“This is a detailed tutorial about the steps to set up a Ubuntu based server (Ubuntu 5.10 – Breezy Badger) to act as file- and print server for Windows workstations in small workgroups. This howto uses the tdb backend for Samba to store passwords and account information. This is suitable for workgroups for up to 250 users and is easier to setup than an LDAP backend.”
I have plans to setup a machine in a small enviornment to do this kind of job, this will be a good reference.
Bear in mind that this regards user creation and management by hand.
It only really starts on page 4.
Page 1-3 is basic stuff.
I hope theres some sort of user managment tool in Ubuntu.
It is titled ‘samba for *Windows* workgroups’ or similar. I think that justifies the first 3 pages.
and yes
Pretty much straight-foward, but sometimes the autour should put more explanation. Else this is a wonderfull tutorial.
Looking foward the LDAP backend too.
the two big problems I noticed.
1 – what if your installation isn’t internet connected (can’t apt-get, so then what?)
2 – a windows user worse nightmare.. Hacking ini files and using command lines, slow, tedious and lacking any kind of user feedback (the command line that is)
I mean really, this IS the 21st century and we’re stilling hacking command lines and config files….
“welcome windows user to the PITA world of Linux”
“and we’re stilling hacking command lines and config files…. ”
Maybe because it still is the best way to do things…?
Graphical tools are easier to use, so what? They become a serious pain when you know what you are doing and, more often than not, get in the way of doing more advanced stuff.
Servers are not desktops, what matters is being efficient and productive not easying things up for aunt Tillie…
well said.
I don’t want to see Xwindow nowhere near my nix servers!
“Graphical tools are easier to use, so what? They become a serious pain when you know what you are doing and, more often than not, get in the way of doing more advanced stuff. “
That’s why they’re optional, the real reason people don’t want X11 on their servers is because it’s an unecessary use of resources, how often are people going to use the server, if it’s properly set up the answer will be very seldom, maybe once a week at most.
Configuration tools may not be right for everyone, but they should still be an option, people with the knowhow can then do their configuration with vi and a keyboard, while less experienced people who want things to “just work” can use a user interface. This doesn’t mean including X11 though, curses based interfaces and command line configuration wizards are fine, and in fact I’d encourage their inclusion as an optional package for non-technical users.
I don’t know if by know “User Manager for Domains” (the old one who came with the WinNT 4 CD) works out of the box with Samba 3.x
I would really like to know if it’s working, since “User Manager for Domains” is a very handy tool for admin a Samba Server.
PS: this is the newest release by Microsoft.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=C0011AB8-3…
[i]Servers are not desktops, what matters is being efficient and productive not easying things up for aunt Tillie…<i/>
and so goes the mindset that will preclude Linux from rapid adoption. I think the article made the point for small networks -you know- thinks like a few computers that need to share, in a SOHO setup. The corporations can hack at the Terminal till their fingers bleed. And eyes for that matter!
Simple is good.
Text filse for configuration do have one big advantage that usually is missing in GUIs. You can make comments in directly in the file. This way it is easy to keep track of why, when, and who changed the configuration.
Another advantage is that terminal based connections requires very low bandwith. This means that a sysadmin can log in and check things out from a Nokia communicator style cell phone.
You also have to remember that the command line on windows and the bash command line on Linux/Unix are two totally different animals. Things like context sensitive tab completion and richer shell languages makes the Linux/Unix command line much easier to use
than the one in Windows.
Anyway, if you don’t like the ini files, as you call them, samba comes with a very good web interface.
As for not having internet access, you could chose some distro that comes with samba on the CD. Ubuntu is very desktop oriented so you shouldn’t expect to find that much server side software in it. For serverside stuff, distros like Centos may be a better choise. But if you insist on using Ubuntu just download the .deb files you need from somwhere you have access to the internet, put them on a CD and instll them from that.
First off I have to admit I haven’t read the article.
But, I don’t see the point of using a desktop oriented distro to do this. Just download the SME server package from http://www.contribs.org
Much smaller download, easy setup through a browser. I also set it up for SSH access from my local computers. Can be set up as a gateway firewall as well as a server. I have it setup as just a fileserver, with RAID hdd’s – the easiest software RAID setup I’ve seen.
I love Ubuntu, I dual boot Win2K and Ubuntu, but I wouldn’t have wanted to set it up as a server. With SME I don’t have to strip out the X window stuff and add samba, it’s just done in about 10 minutes. Give it a try
Valid point but for those of us who can’t or don’t want to dedicate a machine, it’s nice to be able to use the server when required.
This is for ubuntu, if you use a server product like Clark Connect, E-Smith (Contribs.org), Suse Enterprise 9 etc (Or you install Webmin on Ubuntu) You can then you the web based tools to setup Samba servers to do the same thing no problem.
This was just showing people how to do it without needing to point and click.
And Suse Enterprise 9 using yast is simple and will set it up with openldap etc.
People act like there are no point in click tools in linux or something. Come on.
SuSE Enterprise 9 = nice but too expensive for my mean streak.
Set up my server on regular SuSE 9 using all the GUI tools in KDE – then put in Webmin and changed to runlevel 3 (multi-user, network, no GUI). Easy, and if I ever feel the need to attach monitor, keyboard, mouse I can just change back to level 5.
OK, purists, I wasted 500MB space, but hey – it’s a server with 160GB on 2 drives – I can spare it.
You are right about that. I was just naming versions of Linux I know with easy point and click Samba setups.
But Suse 9 or 10 work just fine like you mention. 🙂
Your answer is probably easier than my answer, true – we’re mostly NFS so I’ve never dome Samba with a GUI tool – I just keep on copying out the smb.conf I struggled (not _too_ much) to write back in the SuSE 6.x days to cope with our Windows box (W98 – it’s the only thing that talks to our strange A3 scanner).
1 – what if your installation isn’t internet connected (can’t apt-get, so then what?)
How do you patch the daily holes in your Windows boxes, if you don’t have internet access?
2 – a windows user worse nightmare.. Hacking ini files and using command lines, slow, tedious and lacking any kind of user feedback (the command line that is)
I mean really, this IS the 21st century and we’re stilling hacking command lines and config files….
“welcome windows user to the PITA world of Linux”
Editing an ini file is not “hacking”. It’s apart of being knowledgeable about computers. I edit ini files on Windows and Linux. I use command line on Windows and Linux.
CMD and Terminal is faster and less tedious than trying to find which friggin’ check box to check, which box to click on.
Just use the smbldap-installer. It will set everything up that you need and it already uses an ldap back end. all with the need of only answering a few questions.
Notice: a little off the subject.
If you want a more you could check out the new script i just finished. It is for Scientific Linux though. originally based off of the lx-office group ware script. it installs a samba pdc with open-xchange both backended to the same ldap directory. It also sets-up and installs phpldapadmin and webmin for administration. included is and setup as well is bind for dns. It is new and needs a little testing though as i just put it out today.
all one needs to do is download extract and run the script via- AVAsbs-install.sh and answer a few Q’s.
ftp://ns1.facettech.com/AVA_SBS.rar
Notice: you do need Scientific Linux a RHEL clone. ( minimal install only needed – which only requires the first cd )
PS I will be porting this to Ubuntu over the next few weeks
Edited 2006-01-08 18:48
I would change the disk partioning. Ubuntu supports LVM, which is pretty handy to have on a server. I use LVM on desktops, too, but it’s less critical there.
The documentation fails to mention that if you set up Ubuntu to boot from a LVM partition, it switches from GRUB to LILO. A small ext3 /boot partition will let you use GRUB. Both LILO and GRUB work well; the choice is a matter of personal preference. The rest of the disk should used as an LVM partition, then divided as needed with the LVM tools.
This will let you easily adjust the space assigned to each filesystem. Keep in mind that most Linux filesystems can expand, but can not shrink. Additional disks can be added with LVM, but be aware that a volume group that spans drives is toast if either drive fails.
Backups can be done by taking a snapshot of an LVM colume. The filesystem can remain in use, with files changing, while the static snapshot is backed up. After the backup is finished, the snapshot is deleted.
LVM is too useful to ignore.
I always appreciate the folks who take the time to document some of the relatively complex setup and configuration requirements many of us face trying to integrate Linux with Windows. I just wish it were a lot simpler. I mean, if the objective of the Linux community is to establish Linux as a viable alternative to Windows, then
For Each Task in Linux
If Task.Complexity >= Windows Then Raise Exception(“This is too hard for Joe User”)
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