I'm running MDK 9.2 (I'll upgrade later) .... just reinstalled since I'm trying to create a clean build again.

I'm trying to set up file sharing (this box is intended to be a file server / web server). I got samba set up, and have been going through the tutorials, but I've got to be missing something pretty simple.

My smb.conf file looks like this:

[global]
encrypt passwords = yes
workgroup = bradford

[test]
path = /var/www/
read only = no
guest ok = yes

I've got smb running, the smbpasswd file is there and appears to be ok, etc, etc, but I can't even see the machine from network neighborhood on the XP box.

I also seem to recall there was a way to test samba from the server box (to log imitating the windows box, to at least test the configuration is working), but I can't find it this time.

I disabled the firewall on the windows box to check that, and I never installed one on the linux box. My hosts.allow file also includes the network that those are on.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

1'st serverside test

smbclient -L <servername>

should request passwd
just hit enter should display info and shares

now try to connect as a user

smbclient '//<servername>/var/www/' -u <userid>

might be eisier to use
'//<servername>/homes'
as a test to avoid permission issues
you might need a blank [homes]
section in the config

hurray for the simple config to start
try
wins support = true
(somebody has to be the wins server) so either samba or
wins server = 192.168.0.9
and possibly
allow hosts = 192.168.0.2 192.168.0.1 (use the actual addresses from your network not mine)

Well, I found another problem, then. I don't seem to have smbclient on this box somehow. Ran find to try and find it ... even ran a find from the root directory and did a grep for smbclient ... nothing anywhere on the box.

Did the change to the smb.conf, though, as a test, and no luck.

Possibly related(?) ... it seems name resolving isn't working on my box either. I can ping most boxes on my network, but not the windows ones ... and I can't ping sites like google.com. Can't even ping my own IP external address.

Strangely, though, my webserver is still working perfectly through all this ... so something can apparently access this box.