

1. Opening "MCHOME". You can stop this operation by clicking cancel.
2. Unable to mount location. Failed to retrieve share list from server.

The following is what is located at the bottom of the smb.conf file:

[share]
comment = Ubuntu File Server Share
path = /srv/samba/share
; browsable = yes
; guest ok = no
read only = no
create mask = 0755


As always, thanks for your help.

//mod note: not a network question. If you can ping the box, then the network is fine. This is apparently a windows / samba question instead. Thread moved.

I'm not clear what direction you are trying to go - connect to Windows shares from a Linux computer or the other way around.

If you are seeing two workgroup names, it means at least one of your computers has a workgroup name different than the others. Check the windows computers (System Information) and make sure all the Workgroup names match.

If you want to see Windows shares, File Sharing must be turned on in Windows for that drive or directory.

To see Linux shares from Windows, you will need Samba server running on the Linux box. It sounds like you have that installed. Post the global section of the smb.conf file and maybe someone will be able to spot an issue.

I want to be able to access the shares on the Windows computer. However, I just noticed that I can see the shared folders in the Linux computer, but I cannot access it contents. I will post the contents of the file here shortly.

#
# Sample configuration file for the Samba suite for Debian GNU/Linux.
#
#
# 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 most of which
# are not shown in this example
#
# Some options that are often worth tuning have been included as
# commented-out examples in this file.
# - When such options are commented with ";", the proposed setting
# differs from the default Samba behaviour
# - When commented with "#", the proposed setting is the default
# behaviour of Samba but the option is considered important
# enough to be mentioned here
#
# NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command
# "testparm" to check that you have not made any basic syntactic
# errors.
# A well-established practice is to name the original file
# "smb.conf.master" and create the "real" config file with
# testparm -s smb.conf.master >smb.conf
# This minimizes the size of the really used smb.conf file
# which, according to the Samba Team, impacts performance
#

#======================= Global Settings =======================

[global]

## Browsing/Identification ###

# Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will part of
workgroup = mchome

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable its WINS Server
# wins support = no

# 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

# This will prevent nmbd to search for NetBIOS names through DNS.
dns proxy = no

# What naming service and in what order should we use to resolve host names
# to IP addresses
; name resolve order = lmhosts host wins bcast

#### Networking ####

# The specific set of interfaces / networks to bind to
# This can be either the interface name or an IP address/netmask;
# interface names are normally preferred
; interfaces = 127.0.0.0/8 eth0

# Only bind to the named interfaces and/or networks; you must use the
# 'interfaces' option above to use this.
# It is recommended that you enable this feature if your Samba machine is
# not protected by a firewall or is a firewall itself. However, this
# option cannot handle dynamic or non-broadcast interfaces correctly.
; bind interfaces only = yes



#### Debugging/Accounting ####

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

# Cap the size of the individual log files (in KiB).
max log size = 1000

# If you want Samba to only log through syslog then set the following
# parameter to 'yes'.
# syslog only = no

# We want Samba to log a minimum amount of information to syslog. Everything
# should go to /var/log/samba/log.{smbd,nmbd} instead. If you want to log
# through syslog you should set the following parameter to something higher.
syslog = 0

# Do something sensible when Samba crashes: mail the admin a backtrace
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d


####### Authentication #######

# "security = user" is always a good idea. This will require a Unix account
# in this server for every user accessing the server. See
# /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/ServerType.html
# in the samba-doc package for details.
# security = user

# You may wish to use password encryption. See the section on
# 'encrypt passwords' in the smb.conf(5) manpage before enabling.
; encrypt passwords = yes

# If you are using encrypted passwords, Samba will need to know what
# password database type you are using.
passdb backend = tdbsam

obey pam restrictions = yes

# This boolean parameter controls whether Samba attempts to sync the Unix
# password with the SMB password when the encrypted SMB password in the
# passdb is changed.
unix password sync = yes

# For Unix password sync to work on a Debian GNU/Linux system, the following
# parameters must be set (thanks to Ian Kahan <<kahan@informatik.tu-muenchen.de> for
# sending the correct chat script for the passwd program in Debian Sarge).
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .

# This boolean controls whether PAM will be used for password changes
# when requested by an SMB client instead of the program listed in
# 'passwd program'. The default is 'no'.
pam password change = yes

# This option controls how unsuccessful authentication attempts are mapped
# to anonymous connections
map to guest = bad user

########## Domains ###########

# Is this machine able to authenticate users. Both PDC and BDC
# must have this setting enabled. If you are the BDC you must
# change the 'domain master' setting to no
#
; domain logons = yes
#
# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the location of the user's profile directory
# from the client point of view)
# The following required a [profiles] share to be setup on the
# samba server (see below)
; logon path = \\%N\profiles\%U
# Another common choice is storing the profile in the user's home directory
# (this is Samba's default)
# logon path = \\%N\%U\profile

# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the location of a user's home directory (from the client
# point of view)
; logon drive = H:
# logon home = \\%N\%U

# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the script to run during logon. The script must be stored
# in the [netlogon] share
# NOTE: Must be store in 'DOS' file format convention
; logon script = logon.cmd

# This allows Unix users to be created on the domain controller via the SAMR
# RPC pipe. The example command creates a user account with a disabled Unix
# password; please adapt to your needs
; add user script = /usr/sbin/adduser --quiet --disabled-password --gecos "" %u

########## Printing ##########

# If you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
# load printers = yes

# lpr(ng) printing. You may wish to override the location of the
# printcap file
; printing = bsd
; printcap name = /etc/printcap

# CUPS printing. See also the cupsaddsmb(8) manpage in the
# cupsys-client package.
; printing = cups
; printcap name = cups

############ Misc ############

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

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See smb.conf(5) and /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/speed.html
# for details
# You may want to add the following on a Linux system:
# SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
# socket options = TCP_NODELAY

# The following parameter is useful only if you have the linpopup package
# installed. The samba maintainer and the linpopup maintainer are
# working to ease installation and configuration of linpopup and samba.
; message command = /bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/linpopup "%f" "%m" %s; rm %s' &

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. If this
# machine will be configured as a BDC (a secondary logon server), you
# must set this to 'no'; otherwise, the default behavior is recommended.
# domain master = auto

# Some defaults for winbind (make sure you're not using the ranges
# for something else.)
; idmap uid = 10000-20000
; idmap gid = 10000-20000
; template shell = /bin/bash

# The following was the default behaviour in sarge,
# but samba upstream reverted the default because it might induce
# performance issues in large organizations.
# See Debian bug #368251 for some of the consequences of *not*
# having this setting and smb.conf(5) for details.
; winbind enum groups = yes
; winbind enum users = yes

# Setup usershare options to enable non-root users to share folders
# with the net usershare command.

# Maximum number of usershare. 0 (default) means that usershare is disabled.
; usershare max shares = 100

# Allow users who've been granted usershare privileges to create
# public shares, not just authenticated ones
usershare allow guests = yes
security = user
; guest ok = no
; guest account = nobody
username map = /etc/samba/smbusers

#======================= Share Definitions =======================

# Un-comment the following (and tweak the other settings below to suit)
# to enable the default home directory shares. This will share each
# user's home directory as \\server\username
;[homes]
; comment = Home Directories
; browseable = no

# By default, the home directories are exported read-only. Change the
# next parameter to 'no' if you want to be able to write to them.
; read only = yes

# File creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create files with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
; create mask = 0700

# Directory creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create dirs. with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
; directory mask = 0700

# By default, \\server\username shares can be connected to by anyone
# with access to the samba server. Un-comment the following parameter
# to make sure that only "username" can connect to \\server\username
# This might need tweaking when using external authentication schemes
; valid users = %S

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
;[netlogon]
; comment = Network Logon Service
; path = /home/samba/netlogon
; guest ok = yes
; read only = yes
; share modes = no

# Un-comment the following and create the profiles directory to store
# users profiles (see the "logon path" option above)
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
# The path below should be writable by all users so that their
# profile directory may be created the first time they log on
;[profiles]
; comment = Users profiles
; path = /home/samba/profiles
; guest ok = no
; browseable = no
; create mask = 0600
; directory mask = 0700

[printers]
comment = All Printers
browseable = no
path = /var/spool/samba
printable = yes
; guest ok = no
; read only = yes
create mask = 0700

# Windows clients look for this share name as a source of downloadable
# printer drivers
[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /var/lib/samba/printers
; browseable = yes
; read only = yes
; guest ok = no
# Uncomment to allow remote administration of Windows print drivers.
# Replace 'ntadmin' with the name of the group your admin users are
# members of.
; write list = root, @ntadmin

# A sample share for sharing your CD-ROM with others.
;[cdrom]
; comment = Samba server's CD-ROM
; read only = yes
; locking = no
; path = /cdrom
; guest ok = yes

# The next two parameters show how to auto-mount a CD-ROM when the
# cdrom share is accesed. For this to work /etc/fstab must contain
# an entry like this:
#
# /dev/scd0 /cdrom iso9660 defaults,noauto,ro,user 0 0
#
# The CD-ROM gets unmounted automatically after the connection to the
#
# If you don't want to use auto-mounting/unmounting make sure the CD
# is mounted on /cdrom
#
; preexec = /bin/mount /cdrom
; postexec = /bin/umount /cdrom

[share]
comment = Ubuntu File Server Share
path = /srv/samba/share
; browsable = yes
; guest ok = no
read only = no
create mask = 0755

[miguel]
path = /home/miguel
writeable = yes
; browseable = yes
valid users = miguel

So, any line in smb.conf starting with a # or a ; is being ignored.

Make sure you have file sharing enabled on your Windows machines.

Here's a link that may help with Samba configuration, but I think your problems may be mostly on the Windows side.

http://www.lesbell.com.au/Home.nsf/b...3?OpenDocument

Hi,
I tried to share a directory on my windows XP computer with my linux box.
All I did was to set the XP directory to be shared and then run Smb4K on my linux box. No trouble sharing at all and no need to mess with the smb.conf file. When I wanted a directory on my Linux box to be shared with and be seen on my XP machine THEN I did need to tinker with the smb.conf. Not sure if this is applicable if you are using Vista instead of XP.
I had problems sharing a linux folder with windows via samba. First thing to check is that the firewall is not blocking important ports i.e 137/8 tcp/udp, 139 tcp and 445 tcp.

uc

Hi everybody, i have the same probleme. When i opening network i have a message

"Unable to mount location"
"Failed to retrieve share list from server"


I use VirtualBox, and i run Windows XP and my primary system is Linux Ubuntu 8.10.

I can view linux share on Windows, but i don't view windows share on my Linux. I use Samba.

I hope that a person find solution of my problem.

Sorry for my English i am French.

Samba is really just a server. It provides shareable Linux directories to other hosts. The smb.conf file does not play a role in accessing shares on remote hosts from the local Linux host. It does, however, provide a useful client-side tool called 'smbclient'. This can be useful for diagnosing client-side issues.
Try, for starters,
Of course, use a hostname appropriate for your network. If the host requires a password, enter it, and the tool should report all of the shares available from that host. If the Windows host has user-level permission requirements, you can add a Username (-U username), as well as a long list of other options as necessary (man smbclient).
Once you have divined all of the necessary options, you can use them in a mount command with a -t cifs option. For example:
For details, man mount.cifs
This will mount the remote share on your local filesystem at the specified mountpoint. You will be able to see and read the files, and potentially write to them, if permissions are appropriate. Once you are satisfied that this works appropriately, you may wish to add the accordant entry to /etc/fstab, to make the mount procedure occur automatically at boot time.

For other useful information, man mount.

--- rod.

theNbomr:


Well, I might have pulled the triger a bit too soon. Last night I installed Ubuntu on my laptop, so now both computers have Ubunto 8.10. That said, would it be safe to remove Samba? If so, will both computers be able to see each other over a wireless network (one pugged to the router & and other over the air)? Thanks in advance.

To see Linux shares from Windows, you need the Samba server.
--- rod.

Make this match on all of your computers.

Any linux computer sharing directories needs samba running.

Do you use the same credentials in both windows & Linux? I.E. does your windows user have an account on Linux. Samba obeys the permissions of the filesystem. What are the permissions of /srv/samba/share? Is this a public share? If that is the case you want "guest ok = yes" instead, and modify the permissions with "sudo chmod ugo=rwxt /var/samba/share". This will allow anyone to read and write to the share. The sticky bit will protect one user from deleting another users files (for authenticated users).

Use the "smbpasswd" command to add the windows user and password to the smbpasswd file.

Also make sure that the "smbd" daemon is running.

---

The commented out values may be the defaults. Check the manpage for smb.conf. It lists the defaults of each entry. For example, "guest ok = no" is the default. The default security mode is "security = user".

If you want to mount a windows share (or samba share) put the credentials in your home directory. Then use the option "cred=/home/miguel/.credentials" if you named the file .credentials. Also use the file_mode and dir_mode options. They are fallback settings for when the server doesn't support cifs. Like MS Windows. The last part is wrong in the line above.
Don't split the server's hostname and the share.

Use:
//windowsXPhostName/sharename

Hi,

thanks for your answer, i have find solution.

I add users by this command :

smbpasswd -a "my name"

And i reconfigure Workgroup to MSHOME.

I restart SMB :

sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart

With conqueror, i can't access Windows XP, so i tape direct in URL in conqueror

smb://192......

And now, i have access of my computer.

Well, I don't know if this is the correct way of doing things, but it achieved what I was trying to do. I logged into my wireless router and found the IP addresses for both computers. Then I went to Nautilus and typed "smb://" + the IP address for the computer I wanted to see and BINGO!, I was able to enter my laptop after typing my password of course. Then I saved the address as a bookmark and renamed to with my laptop's name. I am pretty happy with this, but I wonder if there is another more efficient way of doing this? I just want to say thanks to everyone who tried to help.

You may have some closed ports. 137-139 & 445 should be opened.
If old school netbios is used, check that the udp ports are opened as well.

For the default, 139 & 445 should be open.

I think I found the answer I was looking for.

http://linuxowns.wordpress.com/2008/...ntu-computers/