Samba configuration Step by Step Part-1

Samba

Samba, which uses the CIFS/SMB protocol, is commonly brought up when you want Linux and Windows machines to be able to share files together. Aside from the file sharing uses, Samba also has some built-in functionality to run as a member server on a Windows domain, print server, or file server. Let’s get started with the setup.

Step 1. Install the required packages for Samba:

# yum install –y samba samba-common samba-client

Step 2. Verify the package installation:

# rpm -qa | grep samba

samba-client-3.5.4-68.el6.x86_64

samba-3.5.4-68.el6.x86_64

samba-winbind-clients-3.5.4-68.el6.x86_64

samba-common-3.5.4-68.el6.x86_64

Step 3. Enable the service to start during boot:

# chkconfig smb on

Step 4. Verify that the service is set to start on boot:

# chkconfig smb --list

smb 0:off 1:off 2:on 3:on 4:on 5:on 6:off

Configuring Samba

If you have never worked with Samba before, the number of options can seem overwhelming. First, let’s look at the two services responsible for running Samba:

smbd              Samba server daemon

nmbd             NetBIOS service daemon

There are also a handful of config files:

/etc/samba/smb.conf Contains the main config file

/etc/samba/smbusers Maps Samba and Red Hat users

/etc/samba/smbpasswd Contains Samba user passwords

I’m sure you could have guessed by now that no service this complex comes without a group of management commands as well:

mount.cifs    Mounts a Samba resource without root privileges

smbclient      Connects to a Samba resource

smbpasswd  Configures Samba users and passwords

smbstatus     Displays the status of Samba connections

testparm       Tests the syntax of the main config file for issues

umount.cifs Unmounts a Samba resource without root privileges

Now that you are completely overwhelmed with config files and commands, let’s take a step back and see what these things are actually used for. You need to edit the main config file to set up the Samba server and directories that you’d like to make into Samba shares. Here is a sample /etc/samba/smb.conf config file you can use (just read through it for now):

# cat /etc/samba/smb.conf

### Global Data Section ###

[global]

### Define our workgroup and hostname information ###

workgroup = INET

server string = My Samba Server

netbios name = RHEL01

### Define the log file and its size ###

log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log

max log size = 50

### Use a local password file (/etc/samba/smbpasswd) ###

security = user

passdb backend = tdbsam

### Define printer settings ###

load printers = yes

printcap name = /etc/printcap

cups options = raw

### Samba Share for Company Data ###

[company_data]

### Define a comment for the share ###

comment = Directory for all employees within the company

### Allow users to access the share and define its location ###

browseable = yes

path = /opt/company_data

### Make the share writable and define access for valid users ###

valid users = user01

writable = yes

### Share for Samba printers ###

[printers]

### Define a comment for the share ###

comment = All Printers

### Allow users to access the share and define its location ###

browseable = no

path = /var/spool/samba

### Set permissions and user access ###

guest ok = no

writable = no

printable = yes

To set up the file, do the following:

Step 1. Make a backup of the main config file so you can review the comments in

it later:

# cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.bk

Step 2. Copy the sample file provided here into a new main config file:

# nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

Step 3. Save the file and exit. Now you need to check that the config file has no

syntax errors by using the testparm command:

Syntax: testparm [options] <config file> [hostname] [host IP]

Options:

-s         Suppresses the prompt

-v        Provides verbose output (shows the default options)

Check the syntax of the config file:

# testparm

Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf

Processing section “[company_data]”

Processing section “[printers]”

Loaded services file OK.

Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE

Press enter to see a dump of your service definitions

[global]

workgroup = INET

netbios name = RHEL01

server string = My Samba Server

log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log

max log size = 50

printcap name = /etc/printcap

cups options = raw

[company_data]

comment = Directory for all employees within the company

path = /opt/company_data

valid users = user01

read only = No

[printers]

comment = All Printers

path = /var/spool/samba

printable = Yes

browseable = No

There are no errors in the output shown here, but you can see the global options

displayed, including the different shares that are accessible to users. Before you can start connecting clients, however, you also need to create Samba users because they are separate from system users. You can use the smbpasswd command to create a new Samba user.

Syntax: smbpasswd [options] [user]

Options:

-a        Adds a user

-d        Disables a user

-e        Enables a user

-x         Deletes a user

Step 1. Create your first Samba user:

# smbpasswd -a user01

New SMB password:

Retype new SMB password:

Added user user01.

Step 2. Verify that the user was created successfully by using the pdbedit command:

# pdbedit -w -L

user01:501:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX:17601CAE62CBC5D649CF7D1951C42806:[U ]:LCT-4D498DE8:

At this point, everything should be in place for your Samba server. You just need to make sure that the directories you specified to be a Samba share exist

Step 1. If you haven’t done so already, start the Samba service:

# service smb start

Starting SMB services:                                          [ OK ]

Step 2. Verify that the service is running:

# service smb status

smbd (pid 3145) is running...

Samba configuration Step by Step Part-2
Samba configuration Step by Step Part-3