Step by step help to get samba working over internet.

maiwurd · 08-22-2008, 01:31 PM

I have a W2k3 server with a backup file generated with Symantec Backup Exec. It saves the bkup to a file on the server. I have a Centos 5 server providing our web site and email delivery for the company. It is a small firm (<500).

The Centos 5 server has a TB of storage so it is ideal for the backup files; and it is in a colo hosted by a huge data center.
I set up webmin and attempted to get samba set up and push the backups to the Centos server without success. Which leads me here.

I am primarily a Windows Sys Admin who is rapidly converting to Linux with every opportunity! YES!!!!!

Any step by step assistance is appreciated.

CrazyToon · 08-22-2008, 01:59 PM

Here are step by step instructions. You should setup firewall and lock down permissions as well to make sure you do not give the whole world access to everything on your server

Install samba on CentOS

maiwurd · 08-23-2008, 01:52 AM

My Linux box is at a remote location. I access via the internet adn using smtp/imap.
On the windows box how do I access the samba shares?

marozsas · 08-25-2008, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maiwurd

I have a W2k3 server with a backup file generated with Symantec Backup Exec. It saves the bkup to a file on the server.

Which server ? You mean, on the SAME server ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by maiwurd

I set up webmin and attempted to get samba set up and push the backups to the Centos server without success

Why specifically samba to get this done ?
Samba is not the best/secure way to transfer large volume of data across the internet.

I suggest a simple copy over ssh or better than that, rsync.
Start with a simple copy over ssh. After you have setup both computers to exchange files over ssh, you will be ready to enhance your remote backup using rsync over ssh.

cheers,

maiwurd · 08-25-2008, 03:34 PM

The bkup is generated on the W2k3 server with Symantec Backup Exec. I want to save the resulting bkup file on the Centos 5 server for colocation DRP.
Using rsynch is something I have not done. Hey this what makes Linus so much fun for me . . . learning new and better ways to get things done.

thx

marozsas · 08-25-2008, 04:25 PM

ok, so I understood right

You can use ssh and rsync on windows platform. They are not an exclusive *nix tool anymore.

but, if you really want to use samba, you can use smbclient to copy files from your Windows server to CentOS. Something like that:

(on CentOS)

Code:

smbclient //ip_of_win_server/bkp_share password -U username -W your_workgroup <<EOC
lcd /path/on_centos/to_save/backups
cd /path/on/windows/share/to/specific/folder/where/the/backups/live
get name_of_backup_file.extension_of_backup_file
EOC

On windows/firewall you need to open the 137/139 ports, and create a specific share where the backups are.
There is no need to setup a SAMBA server on CentOS to do that.

This setup is weak from the security point of view. The transfer it is not encrypted, neither opening that specific windows ports for the world is a wise thing to do, but, well, it works for sure. I use this on my internal network to transfer files from a W2K machine to the tape backup server.

maiwurd · 08-26-2008, 10:58 AM

I used Filezilla to do a transfer and with many GBs it is slooooow.
Also I want to only transfer the incremental changes after the full bkup of course.
I may be incorrect but rsync will do this is the understanding I have.
Your thoughts are appreciated.

maiwurd · 09-01-2008, 07:15 PM

I am using rsync to transfer data to the Centos srvr. It has been running for the last few days. There is approx. 30 GBs to transfer initially, after which incremental transfers should be quick.