Samba is an Open Source program running on a Linux server and it’s designed to replace Microsoft file shares. Microsoft Windows clients can transparently store and access files without ever knowing that they are not connected to an NT or other Windows server machine. Samba on Linux is reliable, fast, low cost and doesn’t have any licensing issues.

You’ll need a current version of Linux, such as SuSE Linux 8.2 Professional. Any Intel based machine can do duty as the server. For users just getting started an older 200 MHz. Pentium PC with 64 MB RAM and a 3 GB disk would work just fine. The server should be connected to your local area network (LAN), along with your Microsoft Windows PCs.

This article will get you started with a basic Samba configuration on a test or home network. Security will be minimal and my example will demonstrate the operation of a single Linux/Samba server and a single Microsoft Windows client machine.

Be aware, too, that the example will use the TCP/IP network protocol for communication, not the proprietary NetBEUI protocol common on many Windows only networks. You may have to reconfigure or add the TCP/IP protocol, under Windows Networking, for your Windows machine. Refer to the reference list for books and links to help with these tasks.

Set Up Samba On Your Linux Server

… changes directory (cd) to home on the Linux system.

… adds a new home directory for the “test5″ user.

… adds a new user to the Linux user name file.

… sets the new user password under Linux. You’ll always have to type the passwords twice, for verification.

… creates the new “test5″ user under Samba and enables setting of a password. You’ll always have to type the passwords twice, for verification.

… changes the file user ownership from “root” to “test5″. Note: you’re still the root user at this point.

… changes the file group ownership from “root” to “users”. The “users” group is generally the default group for normal users on a Linux machine.

… verifies that the owner and group for the user “test5″ are correct.

If all went well, the “test5″ user has been created on the Samba server. Don’t exit the root user yet because we are not finished – we need to do some other “root” tasks.

Editing the Configuration File

In the [global] section:
Windows/Samba networks need to have a workgroup. Just fill in a name for your network. Samba doesn’t like spaces in the workgroup name.

• Set the OS level to “65″. This ensures that the Samba server browse list overrules all other browse lists on the network.
• Set local master to “yes”.
• Set preferred master to “yes”. This option will initiate a server browser election on restart. When you use Network Neighbourhood on your Windows machine it will then correctly show the network shares (directories).
• Set wins support to “yes”. This keeps error messages in the /var/log/samba/log.nmbd file to a minimum.
• Set security to “user”. This provides user level authentication.
• Set encrypt passwords to “yes”. We definitely want encrypted passwords moving between our Windows desktops and the Samba server.

The [test5] section:
This section represents the directory where you would store your Windows files.

• The comment line simply gives a description of this section.
• Set the path to “/home/test5″. You’ll replace “test5″ with another user name as you add people to your server.
• Set read only to “no”. If you want to prevent yourself (or anyone else) from writing to your home directory, while on a Windows desktop, set this to “yes”. You can always log into the Linux machine directly and get to your files.

You should choose a reasonable name for the aforementioned section, since this will be the name that shows up in the Network Neighbourhood or file share listings on the Windows desktop machines. The “global” name, of course, doesn’t show up as a directory. In our example, when using Network Neighbourhood on a Windows machine, we would see the “test5″ directory under the “moe” server name. Moe is the network name of my example Samba server. Remember the “moe#” prompt on the command line?

It’s possible to test the Samba server before we tackle the Windows desktop setup. Here are another couple of command lines and descriptions of what they do.

Samba works very well behind firewalls on local area networks. A typical small business setup would be a Samba file server with one or more Windows client desktop machines. It’s possible to use Samba across subnets or even over a public network (like the Internet), but there is considerably more tweaking and configuration that needs to be done to make it secure. Security with Samba over WANs (wide area networks) is a complicated subject and beyond the scope of this article. Take a look in the reference list for some books and Web sites on the subject.
 
Configure Your Windows Machine

The last part of setting up the passwords and such, needs to be done on your Windows machine. I converted almost totally over to Linux several years ago and as a consequence have one lone Windows 98 machine on my network, for the kids and their games. Adding users to your Windows 2000 and later computers should be pretty similar.

On your Windows machine do the following to set up the “test5″ user.

• Click on the “Start” button.
   
• Click on the “Log Off ….” menu selection.
• Log off Windows – click “yes”

This is the password I chose, when I set up the test user on the Samba server.

In addition to typing your new user name and password (for network access), you may be asked to enter your password, a second time, for “Windows” access.

There are several ways to access your newly created Samba server and its files. Since I’m using Windows 98 the example will use the tools and techniques bundled into that version. Later versions of Windows will use similar tools.

The first method of connecting to the Samba server is through Windows Explorer. Start up Windows Explorer and follow these steps:

• Click on “Tools”.
• Select a drive letter to use. In my example it was “E:”.
• Click “Map Network Drive”.

• Click “OK” to complete the job. You can also put a check mark in the reconnect box if you want to be connected to the network share when you log back in next time.

An alternative route to your network share is through the Windows Network Neighbourhood. The steps are pretty simple:

• Double click on the Network Neighbourhood icon.
• Double click on “Moe”.
• Double click on “test5″ and there are your files.

Now think of your new “test5″ directory on the Samba server as just another drive. In my example that would be drive “E:” on the Windows machine.

You can drag files into your new “E:” drive, execute programs that you store there and generally do anything you would do with a normal local disk drive. The only real difference is, that network share is on a Samba machine.
 
The Samba combination is super reliable. Unless you have a power or hardware failure, your network drive will always be there ready for use.

Troubleshooting Your Samba Server

Suppose your Samba file server doesn’t seem to serve files? Areas that you would look at include the following.

Check to make sure that 3rd party firewall software isn’t “protecting” your Windows machine. I’ve chased my tail several times when a firewall program has blocked connections to new servers. ZoneAlarm is my favourite on the old Windows 98 machine. It has a menu where MOE (otherwise known as 192.168.2.12) can be set up as a trusted host machine.

Another problem might be that you messed up the smbpasswd command. Try getting rid of the user, in our example “test5″ with the following command:

Then add the user again with:

You should then very carefully add the password.
 
You might also try logging off of the Windows machine and then back in again as “test5″.

These things should clear up just about any problem you have. If you continue to have problems, you could also seek assistance from your friendly local Linux User Group, otherwise known as a LUG. They are located all over the world and can be found on Google. The people in the LUGs are experts with Linux and can usually help you diagnose and solve just about any Linux (and usually Windows) problem. Be forewarned, most LUG members are not very fond of Windows, but since you’re making an effort to convert with Samba, you’ll be OK.

You may be so impressed with LUG people, though, that you’ll join their group on the spot.

Wrap Up