samba-mirror/docs/docbook/projdoc/chapter1.sgml

<chapter>

<title>How to Install and Test SAMBA</title>

<sect1>
	<title>Step 0: Read the man pages</title>
	
	<para>The man pages distributed with SAMBA contain 
	lots of useful info that will help to get you started. 
	If you don't know how to read man pages then try 
	something like:</para>

	<para><prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>nroff -man smbd.8 | more
	</userinput></para>
	
	<para>Other sources of information are pointed to 
	by the Samba web site,<ulink url="http://www.samba.org/">
	http://www.samba.org</ulink></para>
</sect1>

<sect1>
	<title>Building the Binaries</title>
	
	<para>To do this, first run the program <command>./configure
	</command> in the source directory. This should automatically 
	configure Samba for your operating system. If you have unusual 
	needs then you may wish to run</para>
	
	<para><prompt>root# </prompt><userinput>./configure --help
	</userinput></para>
	
	<para>first to see what special options you can enable.
	Then exectuting</para>
	
	<para><prompt>root# </prompt><userinput>make</userinput></para>
	
	<para>will create the binaries. Once it's successfully 
	compiled you can use </para>
	
	<para><prompt>root# </prompt><userinput>make install</userinput></para>
	
	<para>to install the binaries and manual pages. You can 
	separately install the binaries and/or man pages using</para>
	
	<para><prompt>root# </prompt><userinput>make installbin
	</userinput></para>
	
	<para>and</para>
	
	<para><prompt>root# </prompt><userinput>make installman
	</userinput></para>

	<para>Note that if you are upgrading for a previous version 
	of Samba you might like to know that the old versions of 
	the binaries will be renamed with a ".old" extension. You 
	can go back to the previous version with</para>
	
	<para><prompt>root# </prompt><userinput>make revert
	</userinput></para>
	
	<para>if you find this version a disaster!</para>
</sect1>

<sect1>
	<title>Step 2: The all important step</title>
	
	<para>At this stage you must fetch yourself a 
	coffee or other drink you find stimulating. Getting the rest 
	of the install right can sometimes be tricky, so you will 
	probably need it.</para>

	<para>If you have installed samba before then you can skip 
	this step.</para>
</sect1>

<sect1>
	<title>Step 3: Create the smb configuration file. </title>

	<para>There are sample configuration files in the examples 
	subdirectory in the distribution. I suggest you read them 
	carefully so you can see how the options go together in 
	practice. See the man page for all the options.</para>

	<para>The simplest useful configuration file would be 
	something like this:</para>

	<para><programlisting>
	[global]
	   workgroup = MYGROUP

	   [homes]
	      guest ok = no
	      read only = no
	</programlisting</para>
	
	<para>which would allow connections by anyone with an 
	account on the server, using either their login name or 
	"homes" as the service name. (Note that I also set the 
	workgroup that Samba is part of. See BROWSING.txt for defails)</para>
	
	<para>Note that <command>make install</command> will not install 
	a <filename>smb.conf</filename> file. You need to create it 
	yourself. </para>
	
	<para>Make sure you put the smb.conf file in the same place 
	you specified in the<filename>Makefile</filename> (the default is to 
	look for it in <filename>/usr/local/samba/lib/</filename>).</para>

	<para>For more information about security settings for the 
	[homes] share please refer to the document UNIX_SECURITY.txt.</para>
</sect1>

<sect1>
	<title>Step 4: Test your config file with 
	<command>testparm</command></title>

	<para>It's important that you test the validity of your
	<filename>smb.conf</filename> file using the testparm program. 
	If testparm runs OK then it will list the loaded services. If 
	not it will give an error message.</para>

	<para>Make sure it runs OK and that the services look 
	resonable before proceeding. </para>

</sect1>

<sect1>
	<title>Step 5: Starting the smbd and nmbd</title>
	
	<para>You must choose to start smbd and nmbd either 
	as daemons or from <command>inetd</command>. Don't try 
	to do both!  Either you can put them in <filename>
	inetd.conf</filename> and have them started on demand 
	by <command>inetd</command>, or you can start them as
	daemons either from the command line or in <filename>
	/etc/rc.local</filename>. See the man pages for details 
	on the command line options. Take particular care to read 
	the bit about what user you need to be in order to start 
	Samba.  In many cases you must be root.</para>

	<para>The main advantage of starting <command>smbd</command>
	and <command>nmbd</command> as a daemon is that they will 
	respond slightly more quickly to an initial connection
	request. This is, however, unlikely to be a problem.</para>

	<sect2>
		<title>Step 5a: Starting from inetd.conf</title>

		<para>NOTE; The following will be different if 
		you use NIS or NIS+ to distributed services maps.</para>
		
		<para>Look at your <filename>/etc/services</filename>. 
		What is defined at port 139/tcp. If nothing is defined 
		then add a line like this:</para>

		<para><userinput>netbios-ssn     139/tcp</userinput></para>

		<para>similarly for 137/udp you should have an entry like:</para>

		<para><userinput>netbios-ns	137/udp</userinput></para>

		<para>Next edit your <filename>/etc/inetd.conf</filename> 
		and add two lines something like this:</para>

		<para><programlisting>
		netbios-ssn stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/samba/bin/smbd smbd 
		netbios-ns dgram udp wait root /usr/local/samba/bin/nmbd nmbd 
		</programlisting></para>

		<para>The exact syntax of <filename>/etc/inetd.conf</filename> 
		varies between unixes. Look at the other entries in inetd.conf 
		for a guide.</para>

		<para>NOTE: Some unixes already have entries like netbios_ns 
		(note the underscore) in <filename>/etc/services</filename>. 
		You must either edit <filename>/etc/services</filename> or
		<filename>/etc/inetd.conf</filename> to make them consistant.</para>

		<para>NOTE: On many systems you may need to use the 
		"interfaces" option in smb.conf to specify the IP address 
		and netmask of your interfaces. Run <command>ifconfig</command> 
		as root if you don't know what the broadcast is for your
		net. <command>nmbd</command> tries to determine it at run 
		time, but fails on somunixes. See the section on "testing nmbd" 
		for a method of finding if you need to do this.</para>

		<para>!!!WARNING!!! Many unixes only accept around 5 
		parameters on the command line in <filename>inetd.conf</filename>. 
		This means you shouldn't use spaces between the options and 
		arguments, or you should use a script, and start the script 
		from <command>inetd</command>.</para>

		<para>Restart <command>inetd</command>, perhaps just send 
		it a HUP. If you have installed an earlier version of <command>
		nmbd</command> then you may need to kill nmbd as well.</para>
	</sect2>
	
	<sect2>
		<title>Step 5b. Alternative: starting it as a daemon</title>

		<para>To start the server as a daemon you should create 
		a script something like this one, perhaps calling 
		it <filename>startsmb</filename>.</para>

		<para><programlisting>
		#!/bin/sh
		/usr/local/samba/bin/smbd -D 
		/usr/local/samba/bin/nmbd -D 
		</programlisting></para>

		<para>then make it executable with <command>chmod 
		+x startsmb</command></para>

		<para>You can then run <command>startsmb</command> by 
		hand or execute it from <filename>/etc/rc.local</filename>
		</para>

		<para>To kill it send a kill signal to the processes 
		<command>nmbd</command> and <command>smbd</command>.</para>

		<para>NOTE: If you use the SVR4 style init system then 
		you may like to look at the <filename>examples/svr4-startup</filename>
		script to make Samba fit into that system.</para>
	</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1>
	<title>Step 6: Try listing the shares available on your 
	server</title>

	<para><prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>smbclient -L 
	<replaceable>yourhostname</replaceable></userinput></para>

	<para>Your should get back a list of shares available on 
	your server. If you don't then something is incorrectly setup. 
	Note that this method can also be used to see what shares 
	are available on other LanManager clients (such as WfWg).</para>

	<para>If you choose user level security then you may find 
	that Samba requests a password before it will list the shares. 
	See the <command>smbclient</command> man page for details. (you 
	can force it to list the shares without a password by
	adding the option -U% to the command line. This will not work 
	with non-Samba servers)</para>
</sect1>

<sect1>
	<title>Step 7: Try connecting with the unix client</title>
	
	<para><prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>smbclient <replaceable>
	//yourhostname/aservice</replaceable></userinput></para>
	
	<para>Typically the <replaceable>yourhostname</replaceable> 
	would be the name of the host where you installed <command>
	smbd</command>. The <replaceable>aservice</replaceable> is 
	any service you have defined in the <filename>smb.conf</filename> 
	file. Try your user name if you just have a [homes] section
	in <filename>smb.conf</filename>.</para>

	<para>For example if your unix host is bambi and your login 
	name is fred you would type:</para>

	<para><prompt>$ </prompt><userinput>smbclient //bambi/fred
	</userinput></para>
</sect1>

<sect1>
	<title>Step 8: Try connecting from a DOS, WfWg, Win9x, WinNT, 
	Win2k, OS/2, etc... client</title>
	
	<para>Try mounting disks. eg:</para>

	<para><prompt>C:\WINDOWS\> </prompt><userinput>net use d: \\servername\service
	</userinput></para>

	<para>Try printing. eg:</para>

	<para><prompt>C:\WINDOWS\> </prompt><userinput>net use lpt1:
	\\servername\spoolservice</userinput></para>

	<para><prompt>C:\WINDOWS\> </prompt><userinput>print filename
	</userinput></para>

	<para>Celebrate, or send me a bug report!</para>
</sect1>

<sect1>
	<title>What If Things Don't Work?</title>
	
	<para>If nothing works and you start to think "who wrote 
	this pile of trash" then I suggest you do step 2 again (and 
	again) till you calm down.</para>

	<para>Then you might read the file DIAGNOSIS.txt and the 
	FAQ. If you are still stuck then try the mailing list or 
	newsgroup (look in the README for details). Samba has been 
	successfully installed at thousands of sites worldwide, so maybe 
	someone else has hit your problem and has overcome it. You could 
	also use the WWW site to scan back issues of the samba-digest.</para>

	<para>When you fix the problem PLEASE send me some updates to the
	documentation (or source code) so that the next person will find it
	easier. </para>

	<sect2>
		<title>DIAGNOSING PROBLEMS</title>

		<para>If you have instalation problems then go to 
		<filename>DIAGNOSIS.txt</filename> to try to find the 
		problem.</para>
	</sect2>
	
	<sect2>
		<title>SCOPE IDs</title>

		<para>By default Samba uses a blank scope ID. This means 
		all your windows boxes must also have a blank scope ID. 
		If you really want to use a non-blank scope ID then you will 
		need to use the -i &lt;scope&gt; option to nmbd, smbd, and 
		smbclient. All your PCs will need to have the same setting for 
		this to work. I do not recommend scope IDs.</para>
	</sect2>


	<sect2>
		<title>CHOOSING THE PROTOCOL LEVEL</title>

		<para>The SMB protocol has many dialects. Currently 
		Samba supports 5, called CORE, COREPLUS, LANMAN1, 
		LANMAN2 and NT1.</para>

		<para>You can choose what maximum protocol to support 
		in the <filename>smb.conf</filename> file. The default is 
		NT1 and that is the best for the vast majority of sites.</para>

		<para>In older versions of Samba you may have found it 
		necessary to use COREPLUS. The limitations that led to 
		this have mostly been fixed. It is now less likely that you 
		will want to use less than LANMAN1. The only remaining advantage 
		of COREPLUS is that for some obscure reason WfWg preserves 
		the case of passwords in this protocol, whereas under LANMAN1, 
		LANMAN2 or NT1 it uppercases all passwords before sending them,
		forcing you to use the "password level=" option in some cases.</para>

		<para>The main advantage of LANMAN2 and NT1 is support for 
		long filenames with some clients (eg: smbclient, Windows NT 
		or Win95). </para>

		<para>See the smb.conf(5) manual page for more details.</para>

		<para>Note: To support print queue reporting you may find 
		that you have to use TCP/IP as the default protocol under 
		WfWg. For some reason if you leave Netbeui as the default 
		it may break the print queue reporting on some systems. 
		It is presumably a WfWg bug.</para>
	</sect2>
	
	<sect2>
		<title>PRINTING FROM UNIX TO A CLIENT PC</title>

		<para>To use a printer that is available via a smb-based 
		server from a unix host you will need to compile the 
		smbclient program. You then need to install the script 
		"smbprint". Read the instruction in smbprint for more details.
		</para>

		<para>There is also a SYSV style script that does much 
		the same thing called smbprint.sysv. It contains instructions.</para>
	</sect2>

	<sect2>
		<title>LOCKING</title>

		<para>One area which sometimes causes trouble is locking.</para>

		<para>There are two types of locking which need to be 
		performed by a SMB server. The first is "record locking" 
		which allows a client to lock a range of bytes in a open file. 
		The second is the "deny modes" that are specified when a file 
		is open.</para>

		<para>Samba supports "record locking" using the fcntl() unix system
		call. This is often implemented using rpc calls to a rpc.lockd process
		running on the system that owns the filesystem. Unfortunately many
		rpc.lockd implementations are very buggy, particularly when made to
		talk to versions from other vendors. It is not uncommon for the
		rpc.lockd to crash.</para>

		<para>There is also a problem translating the 32 bit lock 
		requests generated by PC clients to 31 bit requests supported 
		by most unixes. Unfortunately many PC applications (typically 
		OLE2 applications) use byte ranges with the top bit set 
		as semaphore sets. Samba attempts translation to support 
		these types of applications, and the translation has proved 
		to be quite successful.</para>
		
		<para>Strictly a SMB server should check for locks before 
		every read and write call on a file. Unfortunately with the 
		way fcntl() works this can be slow and may overstress the 
		rpc.lockd. It is also almost always unnecessary as clients 
		are supposed to independently make locking calls before reads 
		and writes anyway if locking is important to them. By default 
		Samba only makes locking calls when explicitly asked
		to by a client, but if you set "strict locking = yes" then it will
		make lock checking calls on every read and write. </para>

		<para>You can also disable by range locking completely 
		using "locking = no". This is useful for those shares that 
		don't support locking or don't need it (such as cdroms). In 
		this case Samba fakes the return codes of locking calls to 
		tell clients that everything is OK.</para>

		<para>The second class of locking is the "deny modes". These 
		are set by an application when it opens a file to determine 
		what types of access should be allowed simultaneously with 
		its open. A client may ask for DENY_NONE, DENY_READ, DENY_WRITE 
		or DENY_ALL. There are also special compatability modes called 
		DENY_FCB and  DENY_DOS.</para>

		<para>You can disable share modes using "share modes = no". 
		This may be useful on a heavily loaded server as the share 
		modes code is very slow. See also the FAST_SHARE_MODES 
		option in the Makefile for a way to do full share modes 
		very fast using shared memory (if your OS supports it).</para>
	</sect2>
	
	<sect2>
		<title>MAPPING USERNAMES</title>
	
		<para>If you have different usernames on the PCs and 
		the unix server then take a look at the "username map" option. 
		See the smb.conf man page for details.</para>
	</sect2>

	<sect2>
		<title>OTHER CHARACTER SETS</title>

		<para>If you have problems using filenames with accented 
		characters in them (like the German, French or Scandinavian 
		character sets) then I recommmend you look at the "valid chars" 
		option in smb.conf and also take a look at the validchars 
		package in the examples directory.</para>
	</sect2>
	
</sect1>	
</chapter>