Network file systems

• File systems exist on floppy disks, hard disks, USB sticks, CDs and DVDs, and ... on a network

• A network file system "exports" files to clients across the network

• Files may be read, written, created, deleted, depending on network access permissions

• There are many network file systems: Sun's NFS (network file system), DCE (distributed computing environment) and SMB (server message block) renamed to CIFS (common internet file system)

SMB

• A Microsoft proprietary system for sharing files, printers, serial ports, etc

• Two principal versions: SMB1 and SMB2 (introduced in 2006)

• SAMBA is a Unix implementation of both SMB server and client

• SAMBA supports SMB1; SAMBA v4 is alpha to support SMB2

SAMBA configuration

See http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-HOWTO-Collection/

• The configuration file is /etc/samba/samba.conf and uses the Windows .ini syntax

• A minimal file is

  [global]
  workgroup = WKG
  netbios name = MYNAME
  [share1]
  path = /tmp
  [share2]
  path = /my_shared_folder
  comment = Some random files
  	    

SAMBA servers

SAMBA requires upto three servers

• nmbd: "This daemon handles all name registration and resolution requests. It is the primary vehicle involved in network browsing. It handles all UDP-based protocols. The nmbd daemon should be the first command started as part of the Samba startup process. "

• smbd: "This daemon handles all TCP/IP-based connection services for file- and print-based operations. It also manages local authentication. It should be started immediately following the startup of nmbd."

• winbindd: "This daemon should be started when Samba is a member of a Windows NT4 or ADS domain. It is also needed when Samba has trust relationships with another domain."

Webmin

• Webmin can be used to setup SAMBA shares under Servers