This is the SMB HOWTO. This document describes how to use the Session Message Block (SMB) protocol, also called the NetBIOS or LanManager protocol, with Linux.
</abstract>
<!-- Table of contents -->
<toc>
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<sect>Introduction
<p>
This is the SMB HOWTO. This document describes how to use the Session Message Block (SMB) protocol, also called the NetBIOS or LanManager protocol, with Linux.
This document is maintained by David Wood (<htmlurl url="mailto:dwood@plugged.net.au" name="dwood@plugged.net.au">). Additions, modifications or corrections may be mailed there for inclusion in the next release.
The SMB protocol is used by Microsoft Windows 3.11, NT and 95 to share disks and printers. Using the Samba suite of tools by Andrew Tridgell, UNIX (including Linux) machines can share disk and printers with Windows hosts.
There are four things that one can do with Samba:
<enum>
<item>Share a linux drive with Windows machines.
<item>Share a Windows drive with linux machines.
<item>Share a linux printer with Windows machines.
<item>Share a Windows printer with linux machines.
</enum>
All of these are covered in this document.
Disclaimer: The procedures and scripts either work for the author or have been reported to work by the people that provided them. Different configurations may not work with the information given here. If you encounter such a situation, you may e-mail the author with suggestions for improvement in this document, but the author guarantees nothing. What did you expect? The author is, after all, a consultant...
<sect>Further Information
<P>
This HOWTO attempts to explain how to configure basic SMB file and print services on a linux machine. Samba is a very complex and complete package. There would be no point in attempting to duplicate all of the documentation for Samba here.
For further information, please see the following documents:
<itemize>
<item>The Samba documentation, available as part of the Samba distribution. The distribution is available at:
However, if you have installed the Redhat distribution of linux, you have the option of installing it as a package. Some other distributions also include the Samba binaries.
The following two daemons are required for the Samba package. They are typically installed in /usr/sbin and run either on boot from the systems startup scripts or from inetd. Example scripts are shown in <ref id="sec-daemons" name="Running the Daemons">.
<code>
smbd (The SMB daemon)
nmbd (Provides NetBIOS nameserver support to clients)
</code>
Typically, the following Samba binaries are installed in /usr/bin, although the location is optional.
<code>
smbclient (An SMB client for UNIX machines)
smbprint (A script to print to a printer on an SMB host)
smbprint.sysv (As above, but for SVR4 UNIX machines)
smbstatus (Lists the cuurent SMB connections for the local host)
smbrun (A 'glue' script to facilitate runnning applciations
on SMB hosts)
</code>
Additionally, a script called 'print' is included with this HOWTO, which serves as a usefull front end to the smbprint script.
The Samba package is simple to install. Simply retrieve the source from the location mentioned above, and read the file README in the distribution. There is also a file called docs/INSTALL.txt in the distribution that provides a simple step-by-step set of instructions.
Following installation, place the daemons in /usr/sbin and the binaries in /usr/bin. Install the man pages in /usr/local/man.
When you made the Samba package, you would have specified in the Makefile the location for the configuration file, smb.conf. This is generally in /etc, but you can put it anywhere you like. For these directions, we will presume that you specified the location of the configuration file as /etc/smb.conf, the log file location as log file = /var/log/samba-log.%m and the lock directory as lock directory = /var/lock/samba.
Install the configuration file, smb.conf. Go to the directory where Samba was built. Look in the subdirectory examples/simple and read the file README. Copy the file smb.conf found in that directory to /etc. BE CAREFUL! If you have a linux distribution that already has Samba installed, you may already have a Samba configuration file in /etc. You should probably start with that one.
If you don't want to have your configuration file in /etc, put it wherever you want to, then put a symlink in /etc:
<code>
ln -s /path/to/smb.conf /etc/smb.conf
</code>
<sect>Running The Daemons<label id="sec-daemons">
<P>
The two SMB daemons are /usr/sbin/smbd and /usr/sbin/nmbd.
You can run the Samba daemons from inetd or as stand-alone processes. If you are configuring a permanent file server, they should be run from inetd so that they will be restarted if they die. If you just want to use SMB services occasionally or to assist with systems administration, you can start them with an /etc/rc.d/init.d script or even by hand when you need them.
To run the daemons from inetd, place the following lines in the inetd configuration file, /etc/inetd.conf:
<tscreen><code>
# SAMBA NetBIOS services (for PC file and print sharing)
Then restart the inetd daemon by running the command:
<code>
kill -HUP 1
</code>
To run the daemons from the system startup scripts, put the following script in file called /etc/rc.d/init.d/smb and symbolically link it to the files specified in the comments:
<tscreen><code>
#!/bin/sh
#
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/smb - starts and stops SMB services.
#
# The following files should be synbolic links to this file:
# symlinks: /etc/rc.d/rc1.d/K35smb (Kills SMB services on shutdown)
# /etc/rc.d/rc3.d/S91smb (Starts SMB services in multiuser mode)
# /etc/rc.d/rc6.d/K35smb (Kills SMB services on reboot)
#
# Source function library.
. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions
# Source networking configuration.
. /etc/sysconfig/network
# Check that networking is up.
[ ${NETWORKING} = "no" ] &ero;&ero; exit 0
# See how we were called.
case "$1" in
start)
echo -n "Starting SMB services: "
daemon smbd -D
daemon nmbd -D
echo
touch /var/lock/subsys/smb
;;
stop)
echo -n "Shutting down SMB services: "
killproc smbd
killproc nmbd
rm -f /var/lock/subsys/smb
echo ""
;;
*)
echo "Usage: smb {start|stop}"
exit 1
esac
</code></tscreen>
<sect>General Configuration (/etc/smb.conf)
<P>
Samba configuration on a linux (or other UNIX machine) is controlled by a single file, /etc/smb.conf. This file determines which system resources you want to share with the outside world and what restrictions you wish to place on them.
Since the following sections will address sharing linux drives and printers with Windows machines, the smb.conf file shown in this section is as simple as you can get, just for introductory purposes.
Don't worry about the details, yet. Later sections will introduce the major concepts.
Each section of the file starts with a section header such as [global], [homes], [printers], etc.
The [global] section defines a few variables that Samba will use to define sharing for all resources.
The [homes] section allows a remote users to access their (and only their) home directory on the local (linux) machine). That is, if a Windows user trys to connect to this share from their Windows machines, they will be connected to their personal home directory. Note that to do this, they must have an account on the linux box.
The sample smb.conf file below allows remote users to get to their home directories on the local machine and to write to a temporary directory. For a Windows user to see these shares, the linux box has to be on the local network. Then the user simply connects a network drive from the Windows File Manager or Windows Explorer.
Note that in the following sections, additional entries for this file will be given to allow more resources to be shared.
<tscreen><code>
; /etc/smb.conf
;
; Make sure and restart the server after making changes to this file, ex:
; /etc/rc.d/init.d/smb stop
; /etc/rc.d/init.d/smb start
[global]
; Uncomment this if you want a guest account
; guest account = nobody
log file = /var/log/samba-log.%m
lock directory = /var/lock/samba
share modes = yes
[homes]
comment = Home Directories
browseable = no
read only = no
create mode = 0750
[tmp]
comment = Temporary file space
path = /tmp
read only = no
public = yes
</code></tscreen>
<sect>Sharing A Linux Drive With Windows Machines
<P>
As shown in the simple smb.conf above, sharing linux drives with Windows users is easy. However, like everything else with Samba, you can control things to a large degree. Here are some examples:
To share a directory with the public, create a clone of the [tmp] section above by adding something like this to smb.conf:
<tscreen><code>
[public]
comment = Public Stuff
path = /home/public
public = yes
writable = yes
printable = yes
</code></tscreen>
To make the above directory readable by the public, but only writable by people in group staff, modify the entry like this:
<tscreen><code>
[public]
comment = Public Stuff
path = /home/public
public = yes
writable = yes
printable = no
write list = @staff
</code></tscreen>
For other tricks to play with drive shares, see the Samba documentation or man pages.
<sect>Sharing A Windows Drive With Linux Machines
<P>
An SMB client program for UNIX machines is included with the Samba distribution. It provides an ftp-like interface on the command line. You can uyse this utility to transfer files between a Windows 'server' and a linux client.
To see which shares are available on a given host, run:
<code>
/usr/sbin/smbclient -L host
</code>
where 'host' is the name of the machine that you wish to view. this will return a list of 'service' names - that is, names of drives or printers that it can share with you. Unless the SMB server has no security configured, it will ask you for a password. Get it the password for the 'guest' account or for your personal account on that machine.
For example:
<code>
smbclient -L zimmerman
</code>
The output of this command should look something like this:
<tscreen><code>
Server time is Sat Aug 10 15:58:27 1996
Timezone is UTC+10.0
Password:
Domain=[WORKGROUP] OS=[Windows NT 3.51] Server=[NT LAN Manager 3.51]
The browse list shows other SMB servers with resources to share on the network.
To use the client, run:
<code>
/usr/sbin/smbclient service <password>
</code>
where 'service' is a machine and share name. For example, if you are trying to reach a directory that has been shared as 'public' on a machine called zimmerman, the service would be called \\zimmerman\public. However, due to shell restrictions, you will need to escape the backslashes, so you end up with something like this:
where 'mypasswd' is the literal string of your password.
You will get the smbclient prompt:
<tscreen><code>
Server time is Sat Aug 10 15:58:44 1996
Timezone is UTC+10.0
Domain=[WORKGROUP] OS=[Windows NT 3.51] Server=[NT LAN Manager 3.51]
smb: \>
</code></tscreen>
Type 'h' to get help using smbclient:
<tscreen><code>
smb: \> h
ls dir lcd cd pwd
get mget put mput rename
more mask del rm mkdir
md rmdir rd prompt recurse
translate lowercase print printmode queue
cancel stat quit q exit
newer archive tar blocksize tarmode
setmode help ? !
smb: \>
</code></tscreen>
If you can use ftp, you shouldn't need the man pages for smbclient.
<sect>Sharing A Linux Printer With Windows Machines
<P>
To share a linux printer with Windows machines, you need to make certain that your printer is set up to work under linux. If you can print from linux, setting up an SMB share of the printer is stright forward.
See the Printing HOWTO to set up local printing.
Since the author uses a printer connected to a Windows NT machine, this section should not be taken as definitive, but merely a suggestion. Anyone with details to share, please send them to
<htmlurl url="mailto:dwood@plugged.net.au"
name="dwood@plugged.net.au">
so this section can be completed.
Add printing configuration to your smb.conf:
<tscreen><code>
[global]
printing = bsd
printcap name = /etc/printcap
load printers = yes
log file = /var/log/samba-log.%m
lock directory = /var/lock/samba
[printers]
comment = All Printers
security = server
path = /var/spool/lpd/lp
browseable = no
printable = yes
public = yes
writable = no
create mode = 0700
[ljet]
security = server
path = /var/spool/lpd/lp
printer name = lp
writable = yes
public = yes
printable = yes
print command = lpr -r -h -P %p %s
</code></tscreen>
Make certain that the printer path (in this case under [ljet]) matches the spool directory in /etc/printcap!
NOTE: There are some problems sharing printers on UNIX boxes with Windows NT machines using Samba. One problem is with NT seeing the shared printer properly. To fix this, see the notes in the Samba distribution in the file docs/WinNT.txt. The other deals with password problems. See the comments in the same file for an annoying gain of understanding and failure to fix the problem.
<sect>Sharing A Windows Printer With Linux Machines
<P>
To share a printer on a Windows machine, you must do the following:
a) You must have the proper entries in /etc/printcap and they must correspond to the local directory structure (for the spool directory, etc)
b) You must have the script /usr/bin/smbprint. This comes with the Samba source, but not with all Samba binary distributions. A slightly modifed copy is discussed below.
c) If you want to convert ASCII files to Postscript, you must have nenscript, or its equivalent. nenscript is a Postscript converter and is generally installed in /usr/bin.
d) you may wish to make Samba printing easier by having an easy-to-use front end. A simple perl script to handle ASCII, Postscript or created Postscript is given below.
The /etc/printcap entry below is for an HP 5MP printer on a Windows NT host. The entries are as follows:
<code>
cm - comment
lp - device name to open for output
sd - the printer's spool directory (on the local machine)
af - the accounting file
mx - the maximum file size (zero is unlimited)
if - name of the input filter (script)
</code>
For more information, see the Printing HOWTO or the man page for printcap.
<tscreen><code>
# /etc/printcap
#
# //zimmerman/oreilly via smbprint
#
lp:\
:cm=HP 5MP Postscript OReilly on zimmerman:\
:lp=/dev/lp1:\
:sd=/var/spool/lpd/lp:\
:af=/var/spool/lpd/lp/acct:\
:mx#0:\
:if=/usr/bin/smbprint:
</code></tscreen>
Make certain that the spool and accounting directories exist and are writable. Ensure that the 'if' line holds the proper path to the smbprint script (given below) and make sure that the proper device is pointed to (the /dev speical file).
Next is the smbprint script itself. It is usually placed in /usr/bin and is attributable to Andrew Tridgell, the person who created Samba as far as I know. It comes with the Samba source distribution, but is absent from some binary distributions, so I have recreated it here.
You may wish to look at this carefully. There are some minor alterations that have shown themselves to be useful.
<tscreen><code>
#!/bin/sh -x
# This script is an input filter for printcap printing on a unix machine. It
# uses the smbclient program to print the file to the specified smb-based
# server and service.
# For example you could have a printcap entry like this
Most linux distributions come with nenscript for converting ASCII documents to Postscript. The following perl script makes life easier be providing a simple interface to linux printing via smbprint.
<code>
Usage: print [-a|c|p] <filename>
-a prints <filename> as ASCII
-c prints <filename> formatted as source code
-p prints <filename> as Postscript
If no switch is given, print attempts to
guess the file type and print appropriately.
</code>
Using smbprint to print ASCII files tends to truncate long lines. This script breaks long lines on whitespace (instead of in the middle of a word), if possible.
The source code formatting is done with nenscript. It takes an ASCII file and foramts it in 2 columns with a fancy header (date, filename, etc). It also numbers the lines. Using this as an example, other types of formatting can be accomplished.
Postscript documents are already properly formatted, so they pass through directly.
<tscreen><code>
#!/usr/bin/perl
# Script: print
# Authors: Brad Marshall, David Wood
# Plugged In Communications
# Date: 960808
#
# Script to print to oreilly which is currently on zimmerman
# Purpose: Takes files of various types as arguments and
# processes them appropriately for piping to a Samba print script.
#
# Currently supported file types:
#
# ASCII - ensures that lines longer than $line_length characters wrap on
# whitespace.
# Postscript - Takes no action.
# Code - Formats in Postscript (using nenscript) to display
# properly (landscape, font, etc).
#
# Set the maximum allowable length for each line of ASCII text.
$line_length = 76;
# Set the path and name of the Samba print script
$print_prog = "/usr/bin/smbprint";
# Set the path and name to nenscript (the ASCII-->Postscript converter)
$nenscript = "/usr/bin/nenscript";
unless ( -f $print_prog ) {
die "Can't find $print_prog!";
}
unless ( -f $nenscript ) {
die "Can't find $nenscript!";
}
&ero;ParseCmdLine(@ARGV);
# DBG
print "filetype is $filetype\n";
if ($filetype eq "ASCII") {
&ero;wrap($line_length);
} elsif ($filetype eq "code") {
&ero;codeformat;
} elsif ($filetype eq "ps") {
&ero;createarray;
} else {
print "Sorry..no known file type.\n";
exit 0;
}
# Pipe the array to smbprint
open(PRINTER, "|$print_prog") || die "Can't open $print_prog: $!\n";
foreach $line (@newlines) {
print PRINTER $line;
}
# Send an extra linefeed in case a file has an incomplete last line.
# Read the temporary file back into an array so it can be
# passed to the Samba print script.
@newlines = ("");
open(FILE, "<$tmpfile") || die "Can't open $file: $!\n";
while(<FILE>) {
push(@newlines,$_);
}
close(FILE);
system("rm $tmpfile");
}
sub createarray {
# Create the array for postscript
open(FILE, "<$file") || die "Can't open $file: $!\n";
while(<FILE>) {
push(@newlines,$_);
}
close(FILE);
}
</code></tscreen>
<sect>Copyright
<P>
This HOWTO is copyright 1996 by David Wood. It may be reproduced in any form and freely distributed as long as the file stays intact, including this statement.
<sect>Acknowledgements
<P>
As soon as you mail me with suggestions, I'll acknowledge you here in the next release.
