Share directories and drives with
Samba
draksambashare
Introduction
Samba is a protocol used in different Operating Systems to share
some resources like directories or printers. This tool allows you to
configure the machine as a Samba server using the protocol SMB/CIFS. This
protocol is also used by Windows(R) and workstations with this OS can
access the resources of the Samba server.
Preparation
To be accessed from other workstations, the server has to have a
fixed IP address. This can be specified directly on the server, for
example with , or at the DHCP server
which identifies the station with its
MAC-address and give it always the same address. The firewall has also to
allow the incoming requests to the Samba server.
Wizard - Standalone server
At the first run, the tools
You can start this tool from the command line, by
typing draksambashare as root.
checks if needed packages are installed and proposes to
install them if they are not yet present. Then the wizard to configure
the Samba server is launched.
In the next window the Standalone server configuration option is already selected.
Then specify the name of the workgroup. This name should be the same
for the access to the shared resources.
The netbios name is the name which will be used to designate the
server on the network.
Choose the security mode:
user: the client must be authorized to
access the resource
share: the client authenticates itself
separately for each share
You can specify which hosts are allowed to access the resources,
with IP address or host name.
Specify the server banner. The banner is the way this server will be
described in the Windows workstations.
The place where Samba can log information can be specified at the
next step.
The wizard displays a list of the chosen parameters before you accept
the configuration. When accepted, the configuration will be written in
/etc/samba/smb.conf
.
Wizard - Primary domain controller
If the "Primary domain controller" option is selected, the
wizard asks for indication if Wins is to support or not and to provide
admin users names. The following steps are then the same as for standalone
server, except you can choose also the security mode:
domain: provides a mechanism for storing
all user and group accounts in a central, shared, account repository.
The centralized account repository is shared between (security)
controllers.
Declare a directory to share
With the Add button, we get:
A new entry is thus added. It can be modified with the
Modify button. Options can be edited, such as
whether the directory is visible to the public, writable or browseable.
The share name can not be modified.
Menu entries
When the list has at least one entry, menu entries can be
used.
File|Write conf
Save the current configuration in
/etc/samba/smb.conf
.
Samba server|Configure
The wizard can be run again with this command.
Samba server|Restart
The server is stopped and restarted with the current configuration
files.
Samba Server|Reload
The configuration displayed is reloaded from the current
configuration files.
Printers share
Samba also allows you to share printers.
Samba users
In this tab, you can add users who are allowed to access the shared
resources when authentication is required. You can add users from