2 Frequently Asked Questions
8 (FAQ version 1.9.15a, Samba version 1.09.15)
10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12 This FAQ was originally prepared by Karl Auer and is
13 currently maintained by Paul Blackman (ictinus@lake.canberra.edu.au).
15 As Karl originally said, 'this FAQ was prepared with lots of help from numerous
16 net.helpers', and that's the way I'd like to keep it. So if you find anything
17 that you think should be in here don't hesitate to contact me.
19 Thanks to Karl for the work he's done, and continuing thanks to Andrew Tridgell
22 Note: This FAQ is (and probably always will be) under construction. Some
23 sections exist only as optimistic entries in the Contents page.
25 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29 * SECTION ONE: General information
30 All about Samba - what it is, how to get it, related sources of
31 information, how to understand the version numbering scheme,
33 * SECTION TWO: Compiling and installing Samba on a Unix host
34 Common problems that arise when building and installing Samba under
36 * SECTION THREE: Common client problems
37 Common problems that arise when trying to communicate from a client
38 computer to a Samba server. All problems which have symptoms you see
39 at the client end will be in this section.
40 * SECTION FOUR: Specific client problems
41 This section covers problems that are specific to certain clients,
42 such as Windows for Workgroups or Windows NT. Please check Section
44 * SECTION FIVE: Specific client application problems
45 This section covers problems that are specific to certain products,
46 such as Windows for Workgroups or Windows NT. Please check Sections
48 * SECTION SIX: Miscellaneous
49 All the questions that aren't classifiable into any other section.
52 ===============================================================================
53 SECTION ONE: General information
54 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
57 Samba is a suite of programs which work together to allow clients to access
58 to a server's filespace and printers via the SMB (Session Message Block)
59 protocol. Initially written for Unix, Samba now also runs on Netware, OS/2 and
62 In practice, this means that you can redirect disks and printers to Unix disks
63 and printers from Lan Manager clients, Windows for Workgroups 3.11 clients,
64 Windows NT clients, Linux clients and OS/2 clients. There is also a generic
65 Unix client program supplied as part of the suite which allows Unix users to
66 use an ftp-like interface to access filespace and printers on any other SMB
67 servers. This gives the capability for these operating systems to behave much
68 like a LAN Server or Windows NT Server machine, only with added functionality
69 and flexibility designed to make life easier for administrators.
71 The components of the suite are (in summary):
73 * smbd, the SMB server. This handles actual connections from clients,
74 doing all the file, permission and username work
75 * nmbd, the Netbios name server, which helps clients locate servers,
76 doing the browsing work and managing domains as this capability is
77 being built into Samba
78 * smbclient, the Unix-hosted client program
79 * smbrun, a little 'glue' program to help the server run external
81 * testprns, a program to test server access to printers
82 * testparms, a program to test the Samba configuration file for
84 * smb.conf, the Samba configuration file
85 * smbprint, a sample script to allow a Unix host to use smbclient to
86 print to an SMB server
87 * documentation! DON'T neglect to read it - you will save a great deal
90 The suite is supplied with full source (of course!) and is GPLed.
92 The primary creator of the Samba suite is Andrew Tridgell. Later versions
93 incorporate much effort by many net.helpers. The man pages and this FAQ were
94 originally written by Karl Auer.
96 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
97 * 2: What is the current version of Samba?
99 At time of writing, the current version was 1.9.16. If you want to be sure
100 check the bottom of the change-log file.
101 (ftp://samba.anu.edu.au/pub/samba/alpha/change-log)
103 For more information see question 5, "What do the version numbers mean?"
105 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
106 * 3: Where can I get it?
108 The Samba suite is available via anonymous ftp from samba.anu.edu.au. The
109 latest and greatest versions of the suite are in the directory:
113 Development (read "alpha") versions, which are NOT necessarily stable and which
114 do NOT necessarily have accurate documentation, are available in the directory:
118 Note that binaries are NOT included in any of the above. Samba is distributed
119 ONLY in source form, though binaries may be available from other sites. Recent
120 versions of some Linux distributions, for example, do contain Samba binaries
123 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
124 * 5: What do the version numbers mean?
126 It is not recommended that you run a version of Samba with the word "alpha"
127 in its name unless you know what you are doing and are willing to do some
128 debugging. Many, many people just get the latest recommended stable release
129 version and are happy. If you are brave, by all means take the plunge and
130 help with the testing and development - but don't install it on your
131 departmental server. Samba is typically very stable and safe, and this is
132 mostly due to the policy of many public releases.
134 How the scheme works:
136 1) when major changes are made the version number is increased. For example,
137 the transition from 1.9.15 to 1.9.16. However, this version number will not
138 appear immediately and people should continue to use 1.9.15 for production
139 systems (see next point.)
141 2) just after major changes are made the software is considered
142 unstable, and a series of alpha releases are distributed, for example
143 1.9.16alpha1. These are for testing by those who know what they are doing.
144 The "alpha" in the filename will hopefully scare off those who are just
145 looking for the latest version to install.
147 3) when Andrew thinks that the alphas have stabilised to the point where he
148 would recommend new users install it, he renames it to the same version
149 number without the alpha, for example 1.9.16.
151 4) inevitably bugs are found in the "stable" releases and minor
152 patch levels are released which give us the pXX series, for example
155 So the progression goes:
157 1.9.15p7 (production)
158 1.9.15p8 (production)
159 1.9.16alpha1 (test sites only)
161 1.9.16alpha20 (test sites only)
163 1.9.16p1 (production)
165 The above system means that whenever someone looks at the samba ftp site
166 they will be able to grab the highest numbered release without an
167 alpha in the name and be sure of getting the current recommended
170 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
171 * 4: What platforms are supported?
173 Many different platforms have run Samba successfully. The platforms most widely
174 used and thus best tested are Linux and SunOS.
176 At time of writing, the Makefile claimed support for:
179 * Linux with shadow passwords
180 * Linux without shadow passwords
182 * SOLARIS 2.2 and above (aka SunOS 5)
186 * OSF1 with NIS and Fast Crypt (alpha only)
187 * OSF1 V2.0 Enhanced Security (alpha only)
201 * ISC SVR3V4 (POSIX mode)
202 * ISC SVR3V4 (iBCS2 mode)
204 * SCO with shadow passwords.
205 * SCO with shadow passwords, without YP.
206 * SCO with TCB passwords
207 * SCO 3.2v2 (ODT 1.1) with TCP passwords
210 * Apollo Domain/OS sr10.3 (BSD4.3)
212 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
213 * 5: How can I find out more about Samba?
215 There are two mailing lists devoted to discussion of Samba-related matters.
216 There is also the newsgroup, comp.protocols.smb, which has a great deal of
217 discussion on Samba. There is also a WWW site 'SAMBA Web Pages' at
218 http://samba.canberra.edu.au/pub/samba/samba.html, under which there is a
219 comprehensive survey of Samba users. Another useful resource is the hypertext
220 archive of the Samba mailing list.
222 Send email to listproc@samba.anu.edu.au. Make sure the subject line is
223 blank, and include the following two lines in the body of the message:
225 subscribe samba Firstname Lastname
226 subscribe samba-announce Firstname Lastname
228 Obviously you should substitute YOUR first name for "Firstname" and YOUR last
229 name for "Lastname"! Try not to send any signature stuff, it sometimes confuses
232 The samba list is a digest list - every eight hours or so it regurgitates a
233 single message containing all the messages that have been received by the list
234 since the last time and sends a copy of this message to all subscribers.
236 If you stop being interested in Samba, please send another email to
237 listproc@samba.anu.edu.au. Make sure the subject line is blank, and
238 include the following two lines in the body of the message:
241 unsubscribe samba-announce
243 The From: line in your message MUST be the same address you used when you
246 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
247 * 6: Something's gone wrong - what should I do?
249 [#] *** IMPORTANT! *** [#]
250 DO NOT post messages on mailing lists or in newsgroups until you have carried
251 out the first three steps given here!
253 Firstly, see if there are any likely looking entries in this FAQ! If you have
254 just installed Samba, have you run through the checklist in DIAGNOSIS.txt? It
255 can save you a lot of time and effort.
257 Secondly, read the man pages for smbd, nmbd and smb.conf, looking for topics
258 that relate to what you are trying to do.
260 Thirdly, if there is no obvious solution to hand, try to get a look at the log
261 files for smbd and/or nmbd for the period during which you were having
262 problems. You may need to reconfigure the servers to provide more extensive
263 debugging information - usually level 2 or level 3 provide ample debugging
264 info. Inspect these logs closely, looking particularly for the string "Error:".
266 Fourthly, if you still haven't got anywhere, ask the mailing list or newsgroup.
267 In general nobody minds answering questions provided you have followed the
268 preceding steps. It might be a good idea to scan the archives of the mailing
269 list, which are available through the Samba web site described in the previous
272 If you successfully solve a problem, please mail the FAQ maintainer a succinct
273 description of the symptom, the problem and the solution, so I can incorporate
274 it in the next version.
276 If you make changes to the source code, _please_ submit these patches so that
277 everyone else gets the benefit of your work. This is one of the most important
278 aspects to the maintainence of Samba. Send all patches to
279 samba-bugs@samba.anu.edu.au, not Andrew Tridgell or any other individual and
280 not the samba team mailing list.
282 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
283 * n: Pizza Supply Details
285 Those who have registered in the Samba survey as "Pizza Factory" will already
286 know this, but the rest may need some help. Andrew doesn't ask for payment,
287 but he does appreciate it when people give him pizza. This calls for a little
288 organisation when the pizza donor is twenty thousand kilometres away, but
291 Method 1: Ring up your local branch of an international pizza chain and see if
292 they honour their vouchers internationally. Pizza Hut do, which is how the
293 entire Canberra Linux Users Group got to eat pizza one night, courtesy of
296 Method 2: Ring up a local pizza shop in Canberra and quote a credit card
297 number for a certain amount, and tell them that Andrew will be collecting
298 it (don't forget to tell him.) One kind soul from Germany did this.
300 Method 3: Purchase a pizza voucher from your local pizza shop that has no
301 international affiliations and send it to Andrew. It is completely useless
302 but he can hang it on the wall next to the one he already has from Germany :-)
304 Method 4: Air freight him a pizza with your favourite regional flavours. It will
305 probably get stuck in customs or torn apart by hungry sniffer dogs but it will
306 have been a noble gesture.
308 ===============================================================================
309 SECTION TWO: Compiling and installing Samba on a Unix host
310 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
313 ===============================================================================
314 SECTION THREE: Common client problems
315 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
316 * 1: I can't see the Samba server in any browse lists!
318 *** Until the FAQ can be updated, please check the file:
319 *** ftp://samba.anu.edu.au/pub/samba/BROWSING.txt
320 *** for more information on browsing.
322 If your GUI client does not permit you to select non-browsable servers, you may
323 need to do so on the command line. For example, under Lan Manager you might
324 connect to the above service as disk drive M: thusly:
326 net use M: \\mary\fred
328 The details of how to do this and the specific syntax varies from client to
329 client - check your client's documentation.
331 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
332 * 2: Some files that I KNOW are on the server doesn't show up when I view the
333 directories from my client!
335 If you check what files are not showing up, you will note that they are files
336 which contain upper case letters or which are otherwise not DOS-compatible (ie,
337 they are not legal DOS filenames for some reason).
339 The Samba server can be configured either to ignore such files completely, or
340 to present them to the client in "mangled" form. If you are not seeing the
341 files at all, the Samba server has most likely been configured to ignore them.
342 Consult the man page smb.conf(5) for details of how to change this - the
343 parameter you need to set is "mangled names = yes".
345 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
346 * 3: Some files on the server show up with really wierd filenames when I view
347 the directories from my client!
349 If you check what files are showing up wierd, you will note that they are files
350 which contain upper case letters or which are otherwise not DOS-compatible (ie,
351 they are not legal DOS filenames for some reason).
353 The Samba server can be configured either to ignore such files completely, or
354 to present them to the client in "mangled" form. If you are seeing strange file
355 names, they are most likely "mangled". If you would prefer to have such files
356 ignored rather than presented in "mangled" form, consult the man page
357 smb.conf(5) for details of how to change the server configuration - the
358 parameter you need to set is "mangled names = no".
360 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
361 * 4: My client reports "cannot locate specified computer" or similar.
363 This indicates one of three things: You supplied an incorrect server name, the
364 underlying TCP/IP layer is not working correctly, or the name you specified
367 After carefully checking that the name you typed is the name you should have
368 typed, try doing things like pinging a host or telnetting to somewhere on your
369 network to see if TCP/IP is functioning OK. If it is, the problem is most
370 likely name resolution.
372 If your client has a facility to do so, hardcode a mapping between the hosts IP
373 and the name you want to use. For example, with Man Manager or Windows for
374 Workgroups you would put a suitable entry in the file LMHOSTS. If this works,
375 the problem is in the communication between your client and the netbios name
376 server. If it does not work, then there is something fundamental wrong with
377 your naming and the solution is beyond the scope of this document.
379 If you do not have any server on your subnet supplying netbios name resolution,
380 hardcoded mappings are your only option. If you DO have a netbios name server
381 running (such as the Samba suite's nmbd program), the problem probably lies in
382 the way it is set up. Refer to Section Two of this FAQ for more ideas.
384 By the way, remember to REMOVE the hardcoded mapping before further tests :-)
386 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
387 * 5: My client reports "cannot locate specified share name" or similar.
389 This message indicates that your client CAN locate the specified server, which
390 is a good start, but that it cannot find a service of the name you gave.
392 The first step is to check the exact name of the service you are trying to
393 connect to (consult your system administrator). Assuming it exists and you
394 specified it correctly (read your client's doco on how to specify a service
395 name correctly), read on:
397 * Many clients cannot accept or use service names longer than eight
399 * Many clients cannot accept or use service names containing spaces.
400 * Some servers (not Samba though) are case sensitive with service names.
401 * Some clients force service names into upper case.
403 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
404 * 6: My client reports "cannot find domain controller", "cannot log on to the
407 Nothing is wrong - Samba does not implement the primary domain name controller
408 stuff for several reasons, including the fact that the whole concept of a
409 primary domain controller and "logging in to a network" doesn't fit well with
410 clients possibly running on multiuser machines (such as users of smbclient
411 under Unix). Having said that, several developers are working hard on
412 building it in to the next major version of Samba. If you can contribute,
413 send a message to samba-bugs!
415 Seeing this message should not affect your ability to mount redirected disks
416 and printers, which is really what all this is about.
418 For many clients (including Windows for Workgroups and Lan Manager), setting
419 the domain to STANDALONE at least gets rid of the message.
421 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
422 * 7: Printing doesn't work :-(
424 Make sure that the specified print command for the service you are connecting
425 to is correct and that it has a fully-qualified path (eg., use "/usr/bin/lpr"
426 rather than just "lpr").
428 Make sure that the spool directory specified for the service is writable by the
429 user connected to the service. In particular the user "nobody" often has
430 problems with printing, even if it worked with an earlier version of Samba. Try
431 creating another guest user other than "nobody".
433 Make sure that the user specified in the service is permitted to use the
436 Check the debug log produced by smbd. Search for the printer name and see if
437 the log turns up any clues. Note that error messages to do with a service ipc$
438 are meaningless - they relate to the way the client attempts to retrieve status
439 information when using the LANMAN1 protocol.
441 If using WfWg then you need to set the default protocol to TCP/IP, not Netbeui.
444 If using the Lanman1 protocol (the default) then try switching to coreplus.
445 Also not that print status error messages don't mean printing won't work. The
446 print status is received by a different mechanism.
448 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
449 * 8: My programs install on the server OK, but refuse to work properly.
451 There are numerous possible reasons for this, but one MAJOR possibility is that
452 your software uses locking. Make sure you are using Samba 1.6.11 or later. It
453 may also be possible to work around the problem by setting "locking=no" in the
454 Samba configuration file for the service the software is installed on. This
455 should be regarded as a strictly temporary solution.
457 In earlier Samba versions there were some difficulties with the very latest
458 Microsoft products, particularly Excel 5 and Word for Windows 6. These should
459 have all been solved. If not then please let Andrew Tridgell know.
461 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
462 * 9: My "server string" doesn't seem to be recognized, my client reports the
463 default setting, eg. "Samba 1.9.15p4", instead of what I have changed it
464 to in the smb.conf file.
466 You need to use the -C option in nmbd. The "server string" affects
467 what smbd puts out and -C affects what nmbd puts out. In a future
468 version these will probably be combined and -C will be removed, but
471 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
472 * 10: When I attempt to get a listing of available resources from the Samba
473 server, my client reports
474 "This server is not configured to list shared resources".
476 Your guest account is probably invalid for some reason. Samba uses
477 the guest account for browsing in smbd. Check that your guest account is
480 See also 'guest account' in smb.conf man page.
483 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
484 * 11: You get the message "you appear to have a trapdoor uid system"
487 This can have several causes. It might be because you are using a uid
488 or gid of 65535 or -1. This is a VERY bad idea, and is a big security
489 hole. Check carefully in your /etc/passwd file and make sure that no
490 user has uid 65535 or -1. Especially check the "nobody" user, as many
491 broken systems are shipped with nobody setup with a uid of 65535.
493 It might also mean that your OS has a trapdoor uid/gid system :-)
495 This means that once a process changes effective uid from root to
496 another user it can't go back to root. Unfortunately Samba relies on
497 being able to change effective uid from root to non-root and back
498 again to implement its security policy. If your OS has a trapdoor uid
499 system this won't work, and several things in Samba may break. Less
500 things will break if you use user or server level security instead of
501 the default share level security, but you may still strike
504 The problems don't give rise to any security holes, so don't panic,
505 but it does mean some of Samba's capabilities will be unavailable.
506 In particular you will not be able to connect to the Samba server as
507 two different uids at once. This may happen if you try to print as a
508 "guest" while accessing a share as a normal user. It may also affect
509 your ability to list the available shares as this is normally done as
512 Complain to your OS vendor and ask them to fix their system.
514 Note: the reason why 65535 is a VERY bad choice of uid and gid is that
515 it casts to -1 as a uid, and the setreuid() system call ignores (with
516 no error) uid changes to -1. This means any daemon attempting to run
517 as uid 65535 will actually run as root. This is not good!
519 ===============================================================================
520 SECTION FOUR: Specific client problems
521 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
522 * 1: Are any MacIntosh clients for Samba.
524 In Rob Newberry's words (rob@eats.com, Sun, 4 Dec 1994):
526 The answer is "No." Samba speaks SMB, the protocol used for Microsoft networks.
527 The Macintosh has ALWAYS spoken Appletalk. Even with Microsoft "services for
528 Macintosh", it has been a matter of making the server speak Appletalk. It is
529 the same for Novell Netware and the Macintosh, although I believe Novell has
530 (VERY LATE) released an extension for the Mac to let it speak IPX.
532 In future Apple System Software, you may see support for other protocols, such
533 as SMB -- Applet is working on a new networking architecture that will make it
534 easier to support additional protocols. But it's not here yet.
536 Now, the nice part is that if you want your Unix machine to speak Appletalk,
537 there are several options. "Netatalk" and "CAP" are free, and available on the
538 net. There are also several commercial options, such as "PacerShare" and
539 "Helios" (I think). In any case, you'll have to look around for a server, not
540 anything for the Mac.
542 Depending on you OS, some of these may not help you. I am currently
543 coordinating the effort to get CAP working with Native Ethertalk under Linux,
544 but we're not done yet.
548 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
549 * 2: I am getting a "Session request failed (131,130)" error when I try to
550 connect to my Win95 PC with smbclient. I am able to connect from the PC
551 to the Samba server without problems. What gives?
553 The following answer is provided by John E. Miller:
555 I'll assume that you're able to ping back and forth between the machines by
556 IP address and name, and that you're using some security model where you're
557 confident that you've got user IDs and passwords right. The logging options
558 (-d3 or greater) can help a lot with that. DNS and WINS configuration can
559 also impact connectivity as well.
561 Now, on to 'scope id's. Somewhere in your Win95 TCP/IP network configuration
562 (I'm too much of an NT bigot to know where it's located in the Win95 setup,
563 but I'll have to learn someday since I teach for a Microsoft Solution Provider
564 Authorized Tech Education Center - what an acronym...) [Note: It's under
565 Control Panel | Network | TCP/IP | WINS Configuration] there's a little text
566 entry field called something like 'Scope ID'.
568 This field essentially creates 'invisible' sub-workgroups on the same wire.
569 Boxes can only see other boxes whose Scope IDs are set to the exact same
570 value - it's sometimes used by OEMs to configure their boxes to browse only
571 other boxes from the same vendor and, in most environments, this field should
572 be left blank. If you, in fact, have something in this box that EXACT value
573 (case-sensitive!) needs to be provided to smbclient and nmbd as the -i
574 (lowercase) parameter. So, if your Scope ID is configured as the string
575 'SomeStr' in Win95 then you'd have to use smbclient -iSomeStr <otherparms>
578 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
579 * 3: How do I synchronize my PC's clock with my Samba server?
581 To syncronize your PC's clock with your Samba server:
583 * Copy timesync.pif to your windows directory
584 * timesync.pif can be found at:
585 http://samba.canberra.edu.au/pub/samba/binaries/miscellaneous/timesync.pif
586 * Add timesync.pif to your 'Start Up' group/folder
587 * Open the properties dialog box for the program/icon
588 * Make sure the 'Run Minimized' option is set in program 'Properties'
589 * Change the command line section that reads \\sambahost to reflect the name
591 * Close the properties dialog box by choosing 'OK'
593 Each time you start your computer (or login for Win95) your PC will
594 synchronize it's clock with your Samba server.
597 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
598 * 4: Problems with WinDD, NTrigue, WinCenterPro etc
600 All of the above programs are applications that sit on an NT box and
601 allow multiple users to access the NT GUI applications from remote
602 workstations (often over X).
604 What has this got to do with Samba? The problem comes when these users
605 use filemanager to mount shares from a Samba server. The most common
606 symptom is that the first user to connect get correct file permissions
607 and has a nice day, but subsequent connections get logged in as the
608 same user as the first person to login. They find that they cannot
609 access files in their own home directory, but that they can access
610 files in the first users home directory (maybe not such a nice day
613 Why does this happen? The above products all share a common heritage
614 (and code base I believe). They all open just a single TCP based SMB
615 connection to the Samba server, and requests from all users are piped
616 over this connection. This is unfortunate, but not fatal.
618 It means that if you run your Samba server in share level security
619 (the default) then things will definately break as described above. The
620 share level SMB security model has no provision for multiple user IDs
621 on the one SMB connection. See security_level.txt in the docs for more
622 info on share/user/server level security.
624 If you run in user or server level security then you have a chance,
625 but only if you have a recent version of Samba (at least 1.9.15p6). In
626 older versions bugs in Samba meant you still would have had problems.
628 If you have a trapdoor uid system in your OS then it will never work
629 properly. Samba needs to be able to switch uids on the connection and
630 it can't if your OS has a trapdoor uid system. You'll know this
631 because Samba will note it in your logs.
633 Also note that you should not use the magic "homes" share name with
634 products like these, as otherwise all users will end up with the same
635 home directory. Use \\server\username instead.
637 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
638 * 5: Problem with printers under NT
640 This info from Stefan Hergeth may be useful:
642 A network-printer (with ethernetcard) is connected to the NT-Clients via
643 our UNIX-Fileserver (SAMBA-Server), like the configuration told by
644 Matthew Harrell <harrell@leech.nrl.navy.mil> (see WinNT.txt)
646 1.) If a user has choosen this printer as the default printer in his
647 NT-Session and this printer is not connected to the network
648 (e.g. switched off) than this user has a problem with the SAMBA-
649 connection of his filesystems. It's very slow.
651 2.) If the printer is connected to the network everything works fine.
653 3.) When the smbd ist started with debug level 3, you can see that the
654 NT spooling system try to connect to the printer many times. If the
655 printer ist not connected to the network this request fails and the
656 NT spooler is wasting a lot of time to connect to the printer service.
657 This seems to be the reason for the slow network connection.
659 4.) Maybe it's possible to change this behaviour by setting different printer
660 properties in the Print-Manager-Menu of NT, but i didn't try it
663 I hope this information will help in some way.
665 Stefan Hergeth <hergeth@f7axp1.informatik.fh-muenchen.de>
667 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
668 * 6: Why are my file's timestamps off by an hour, or by a few hours?
670 This is from Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>.
672 Most likely it's a problem with your time zone settings.
674 Internally, Samba maintains time in traditional Unix format,
675 namely, the number of seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00:00 Universal Time
676 (or ``GMT''), not counting leap seconds.
678 On the server side, Samba uses the Unix TZ variable to convert internal
679 timestamps to and from local time. So on the server side, there are two
682 1. The Unix system clock must have the correct Universal time.
683 Use the shell command "sh -c 'TZ=UTC0 date'" to check this.
685 2. The TZ environment variable must be set on the server
686 before Samba is invoked. The details of this depend on the
687 server OS, but typically you must edit a file whose name is
688 /etc/TIMEZONE or /etc/default/init, or run the command `zic -l'.
690 3. TZ must have the correct value.
692 3a. If possible, use geographical time zone settings
693 (e.g. TZ='America/Los_Angeles' or perhaps
694 TZ=':US/Pacific'). These are supported by most
695 popular Unix OSes, are easier to get right, and are
696 more accurate for historical timestamps. If your
697 operating system has out-of-date tables, you should be
698 able to update them from the public domain time zone
699 tables at <URL:ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/>.
701 3b. If your system does not support geographical time zone
702 settings, you must use a Posix-style TZ strings, e.g.
703 TZ='PST8PDT,M4.1.0/2,M10.5.0/2' for US Pacific time.
704 Posix TZ strings can take the following form (with optional
707 StdOffset[Dst[Offset],Date/Time,Date/Time]
711 `Std' is the standard time designation (e.g. `PST').
713 `Offset' is the number of hours behind UTC (e.g. `8').
714 Prepend a `-' if you are ahead of UTC, and
715 append `:30' if you are at a half-hour offset.
716 Omit all the remaining items if you do not use
717 daylight-saving time.
719 `Dst' is the daylight-saving time designation
722 The optional second `Offset' is the number of
723 hours that daylight-saving time is behind UTC.
724 The default is 1 hour ahead of standard time.
726 `Date/Time,Date/Time' specify when daylight-saving
727 time starts and ends. The format for a date is
728 `Mm.n.d', which specifies the dth day (0 is Sunday)
729 of the nth week of the mth month, where week 5 means
730 the last such day in the month. The format for a
731 time is [h]h[:mm[:ss]], using a 24-hour clock.
733 Other Posix string formats are allowed but you don't want
736 On the client side, you must make sure that your client's clock and
737 time zone is also set appropriately. [[I don't know how to do this.]]
739 Samba traditionally has had many problems dealing with time zones, due
740 to the bizarre ways that Microsoft network protocols handle time
741 zones. A common symptom is for file timestamps to be off by an hour.
742 To work around the problem, try disconnecting from your Samba server
743 and then reconnecting to it; or upgrade your Samba server to
744 1.9.16alpha10 or later.
747 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
748 * 7: How do I set the printer driver name correctly?
751 > On NT, I opened "Printer Manager" and "Connect to Printer".
752 > Enter "\\ptdi270\ps1" in the box of printer. I got the
753 > following error message:
755 > You do not have sufficient access to your machine
756 > to connect to the selected printer, since a driver
757 > needs to be installed locally.
761 In the more recent versions of Samba you can now set the "printer
762 driver" in smb.conf. This tells the client what driver to use. For
765 printer driver = HP LaserJet 4L
767 and NT knows to use the right driver. You have to get this string
770 To find the exact string to use, you need to get to the dialog box in
771 your client where you select which printer driver to install. The
772 correct strings for all the different printers are shown in a listbox
775 You could also try setting the driver to NULL like this:
777 printer driver = NULL
779 this is effectively what older versions of Samba did, so if that
780 worked for you then give it a go. If this does work then let me know
781 and I'll make it the default. Currently the default is a 0 length
786 ===============================================================================
787 SECTION FIVE: Specific client application problems
788 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
789 * 1: MS Office Setup reports "Cannot change properties of the file named:
790 X:\MSOFFICE\SETUP.INI"
792 When installing MS Office on a Samba drive for which you have admin user
793 permissions, ie. admin users = <username>, you will find the setup program
794 unable to complete the installation.
796 To get around this problem, do the installation without admin user permissions
797 The problem is that MS Office Setup checks that a file is rdonly by trying to
800 Admin users can always open a file for writing, as they run as root.
801 You just have to install as a non-admin user and then use "chown -R" to fix
804 ===============================================================================
805 SECTION SIX: Miscellaneous
806 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
809 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
810 Maintained By Paul Blackman, Email:ictinus@lake.canberra.edu.au
git.samba.org / ira / wip.git / blob