Setting Up Samba as a Client

Setting Up Samba as a Client

Samba can be compiled from the source distribution or installed as a Debian or RPM package. In either case, there are several different components that will be installed. The server components are:

·                 smbd: a daemon that shares out files and printers from the Linux system

·                 nmbd: a daemon that provides NetBIOS name resolution

·                 sambaconfig: a reconfiguration tool

·                 smbpasswd: an SMB password maintenance tool

The client components are:

·                 smbclient: an FTP-like program for accessing shares

·                 smbspool: a tool to send print jobs to shared printers

·                 smbmount , smbumount: tools to, respectively, mount and unmount SMB shares.

All of the Samba components use a single configuration file, usually located at /etc/samba/smb.conf. The majority of configuration options in this file affect the behavior of the Samba server, but a few options need to be set correctly in order to use the client applications.

Like many other Linux configuration files, the Samba configuration file is a simple text document. Blank lines and white space are not significant (except in parameter values), and comments begin with a semicolon and extend to the end of the line. The whole file is case insensitive, so WORKGROUP is the same as workgroup is the same as WoRkGrOuP. Booleans can be yes/no, 0/1, or true/false. There are three special sections: [global], [ homes ], and [printers]. The man page covers this and more in pretty good detail.

The default configuration file is heavily commented, describing the purpose of each line. The only significant thing you'll have to do for using client applications is to change the default workgroup:

; "security = user" is always a good idea. This will require a
; Unix account in this server for every user accessing the server.
security = domain
; Change this for the workgroup your Samba server will part of
workgroup = WORKGROUP
server string = %h server (Samba %v)

Modify the line starting with workgroup = to specify the name of your Windows workgroup or Windows NT domain. Actually, this step is not strictly necessary, since the Samba client tools will also accept the -W command line option to specify a nondefault workgroup. But it's easier to use a tool if you don't have to remember (and type!) a long list of arcane options and flags.

 



Multitool Linux. Practical Uses for Open Source Software
Multitool Linux: Practical Uses for Open Source Software
ISBN: 0201734206
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 257

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