Using Samba, Second Edition

Preface

You are reading a book about Samba, a software suite that networks Windows, Unix, and other operating systems using Windows’ native networking protocol. Samba allows Unix servers to offer Windows networking services by matching the filesystem and networking models of Unix to those of Windows. Samba acts as a bridge between the two systems, connecting the corresponding parts of their architectures and providing a translation wherever necessary.

Bridging the gap between systems as dissimilar as Windows and Unix is a complex task, which Samba handles surprisingly well. To be a good Samba administrator, your abilities must parallel Samba’s. For starters, you need to know basic Unix system and network administration and have a good understanding of Windows filesystems and networking fundamentals. In addition, you need to learn how Samba fills in the “gray area” between Unix and Windows. Once you know how everything fits together, you’ll find it easy to configure a Samba server to provide your network with reliable and high-performance computational resources.

Our job is to make all of that easier for you. We do this by starting out with a quick and yet comprehensive tour of Windows networking in Chapter 1, followed by tutorially-oriented Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, which tell you how to set up a minimal Samba server and configure Windows clients to work with it. Most likely, you will be surprised how quickly you can complete the required tasks.

We believe that a hands-on approach is the most effective, and you can use the Samba server you build in Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 as a test system for trying out examples that we show and describe throughout the book. You can jump around from chapter to chapter if you like, but if you continue sequentially from Chapter 4 onward, by the time you finish the book you will have a well-configured production Samba server ready for use. All you have to do is add the appropriate support for your intended purpose as we explain how to use each feature.

Audience for This Book

This book is primarily intended for Unix administrators who need to support Windows clients on their network, as well as anyone who needs to access the resources of a Windows network environment from a Unix client. While we assume you are familiar with basic Unix system administration, we do not assume you are a networking expert. We do our best along the way to help out with unusual definitions and terms.

Furthermore, we don’t assume that you are an expert in Microsoft Windows. We carefully explain all the essential concepts related to Windows networking, and we go through the Windows side of the installation task in considerable detail, providing examples for both Windows 95/98/Me and Windows NT/2000/XP, which are significantly different. For the Unix side, we give examples that work with common Unix operating systems, such as Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, and Mac OS X.