Set-up for Samba server

Introduction

The Unix server oak.csim.cs.ait.ac.th has been set-up to run a Samba server.

Samba allows to serve Microsoft Network from a Unix machine, so users under Windows can access files on the Unix machine the same way they would do on a Windows NT server. In the same way, it allows to share printers through Microsoft Network.

Advantages for CSIM are:

  • only one account per user, and so one password;
  • common disk space is seen from Unix and from the PC;
  • only one disk space used whatever the working environment is;
  • more consistant sharing of the printers, the printer attached to the local PC can be used from Unix;
  • increased disk space allocated to each users (20 MB instead of 2+8 MB).

In the past, we have been working with two distinct environments, one for Unix and one forWindows (based on a Netware server). Each user had two accounts, two passwords, two disk spaces.

By setting-up Samba server, only one account is left for each user, avoiding constant swapping between one environment and the other.

Register to Samba server

Registering to Samba server is done through the Account Management web page. You have to change password. This password will then be automatically used for Unix account as well as for Samba server.

Note: this is the same password used for dial-up connection for faculty, when using CSIM modems.

 Change the network configuration

  1. Open the control panel and choose the network.
  2. Be careful that the services include the Client for Microsoft Networks, and that the Primary Network Logon is “Client for Microsoft Network”.
  3. On file and printer sharing, be sure to select sharing the files (that will be important later for centralised back-up).

    If you have a printer attached to the PC and you want to use this printer from Unix, do select also sharing the printer. More about that later on this page.
  4. On the properties for Client for Microsoft Networks, select “Logon to Windows NT Domain”, then enter the name of the domain that must be “Samba” (upper case or lower case) and select “Quick Logon”.
  5. From then on the machine is configured. When exiting the network control panel, it will update some registery then offer to reboot.
  6. Reboot the PC.

Connect under Samba

After rebooting, a login window appears that offers to connect under Samba. Enter your Unix name (be carefull about upper and lower case) as well as your password (same as Unix). The domain should be “Samba”.

Then a window give the following warning:

Your local profile was created when the home directory was disconnected. Do you want the local profile to overwrite your home directory profile?

This message appears the first time you connect to Samba, or the first time you use your Samba account on a new PC. It may also appears after the PC was halted without doing a proper shutdown.

You can answer “Yes”.

With Samba, each user has a user profile that is saved on the Samba server. This profile keeps local information like the colour of the desktop background and other environment settings. It will be loaded from the Samba server at each connection and backed-up at each deconnection.

When you answer “yes” a window informs you it is creating the user profile.

Working with Samba

Once you are loged in, Windows is connected to two new networks drives that are H: and J:. Note that the corresponding machine is called Oak.

H: represent your home directory, it is corresponds to your home directory under Unix.

J: is the copy of the former \\Csimnw1\apps directory under Netware. It contains a directory J:\Course that holds the teaching material that were formelly in \\Csimnw1\sys\public\wp and \\Csimnw1\sys\public\clntserv.

At login time you can execute automatically an MS-DOS batch file. This file must be called login.bat and containt MS-DOS commands.

Note: this file must be in MS-DOS format, each line ending by <CR><LF> if you create the file under Unix, it will not be working properly.

Print with Samba

The SAMBA server handles all the printers that are publically available. It also enforce the printing policy of CSIM.

If you have a printer connected to your PC , it is possible to use it from Unix. You should contact with Olivier to set-up that facility.

Brief instruction for Windows 2000:

  • create a user on Windows 2000 machine, set it as member of Guest, give it a password (password never expire)
  • share the printer and give it a name (no space in the name, avoid fancy characters)
  • on oak, create a printer spool, following the example of on-printer
  • update the .config file to reflect the user name, password, printer shared name and computer name
    the domain name should be the same as the computer name
    a Windows98 printer will have no user name!