SAMBA networking issue on Peppermint Two (Resolved)

Linux Support
1

I am moving my 3rd computer from Windows to Linux All went very well except networking (internet, printers all working fine).

I installed SAMBA as it is not installed by default but when I try to start SAMBA in System Tools after entering my password nothing happens. I am unable to share folders on this computer or see other computers Linux or Windows on the local network.

Any help apreceated.

2

First check if the samba daemon (smbd) is running:

ps ax | grep smbd

If it IS running, you should get an output similar to -

1053 ? Ss 0:00 /usr/sbin/smbd -D 1055 ? S 0:00 /usr/sbin/smbd -D 1057 pts/0 S+ 0:00 grep --colour=auto smbd

If it ISN’T running, you should get an output similar to -

1034 pts/0 S+ 0:00 grep --colour=auto smbd

If it ISN’t running, enter:

sudo service smbd start

and see if you get any errors.

Check again that it is NOW running.

also, can you post the contents of your /etc/smb.conf :

sudo leafpad /etc/smb.conf

and the contents of sudo leafpad /etc/nsswitch.conf

sudo leafpad /etc/nsswitch.conf
3

This is what I get when I try to start the service.

usertwo@userone ~ $ sudo service smbd start
[sudo] password for usertwo:
smbd start/running, process 1872
usertwo@userone ~ $

When I check smbd is not running.

Sample configuration file for the Samba suite for Debian GNU/Linux.

This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the

smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed

here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options most of which

are not shown in this example

Some options that are often worth tuning have been included as

commented-out examples in this file.

- When such options are commented with “;”, the proposed setting

differs from the default Samba behaviour

- When commented with “#”, the proposed setting is the default

behaviour of Samba but the option is considered important

enough to be mentioned here

NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command

“testparm” to check that you have not made any basic syntactic

errors.

A well-established practice is to name the original file

“smb.conf.maste r” and create the “real” config file with

testparm -s smb.conf.maste r >smb.conf

This minimizes the size of the really used smb.conf file

which, according to the Samba Team, impacts performance

However, use this with caution if your smb.conf file contains nested

“include” statements. See Debian bug #483187 for a case

where using a master file is not a good idea.

#======================= Global Settings =======================

[global]

Browsing/Identification

Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will part of

workgroup = 000D0B6DA3C4
netbios name = peppermint

server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field

server string = %h server

Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:

WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable its WINS Server

wins support = no

WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client

Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but NOT both

; wins server = w.x.y.z

This will prevent nmbd to search for NetBIOS names through DNS.

dns proxy = no

What naming service and in what order should we use to resolve host names

to IP addresses

; name resolve order = lmhosts host wins bcast

Networking

The specific set of interfaces / networks to bind to

This can be either the interface name or an IP address/netmask;

interface names are normally preferred

; interfaces = 127.0.0.0/8 eth0

Only bind to the named interfaces and/or networks; you must use the

‘interfaces’ option above to use this.

It is recommended that you enable this feature if your Samba machine is

not protected by a firewall or is a firewall itself. However, this

option cannot handle dynamic or non-broadcast interfaces correctly.

; bind interfaces only = yes

Debugging/Accounting

This tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine

that connects

log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m

Cap the size of the individual log files (in KiB).

max log size = 1000

If you want Samba to only log through syslog then set the following

parameter to ‘yes’.

syslog only = no

We want Samba to log a minimum amount of information to syslog. Everything

should go to /var/log/samba/log.{smbd,nmbd} instead. If you want to log

through syslog you should set the following parameter to something higher.

syslog = 0

Do something sensible when Samba crashes: mail the admin a backtrace

panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d

####### Authentication #######

“security = user” is always a good idea. This will require a Unix account

in this server for every user accessing the server. See

/usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/ServerType.html

in the samba-doc package for details.

security = user

You may wish to use password encryption. See the section on

‘encrypt passwords’ in the smb.conf(5) manpage before enabling.

encrypt passwords = true

If you are using encrypted passwords, Samba will need to know what

password database type you are using.

passdb backend = tdbsam

obey pam restrictions = yes

This boolean parameter controls whether Samba attempts to sync the Unix

password with the SMB password when the encrypted SMB password in the

passdb is changed.

unix password sync = yes

For Unix password sync to work on a Debian GNU/Linux system, the following

parameters must be set (thanks to Ian Kahan <kahan@informatik.tu-muenchen.de for

sending the correct chat script for the passwd program in Debian Sarge).

passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = Enter\snew\s\spassword:* %n\n Retype\snew\s\spassword:* %n\n password\supdated\ssuccessfully .

This boolean controls whether PAM will be used for password changes

when requested by an SMB client instead of the program listed in

‘passwd program’. The default is ‘no’.

pam password change = yes

This option controls how unsuccessful authentication attempts are mapped

to anonymous connections

map to guest = bad user

########## Domains ###########

Is this machine able to authenticate users. Both PDC and BDC

must have this setting enabled. If you are the BDC you must

change the ‘domain master’ setting to no

; domain logons = yes

The following setting only takes effect if ‘domain logons’ is set

It specifies the location of the user’s profile directory

from the client point of view)

The following required a [profiles] share to be setup on the

samba server (see below)

; logon path = \%N\profiles%U

Another common choice is storing the profile in the user’s home directory

(this is Samba’s default)

logon path = \%N%U\profile

The following setting only takes effect if ‘domain logons’ is set

It specifies the location of a user’s home directory (from the client

point of view)

; logon drive = H:

logon home = \%N%U

The following setting only takes effect if ‘domain logons’ is set

It specifies the script to run during logon. The script must be stored

in the [netlogon] share

NOTE: Must be store in ‘DOS’ file format convention

; logon script = logon.cmd

This allows Unix users to be created on the domain controller via the SAMR

RPC pipe. The example command creates a user account with a disabled Unix

password; please adapt to your needs

; add user script = /usr/sbin/adduser --quiet --disabled-password --gecos “” %u

This allows machine accounts to be created on the domain controller via the

SAMR RPC pipe.

The following assumes a “machines” group exists on the system

; add machine script = /usr/sbin/useradd -g machines -c “%u machine account” -d /var/lib/samba -s /bin/false %u

This allows Unix groups to be created on the domain controller via the SAMR

RPC pipe.

; add group script = /usr/sbin/addgroup --force-badname %g

########## Printing ##########

If you want to automatically load your printer list rather

than setting them up individually then you’ll need this

load printers = yes

lpr(ng) printing. You may wish to override the location of the

printcap file

; printing = bsd
; printcap name = /etc/printcap

CUPS printing. See also the cupsaddsmb( manpage in the

cupsys-client package.

; printing = cups
; printcap name = cups

############ Misc ############

Using the following line enables you to customise your configuration

on a per machine basis. The %m gets replaced with the netbios name

of the machine that is connecting

; include = /home/samba/etc/smb.conf.%m

Most people will find that this option gives better performance.

See smb.conf(5) and /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/speed.html

for details

You may want to add the following on a Linux system:

SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192

socket options = TCP_NODELAY

The following parameter is useful only if you have the linpopup package

installed. The samba maintainer and the linpopup maintainer are

working to ease installation and configuration of linpopup and samba.

; message command = /bin/sh -c ‘/usr/bin/linpopup “%f” “%m” %s; rm %s’ &

Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. If this

machine will be configured as a BDC (a secondary logon server), you

must set this to ‘no’; otherwise, the default behavior is recommended.

domain master = auto

Some defaults for winbind (make sure you’re not using the ranges

for something else.)

; idmap uid = 10000-20000
; idmap gid = 10000-20000
; template shell = /bin/bash

The following was the default behaviour in sarge,

but samba upstream reverted the default because it might induce

performance issues in large organizations.

See Debian bug #368251 for some of the consequences of not

having this setting and smb.conf(5) for details.

; winbind enum groups = yes
; winbind enum users = yes

Setup usershare options to enable non-root users to share folders

with the net usershare command.

Maximum number of usershare. 0 (default) means that usershare is disabled.

; usershare max shares = 100

Allow users who’ve been granted usershare privileges to create

public shares, not just authenticated ones

usershare allow guests = yes

#======================= Share Definitions =======================

Un-comment the following (and tweak the other settings below to suit)

to enable the default home directory shares. This will share each

user’s home director as \server\username

;[homes]
; comment = Home Directories
; browseable = no

By default, the home directories are exported read-only. Change the

next parameter to ‘no’ if you want to be able to write to them.

; read only = yes

File creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to

create files with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.

; create mask = 0700

Directory creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to

create dirs. with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.

; directory mask = 0700

By default, \server\username shares can be connected to by anyone

with access to the samba server. Un-comment the following parameter

to make sure that only “username” can connect to \server\username

The following parameter makes sure that only “username” can connect

This might need tweaking when using external authentication schemes

; valid users = %S

Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons

(you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)

;[netlogon]
; comment = Network Logon Service
; path = /home/samba/netlogon
; guest ok = yes
; read only = yes
; share modes = no

Un-comment the following and create the profiles directory to store

users profiles (see the “logon path” option above)

(you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)

The path below should be writable by all users so that their

profile directory may be created the first time they log on

;[profiles]
; comment = Users profiles
; path = /home/samba/profiles
; guest ok = no
; browseable = no
; create mask = 0600
; directory mask = 0700

wins support = no
[printers]
comment = All Printers
browseable = no
path = /var/spool/samba
printable = yes
guest ok = no
read only = yes
create mask = 0700

Windows clients look for this share name as a source of downloadable

printer drivers

[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /var/lib/samba/printers
browseable = yes
read only = yes
guest ok = no

Uncomment to allow remote administration of Windows print drivers.

You may need to replace ‘lpadmin’ with the name of the group your

admin users are members of.

Please note that you also need to set appropriate Unix permissions

to the drivers directory for these users to have write rights in it

; write list = root, @lpadmin

A sample share for sharing your CD-ROM with others.

;[cdrom]
; comment = Samba server’s CD-ROM
; read only = yes
; locking = no
; path = /cdrom
; guest ok = yes

The next two parameters show how to auto-mount a CD-ROM when the

cdrom share is accesed. For this to work /etc/fstab must contain

an entry like this:

/dev/scd0 /cdrom iso9660 defaults,noauto,ro,user 0 0

The CD-ROM gets unmounted automatically after the connection to the

If you don’t want to use auto-mounting/unmounting make sure the CD

is mounted on /cdrom

; preexec = /bin/mount /cdrom
; postexec = /bin/umount /cdrom

[peppermint]
path = /home/allusers
available = yes
browsable = yes
public = yes
writable = no

[Music]
path = /home/allusers/Music
available = yes
browsable = yes
public = yes
writable = no

/etc/nsswitch.conf

Example configuration of GNU Name Service Switch functionality.

If you have the glibc-doc-reference' and info’ packages installed, try:

`info libc “Name Service Switch”’ for information about this file.

passwd: compat
group: compat
shadow: compat

hosts: files mdns4_minimal [NOTFOUND=return] dns mdns4
networks: files

protocols: db files
services: db files
ethers: db files
rpc: db files

netgroup: nis

4

  1. are you a menber of the sambashare group ?

  2. you’ll need to change this line in /etc/smb.conf

netbios name = peppermint

to something like

netbios name = peppermint1

as you can’t have the same netbios name on 2 computers on the same network.

  1. what is the output from:
sudo service smbd start

and

ps ax | grep smbd
  1. you haven’t given the 2 PC’s the same hostname have you ?

Run this on both machines and check the contents are different:

gedit /etc/hostname
5

Hi, changed the line you recomended.

Outputs-

usertwo@userone ~ $ sudo service smbd start
[sudo] password for usertwo:
smbd start/running, process 1704
usertwo@userone ~ $

usertwo@userone ~ $ ps ax | grep smbd
1753 pts/1 S+ 0:00 grep --colour=auto smbd
usertwo@userone ~ $

Host name is userone

There is another computer on the network with the same Host name how do I change this…

6

To change hostname, see this posting:
http://linuxforums.org.uk/general-help-advice/computer-name-and-home-network/msg27792/#msg27792

Are you a member of the sambashare group ? … see 3) here:
http://linuxforums.org.uk/general-help-advice/networking-with-windows-pss/msg44831/#msg44831

7

Hi, have changed the computer name OK.

I ran a test parm and got the following Error message.

Error state Directory/var/lib/samba dose not exist

I am not a member of the samba group

As it is a clean install I could start again by doing a reinstall.

8

Make sure you ARE a member of the sambashare group… see here:
http://linuxforums.org.uk/general-help-advice/networking-with-windows-pss/msg44831/#msg44831
then log off and on again, or reboot… or run:

sudo service smbd restart

Does the /var/lib/samba directory actually exist ? … what is the output from:

ls -l /var/lib/samba

What is the output from:

ps ax | grep nmbd

A bit drastic at this point, but your call :wink:

9

Hi output you requested…

usertwo@Mobiletwo ~ $ ls -l /var/lib/samba
ls: cannot access /var/lib/samba: No such file or director

usertwo@Mobiletwo ~ $ ps ax | grep nmbd
2200 pts/1 S+ 0:00 grep --colour=auto nmbd

I will join the group and give it a bit longer before doing a reinstall.

10

Once you are a member of the samabashare group, and have rebooted … if the /var/lib/samba directory still doesn’t exist, try reinstalling samba:

sudo apt-get install --reinstall samba

Then check you are still a member of sambashare, and that the /var/lib/samba directory exists.

11

Everything now working OK thanks again for your help.

12

Told you a full OS reinstall was a bit premature :wink:

BTW, what fixed it ? … was it the sambashare group, or did you have to reinstall samba ? … this info may help future readers of this topic.

13

I was all ready a member of sambashare group. Its was the reinstall that fixed the problem.

14

Reinstall of what ? … the whole OS, or just samba ?

15

Just samba as you suggested.

16

Thank god for that… I was beginning to think my comment about reinstalling the OS being “a bit premature”, may have been a bit premature :wink: