Using Samba

Server Configuration

Now it’s time to begin configuring your Samba server. Let’s introduce three basic configuration options that can appear in the [global] section of your smb.conf file:

[global]
	#  Server configuration parameters
	netbios name = HYDRA
	server string = Samba %v on (%L)
	workgroup = SIMPLE

This configuration file is pretty simple; it advertises the Samba server on a NBT network under the NetBIOS name hydra. In addition, the machine belongs to the workgroup SIMPLE and displays a description to clients that includes the Samba version number as well as the NetBIOS name of the Samba server.

Tip

If you had to enter encrypt passwords=yes in your earlier configuration file, you should do so here as well.

Go ahead and try this configuration file. Create a file named smb.conf under the /usr/local/samba/lib directory with the text listed above. Then reset the Samba server and use a Windows client to verify the results. Be sure that your Windows clients are in the SIMPLE workgroup as well. After clicking on the Network Neighborhood on a Windows client, you should see a window similar to Figure 4.2. (In this figure, phoenix and chimaera are our Windows clients.)

Figure 4-2. Network Neighborhood showing the Samba server

You can verify the server string by listing the details of the Network Neighborhood window (select the Details menu item under the View menu), at which point you should ...