Samba for File Server

Forum: Networking
Topic: Samba for File Server
started by: Ankuryu

Posted by Ankuryu on Mar. 08 2006,11:47

Hi I am a newbie.

Also I would like to set up one of my 486 machines for File Print sharing as well as mail server. Is this possible with DSL ? If so could anyone guide me or where 2 look up the info

Posted by dtf on Mar. 08 2006,14:07

For your file printer server you want to research the topic samba if you are working in a mixed network (windows and linux machines). You can download samba from MyDSL->Net with the desktop icon. Once done, you will need to edit the /etc/samba/smb.conf to allow sharing with your windows machines. Configuring smb.conf can be complex so you might want to keep it simple at first. For file sharing you can do something like -
[global]
workgroup = your_work_group_name

server string = your share name

hosts allow = your home network id like 192.168.10.0/24

security = user # allows you to require a password on your share
encrypt passwords = yes # if you choose security = user
# you need to add users with smbpasswd command
smb passwd file =/etc/smbpasswd

# alternatively you can use the following to allow every access t the share without password
security = share

socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192

[your_share_name]
comment = my network share
# make sure your permissions on the directory are set correctly
path = your_path_to_the_share_directory
guest ok = no #if you don't want to require a login use guest ok = yes for no login
read only = no

Once this is in place you'll want to start the smbd and nmbd deamons. In a terminal window type

sudo smbd stop
sudo nmbd stop
sudo smbd start
sudo nmbd start

or just make yourself the superuser and forget the sudo.

You can search the DSL wiki and forums for more information on the topic. I have found some that are quite good. I have not setup a shared print server yet (no share printer or room) so I don't know what is needed in the smb.conf file. There is some information in the conf file and on the internet.

As far as the e-mail server goes. I am not sure what is needed there either.

Use this information as a guide and double check it against what I typed. It can be tricky at times getting it setup but once it is working it works well.

Posted by Ankuryu on Mar. 09 2006,09:25

Thank You very much. That would b more like peer to peer sharing ? Right
Can I Use SAMBA.dsl to substitute for windows 2000 ?
for File / Printer Sharing ? Currently I am reading documentation for SAMBA, however I want 2 know if SAMBA.dsl will perform equally ?

Posted by dtf on Mar. 09 2006,11:04

I am not sure what you mean by "perform equally". Once setup correctly your linux share will show up on all other machines in you network in the same workgroup (and network id) and you will be able to share files between the machines. Likewise your linux box see all windows machines in the same workgroup. There are commercial products that use linux in this way to provide an inexpensive (less than $100) file server for home networking - linksys nslu2 for example. However using DSL and setting it up yourself is more fun if are into that sort of thing.

Posted by larkl on Mar. 11 2006,13:14

Samba can do most of except the domain controlling/password business. It can do quite a lot and the documentation is really good. I 've found the book Teach Yourself Samba in 24 Hours to be quite good, but here's a ton of good documentation on the Internet.

Posted by gjhicks on Mar. 12 2006,07:49

Hi,

I am using DSL as a file server on my home LAN and it works fine.

After re-directing a port (#22) on the router to the 'inside/LAN' NIC (the server also acts as an internet server, thus has two NICs), am also accessing the DSL sever remotely, using ssh, with the great little win utility 'winscp'.

To set up my DSL samba server, I adapted one of the example setups from the www.samba.org online manual, the URL to the relevant chapter is < here. >

I am using the /dev/hda7 partition for the LAN server, more particularly, a root folder of /dev/hda7, named 'scratch' is the effective 'top' of the server folder tree. Of course, /mnt/hda7/scratch has to be read/write by all users.

The smb.conf I am using looks like this:

------------------------------------------------------------
[global]
workgroup = YOURLAN
server string = DSL-Server

interfaces = 192.168.1.1/24 127.0.0.1/24
bind interfaces only = yes
hosts allow = 192.168.1. 127.
hosts deny = 0.0.0.0/0

wins support = yes

security = share
encrypt passwords = yes

[scratch]
comment = DSL Server Scratch Area
path = /mnt/hda7/scratch
browseable = yes
read only = no
force user = pcguest
guest ok = yes
nt acl support = no
------------------------------------------------------------

By the way, if you are using a 'frugal' install with samba installed via the mydsl method, use the 'Add2filetool' facility in emelfm, to ensure that the relevant 'opt/samba/smb.conf' is restored, over the default file from samba.dsl.

Then, to ensure that samba starts with the required configuration, add this to the 'bootlocal.sh':

------------------------------------------------------------
mount /dev/hda7

nmbd -D -s /opt/samba/smb.conf
smbd -D -s /opt/samba/smb.conf
------------------------------------------------------------

Hope this helps,

Geoff.