Re: Samba Network

From: Darrell Stec (darrell_stec_at_webpagesorcery.com)
Date: 04/14/05 

Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 17:01:05 -0400

After serious contemplation, on or about Thursday 14 April 2005 6:43 am
geezer1016@earthlink.net wrote:

> ac wrote:
>> Charlie wrote:
>>
>>> Kevin Nathan wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 23:34:27 GMT
>>>> Charlie <geezer1016@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> what is interesting is the suse machines dont see each other.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Then you have a very basic problem. No sense doing *anything* else
>>>> until you can ping each computer _from_ each computer. :-)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> I understand this is done through samba.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> No, it's not. Samba is used *only* to communicate via the SMB protocol,
>>>> which Windows uses. Linux to Linux is better handled with NFS.
>>>>
>>> Hello
>>>
>>> The suse machines can ping each other. I did not realize that only the
>>> windows machine can be seen through samba.
>>> I will try to set up the nfs
>>> thanks
>>> Charlie
>>
>>
>> Linux machines can also see each other via samba, although it is not the
>> natural linux method (nfs) - it is a windoze protocol (smb etc) I think.
>>
>> I have a mixed set of boxes in a lan - xp and suse (9.2, 9.1). I am not
>> (yet) using nfs, only samba and may stay this way for a time.
>>
>> I have not (yet) set up any apache since for simple file sharing (onto a
>> central machine say) the samba seems to work fine. Even the problematic
>> 'writing from linux into a ntfs' disk is no problem, because samba/smb
>> apparently sorts this out. That is, I can write from a linux box accross
>> the (windows networking) lan into a windoz box, no problem.
>>
>> (My goal is to reduce the windoz box count to zero when I know enough)
>>
>> Samba is installed, configured and enabled on each of the linux machines.
>>
>> One or two things work better if I use fixed IP addresses on the linux
>> boxes, so I mostly do.
>>
>> Firewall activity is obviously relevant, but I find it easy to forget.
>> and stumble over it sometimes.
>>
>> If you want to be pointy-clicky (I do for now) then 9.2 with updates is
>> quite good with samba etc.
>>
>> Note that samba has a 'Client' app (which allows the linux box to see
>> the doze box) and a 'Sever' app which allows the doze box to see the
>> linux machine. Both have to be used etc for a situation like mine.
>>
>> I began with suse 9.0, however, 9.2 is improved in its pointy-clicky
>> facility- yast is easy, and I think subsequently I needed to use (kde)
>> Control Panel (networking and file sharing). It looks as if the 9.2
>> version (via Control Panel facilities) actually creates you as a Samba
>> 'user' which is an essential part of the complete process and something
>> of a gotcha for me as a newbie originally.
>>
>> It all can be done more incisively with command line use too, if you
>> want to go that way.
>>
>> Btw my lan has a number of ethernet switches (self managing) and an adsl
>> router - it all works amazingly well, no hands :-)
>> Alanc
>
>
> Alex;
>
> You are doing what I want to do. I want to have files on one machine,
> SUSE and have the windows and other SUSE machine share them. I can ping
> all of the machines but so far I have not figured out how to get the
> SUSE machines to network. I am reading about it. It is confusing because
> I am so new, then I did not learn windows overnight either.
> You feel samba is sufficient to do all of this? I can copy stuff to
> windows but only on a fat32 partition. Windows does not want to see
> Linux at all.
> Back to the drawing board.
>
> Charlie

Although I only have two computers, I know what you are going through. I
have a dual boot of WinXP and SuSE 9.1 Pro on one computer and Win98 with
Caldera OpenDesktop 3.1 on the other. When both were running Windows, they
saw each other. Then I set up Samba server and client on each machine in
their respective Linuxes (is that a word?) which was basically point and
click. As long as one machine was running Windows both could see each
other.

Until last night I could not get NFS running and the more I read the
confuser I got. [One would suspect that a Linux to Linux box would have
been the easiest to set up, but no so in my case.] So this is what I
figured out. It might not be the correct way of doing things but it did
work for me. Please forgive the oversimplification, but I have no way of
knowing what level a reader's Linux expertise might me and assume it is at
mine when I first started this endeavor.

First make sure you run NFS exports on each machine. Mine read something
like:
/home/ *(rw,root_squash,sync)
/windows/ *(rw,root_squash,sync)

Make sure the "hosts" files on each computer have the name of both computers
(servers). In my case:
192.168.0.121 webpagesorcery webpagesorcery
192.168.0.122 darrell-office office

Make sure hosts.allow has the portmap enabled with the IP range and mask of
your local network. Mine has:
portmap 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.0

Run the NFS server and client on each machine. Now in a console (the
monitor with a clamshell icon) "sux -" or "su -" to root with password
(without the quotes of course). Make sure that NFS is running with the
command "rpcinfo-p." You should see something like:
  program vers proto port
    100000 2 tcp 111 portmapper
    100000 2 udp 111 portmapper
    100011 1 udp 749 rquotad
    100011 2 udp 749 rquotad
    100005 1 udp 759 mountd
    100005 1 tcp 761 mountd
    100005 2 udp 764 mountd
    100005 2 tcp 766 mountd
    100005 3 udp 769 mountd
    100005 3 tcp 771 mountd
    100003 2 udp 2049 nfs
    100003 3 udp 2049 nfs
    300019 1 tcp 830 amd
    300019 1 udp 831 amd
    100024 1 udp 944 status
    100024 1 tcp 946 status
    100021 1 udp 1042 nlockmgr
    100021 3 udp 1042 nlockmgr
    100021 4 udp 1042 nlockmgr
    100021 1 tcp 1629 nlockmgr
    100021 3 tcp 1629 nlockmgr
    100021 4 tcp 1629 nlockmgr

It is important that you see something there (preferably with the UDP as I
understand tcp is still experimental) for mountd, portmapper, and nfs.

If so then without the quotes and for the actual IPs of YOUR network, type
in "showmount -e 192.168.0.122" [the computer I am on] and "showmount -e
192.168.0.121" [the other computer]. The two results showed the contents
of my exported directories for each computer:
darrell-office:~ # showmount -e 192.168.0.122
Export list for 192.168.0.122:
/home *
/windows *

darrell-office:~ # showmount -e 192.168.0.121
Export list for 192.168.0.121:
/home *
/windows *

Next create a directory under the /mnt folder for your other
computer/computers, in this case I did /mnt/webpagesorcery. Then type this
command for each of the shared exports of the other machine(s) without
quotes:
"mount -o rsize=1024,wsize=1024 192.168.0.121:/home /mnt/webpagesorcery."

Now you should be able to see the other machine with your file manager under
the /mnt/webpagesorery (or whatever you called it) folder. You can also
create a Desktop Icon with a URL pointing to it for easy access.

Now run the "rpcinfo -p" command on the other computer. It was at this
point I got a RCP timeout error and then I was stuck. I ended up
temporarily shutting off the firewall and got the proper listing. Then do
the showmount command, and create a folder under the /mnt directory for the
first machine, followed by the appropriate mount command. When I enabled
the firewall, the two computers continued to see each other without further
problems.

Hope this helps, and I am sure the experts will all tone in with everything
I did improperly, but at least then you will then have the advantage of
finding out what should really be done. 

-- 
Later,
Darrell Stec      darstec@neo.rr.com
Webpage Sorcery
http://webpagesorcery.com
We Put the Magic in Your Webpages

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