Samba Learning Guide
By George Lawton
Samba is open-source software that allows a wide variety of computers to act as if they were a Windows file and print server. It is not exactly the center of the universe for coverage on TheServerSide.NET, but we thought it was worth a look. Samba recently made the newscasts, as its technical stewards were among key litigants involved in Microsoft’s widely heralded European Union anti-trust case.
Samba currently runs on UNIX, Linux, IBM System 390, OpenVMS, and other operating systems. It uses the TCP/IP protocol stack on the host server to provide the network connectivity with Windows clients and servers within an organization. The Samba platform provides an implementation of dozens of services and protocols including NetBIOS, SMB (Server Message Block), CIFS (Common Internet File System), DCE/RPC, a WINS server and the NT Domain Suite of protocols. The platform can be used for sharing files and printers among a number of different platforms and operating systems, including Windows. This Learning Guide introduces developers to SAMBA best practices with a variety of articles, tutorials and tips.
Learning/Tutorial/Overview/Background
Introduction to Samba (The Samba Team)
Explains the basics of how the two key programs smbd and nmbd provide 1) File & print services; 2) Authentication and Authorization; 3) Name resolution and 4) Service announcement (browsing) to Windows and Unix clients and servers.
The Official Samba 3.2.x HOWTO and Reference Guide (The Samba Team)
Everything you ever wanted to know about setting up and managing Samba services within your network.
Learning Samba (O’Reilly)
Brief overview excerpted from the book providing an introduction to the technology and uses of Samba.
Samba, IPv6 and Windows/Linux Interoperability (Port 25)
Dr. David Holder, an expert on IP networking and Windows/Linux interoperability discusses the future of Samba. Includes a discussion board on how Samba will interoperate using Ipv6. Discusses the future interoperability work required between the different platforms.
Samba Product Vendors (SambaXP)
List of vendors and products selling Samba equipment and software.
The Unofficial Samba HOWTO (Oregon Tech Support)
Guide to using Samba.
Using Samba 2nd Edition (O’Reilly)
Complete book online licensed under GNU Free Documentation License
Setting up Samba (Irish Linux Users Group)
Online tutorial to setting up a Samba system.
Managing Samba: Windows network identity basics (SearchEnterpriseLinux.com)
Learn the basics of Windows network identity to improve Samba management.
Tips
Using Samba on SUSE Linux (ShowMeDo)
Shows how to share files and printers with other Linux and Windows PCs using the open-source Samba software suite.
Configuring Windows Vista to map drives to Samba Shares (NoBlueScreens.com)
Tips on getting Samba and Windows Vista systems to talk nicely to each other.
SSH Tunneling Samba on Windows (Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto)
Tips to Securely Mount Samba From Home Using SSH on Windows
Configuring Samba 3.0 To Use The ADS Security Mode (howtoforge.com)
Explains how to configure a Linux machine and Samba server to participate in a Windows 2003 Active Directory domain as a Member Server using Kerberos authentication.
Debugging Samba: Deciphering Access Denied (SearchEnterpriseLinux.com)
When a user presents an Access Denied error message and says Samba is the culprit, is the blame warranted? Here’s how to determine whether the error is the fault of Samba.
Managing Samba: Remote GUI tools (SearchEnterpriseLinux.com)
Samba team co-founder John H. Terpstra explains how to use graphical interface tools to manage Samba across a large corporate network.
Commercial Samba Support (SambaXP)
Site provides links to a number of commercial support companies for Samba implementations.
News
Role of Samba Organization in Recent Microsoft defeat in Europe (Groklaw)
Members of the Samba team discuss their role in helping the European Union to force Microsoft to open its software infrastructure to other tools and applications.
Jeremy Allison: Samba team to adopt GPLv3 (SearchEnterpriseLinux.com)
In a mailing list letter to Samba developers, Jeremy Allison said that Samba will adopt the GPLv3 for future releases.
Samba 3 preview release behaves more like Windows (SearchEnterpriseLinux.com)
After a spate of field-testing, a new Samba 3 preview release hits the streets with enhancements to winbind and offline logon support.
Samba team showcases changes to version 4.0 (SearchEnterpriseLinux.com)
Describes Samba improvements for smart-card login, clustering, asynchronous I/O, and updates to the Web-management console.
SambaXP (SambaXP.org)
Provides information on annual conference, and includes materials from past conference.
Samba News (The Samba Team)
Official Samba news updates.
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