For a sample smb.conf file with minimal security go here: NetworkNewz.com/sambaconf.txt. This is the very basic smb.conf that I use at home. Remember, any lines that begin with ";" or "#" are comments and do not affect the configuration. The only connection to the outside world that I have is dial-up, so my internal security is minimal. I am providing this file simply as an example for basic connectivity; you will need to decide what options you will need to implement, especially if security is a factor.

The next argument that you may or may not worry about is the "hosts allow" argument. This line will restrict access to subnets that are listed. For instance, if your subnet is a class C with the network number 192.168.1.0, all that you would put on the "hosts allow" line would be 192.168.1. At home, I do not bother with this and simply comment out this line (place either ";" or "#" at the beginning of the line).

The next few arguments define how Samba deals with passwords. This is the area that most people have difficulties with. The reason that this can be problematic is that, by default, Windows machines use encrypted passwords (with the exception of the first release of Windows 95). By default, Samba does not configure itself to handle passwords. This results in connectivity problems that can be frustrating and difficult to find if you don't know what is going on.

The next argument to look for is "security". Unless you are on a larger network, this should be set to "user". You can also use "server" or "domain" but you will have to define the server that will be handling this in the "password server" field.

Next set "encrypt passwords" to "yes"; you should simply have to uncomment that line along with the next line that reads "smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd". This is so that you can accommodate Windows machines that use encrypted passwords: ie. Windows 95 second release and all versions that follow.

You will have to make user accounts on the local machine for any users that you want to share files to. I use the KDE user manager, "kuser", because (being the Windows guy that I am) that is the one that I find easiest to use. If you prefer, you can use "linuxconf". When you make your user accounts, make sure that you use the same username and password that your users use to login to their Windows machines. You will not be prompted for a username and password if they are different, you will simply not be allowed access to the share.

Once you have made your user accounts, run "smbpasswd -a username", where "username" is a real username. This will allow you to update the Samba password file with your new user. You will have to reenter the password for your user (twice). Anytime that you need to change a users password, simply run "smbpasswd username".

OK, now you need to share out directories. Look at the bottom of the smb.conf file. There are several examples that document your options quite nicely. They cover everything from group membership to guest accounts and so on.

There you go, you have configured Samba. Now you will have to start or restart Samba. Simply go to the command line an type "samba start" or "samba restart". Any time that you make a change to smb.conf, simply restart Samba. You do not need to reboot or anything like that. Changes should take effect immediately.

Do you want to share a drive/folder/file on a Windows machine? At a command prompt type (this is all one line):

  mount -t smbfs -o username=administrator,
  password=Foo_Bar2 //server/share  /mount/point

where -t designates the file system (smbfs= Samba file system), -o specifies options (username and password) and "//server/share" is the share on the Windows server that you are trying to access (administrative shares such as c$ are valid here), and "/mount/point" is a predefined directory to use for the share. For instance, let's say that you have made a directory "/share" on your local Linux box. You want to access the "E:" drive on a server named "jayserver". The username is "Foo" and the password is "Bar". Simply type:

  mount -t smbfs -o username=Foo,password=Bar
  //jayserver/E/share