Command Line Configuring a Samba Server

SAMBA Server is used for file & print sharing between unix and windows systems

Samba uses /etc/samba/smb.conf as its configuration file. Change in configuration file takes effect until you restart the Samba daemon with the command service smb restart.

To specify the Windows workgroup and a brief description of the Samba server, we neeed to edit the following lines in your smb.conf file:
workgroup = WORKGROUPNAME
server string = BRIEF COMMENT ABOUT SERVER

Replace WORKGROUPNAME with the name of the Windows workgroup to which this machine should belong.
The BRIEF COMMENT ABOUT SERVER is optional and is used as the Windows comment about the Samba system.

To create a Samba share directory on your Linux system, add the following section to your smb.conf file (after modifying it to reflect your needs and your system):
[sharename]
comment = Insert a comment here
path = /home/share/
valid users = saroj nishant
public = no
writable = yes
printable = no
create mask = 0765

The above example allows the users saroj and nishant to read and write to the directory /home/share, on the Samba server, from a Samba client.

To configure Samba on your Red Hat Linux system to use encrypted passwords, follow these steps:

Create a separate password file for Samba. To create one based on your existing /etc/passwd file, at a shell prompt, type the following command:
cat /etc/passwd mksmbpasswd.sh > /etc/samba/smbpasswd
If the system uses NIS, type the following command:
ypcat passwd mksmbpasswd.sh > /etc/samba/smbpasswd
The mksmbpasswd.sh script is installed in your /usr/bin directory with the samba package.
Change the permissions of the Samba password file so that only root has read and write permissions:
chmod 600 /etc/samba/smbpasswd
The script does not copy user passwords to the new file, and a Samba user account is not active until a password is set for it. For higher security, it is recommended that the user's Samba password be different from the user's Red Hat Linux password. To set each Samba user's password, use the following command (replace username with each user's username):
smbpasswd username
Encrypted passwords must be enabled in the Samba configuration file. In the file smb.conf, verify that the following lines are not commented out:
encrypt passwords = yes
smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd
Make sure the smb service is started by typing the command service smb restart at a shell prompt.
If you want the smb service to start automatically, use ntsysv, chkconfig,

Starting and Stopping the Server

On the server that is sharing directories via Samba, the smb service must be running.
View the status of the Samba daemon with the following command:
/sbin/service smb status
Start the daemon with the following command:
/sbin/service smb start
Stop the daemon with the following command:
/sbin/service smb stop
To start the smb service at boot time, use the command:
/sbin/chkconfig --level 345 smb on