Samba Technology for Network Resource Sharing Explained
Samba Technology for Network Resource Sharing Explained GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Internet, Networking, & Security > Home Networking
where username is a valid Windows NT account name. (Samba will prompt for an account password if necessary.) Samba uses Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths to refer to network hosts. Because Unix command shells normally interpret backslash characters in a special way, remember to type duplicate backslashes as shown above when working with Samba.
and verify that both smbd and nmbd appear in the process list. Start and stop Samba daemons in the normal Unix fashion: /etc/rc.d/init.d/smb start
/etc/rc.d/init.d/smb stop
Samba supports a configuration file, smb.conf. The Samba model for customizing details such as share names, directory paths, access control, and logging involves editing this text file and then restarting the daemons. A minimal smd.conf (enough to make the Unix server viewable on the network) looks like this ; Minimal /etc/smd.conf
[global]
guest account = netguest
workgroup = NETGROUP
Introduction to Samba for Computer Networks
By Bradley Mitchell Bradley Mitchell Writer Massachusetts Institute of Technology University of Illinois An MIT graduate who brings years of technical experience to articles on SEO, computers, and wireless networking. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on November 21, 2019 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share EmailIn This Article
Expand Jump to a Section What Samba Can Do for You Use Samba From Windows and Linux Clients Use Samba From Apple Mac Clients Requirements to Configure Samba Some Gotchas to Consider Conclusion Samba is client/server technology that implements network resource sharing across operating systems. With Samba, files and printers can be shared across Windows, Mac and Linux/UNIX clients. Samba's core functionality derives from its implementation of the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. SMB client- and server-side support comes bundled with all modern versions of Microsoft Windows, Linux distributions, and Apple Mac OSX. The free open software can also be obtained from samba.org. Due to technical differences among these operating systems, the technology is fairly sophisticated.What Samba Can Do for You
Samba can be utilized in several different ways. On an intranet or other private networks, for example, Samba applications can transfer files between a Linux server and Windows or Mac clients (or vice versa). Anyone using Web servers running Apache and Linux may consider using Samba rather than FTP to manage Web site content remotely. Besides simple transfers, SMB clients can also perform remote file updates.How to Use Samba From Windows and Linux Clients
Windows users often map drives to share files between computers. With Samba services running on a Linux or Unix server, Windows users may take advantage of the same facilities to access those files or printers. Unix shares can be reached from Windows clients through the operating system browsers like Windows Explorer, Network Neighborhood, and Edge. Sharing data in the opposite direction works similarly. The Unix program smbclient supports browsing and connecting to Windows shares. For example, to connect to C$ on a Windows computer named louiswu, type the following at the Unix command prompt smbclient \\\\louiswu\\c$ -U usernamewhere username is a valid Windows NT account name. (Samba will prompt for an account password if necessary.) Samba uses Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths to refer to network hosts. Because Unix command shells normally interpret backslash characters in a special way, remember to type duplicate backslashes as shown above when working with Samba.
How to Use Samba From Apple Mac Clients
The File Sharing option on the Sharing pane of Mac System Preferences enables you to find Windows and other Samba clients. Mac OSX automatically first tries to reach these clients via SMB and falls back to alternate protocols if Samba isn't functioning.Requirements to Configure Samba
In Microsoft Windows, SMB services are built into operating system services. The Server network service (available through Control Panel/Network, Services tab) provides SMB server support while the Workstation network service provides SMB client support, Note that SMB also requires TCP/IP in order to function. On a Unix server, two daemon processes, smbd, and nmbd, supply all Samba functionality. To determine whether Samba is currently running, at the Unix command prompt type ps ax grep mbd moreand verify that both smbd and nmbd appear in the process list. Start and stop Samba daemons in the normal Unix fashion: /etc/rc.d/init.d/smb start
/etc/rc.d/init.d/smb stop
Samba supports a configuration file, smb.conf. The Samba model for customizing details such as share names, directory paths, access control, and logging involves editing this text file and then restarting the daemons. A minimal smd.conf (enough to make the Unix server viewable on the network) looks like this ; Minimal /etc/smd.conf
[global]
guest account = netguest
workgroup = NETGROUP