Control Center, Internet & Network, Samba Configuration
Posts: 17
I have been trying to set this up for use with my Windows XP Pro system for 2.5 hours. Am not getting anything consistant. I have looked thru some documentation and tried various things to no avail.
Here is what I'd like to do:
I need store a big directory on my Linux box. I really would like to use Mepis since it is the best I've found so far.
I'll have 5 other windows xp boxes to access this directory.
I need to keep the file so that only those 5 windows boxes can access the box.
Here is some of the stuff that has been occuring this morning and probably don't have anything to do with the price of tea from Mars....
When I configure the above box (after logging in as administrator mode); the Workgroup is set to the same thing as all of the other boxes, I give the NetBiosName a unique name. I've played with the security Level as Share, User, and Server. I have added a user name thru the Mepis OS Center->user accounts along with a password. These do appear on the user tab of the control center, internet & network, Samba Configuration->user accounts. Thru a combination of things, a name appears on the Windows explorer box appears and I can access a shared directory (used for testing). While that would work, I have no idea how I did it.
Bottom line...I need to understand and achieve my "Here is what I'd like to do: " list.
Any help appreciated.
I really like Mepis software and would love to see it live up to its full potential. The computer I have it installed on is old lower class pentium class and the software simply "rocks" on it. Where I will eventually end up installing the system on is a upper class pentium and I expect the end-users to say "wow!".
TIA
Dave
gui interface for Samba
Posts: 17
It seems like my mepis server shows up on my xp box I use to test after awhile. Perhaps that's normal.
Mike, should I forget using the samba interface mentioned in the first post and edit the /etc/samba/smb.conf file directly? I notice that the samba website offers tutorial examples which I can follow. I was hoping that the interface would be easier to use give the advanced state that mepis offers all else.
Is there away to make the Samba from Mepis show up on a "windows workgroup" consistantly?
Dave
Some Questions
Posts: 5513
Dave, are you starting samba during startup of your Mepis box or are you doing it manually? If you perform the command "ps -ef | grep smb" in a konsole, do you have "/usr/sbin/smbd" running? Do you have startup links already established?
Next, if you go into the Mepis Utilities and look at System Tweaks, make sure that the "SaMBa workgroup" has been set to something that you would recognize on your windows boxes. If you make any changes here, make sure to press the Apply button. It would not be a bad idea to then restart samba too. To do that, as user root, do the following command:
# /etc/init.d/samba restart
The funny thing is that changes in samba are usually recognized almost immediately in samba, and on other Linux boxes. But on older Windows systems (like Win 98 or NT) it can sometimes take several minutes of changes to be recognized. I think XPs supposed to be faster though 
jon
reply
Posts: 17
I'll check in a day or so. My work schedule is hectic and I check stuff like this out when I have the time to fully devote my attention. It's raining here in Texas and my 2,800 sq ft room (the orginal from 1965) has not been replaced since it was installed.
If I remember correctly, any changes made to Samba config file won't be recognized until the program is restarted. That might be why it doesn't show up right away. Least it was like that on a Suse system, which cannot compare to Mepis.
XP faster? I still prefer windows 2000 pro of any windows operating systems.
Dave
Not too clear on exactly what you want
Posts: 959
It seems you need to give external systems access over a lan, but because you do not give any relevant specifics, we can only guess.
If your xp boxes can not access your mepis system, edit /etc/samba/smb.conf and add the first 3 sections of your common ip address into the Hosts Allow line if they are not already there.
The rest is permissions based. Share your system out as required, but set up group memberships on each parent fiolder you want to share and make the accounts for the 5 xp systems members of the group.
Remeber, I am only guessing, but I'd rather come with something than arrive empty-handed.
Mike P
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