smbclient messages to a specific user ?

[Andrew Perrin - Demography]

We handle this problem in a not-very-elegant but nevertheless functional
way:

- in smb.conf:
[homes]
	...
  root preexec = echo %u > /opt/samba/status/%m ; echo %T::%u::%m::login
>> /opt/samba/userlog
  root postexec = rm -f /opt/samba/status/%m ; echo %T::%u::%m::logout >>
/opt/samba/userlog

I then wrote a script (which I'll put at
http://demog.berkeley.edu/~aperrin/tips/src/ntwall.pl.txt for anyone
interested) that checks the files in /opt/samba/status and sends popup
messages only to those machines from which a homes share is currently
open.  This, in practical terms, maps to those machines into which someone
is currently logged.  This solves the problem of having winpopup messages
show up on machines when users log in even if the messages were sent days
before.

If you wanted to be more specific, you could check the contents of the
status/* files and only send to specific users.

Hope this is of some help.

ap

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew J. Perrin - aperrin at demog.berkeley.edu - NT/Unix Admin/Support
Department of Demography    -    University of California at Berkeley
2232 Piedmont Avenue #2120  -    Berkeley, California, 94720-2120 USA
http://demog.berkeley.edu/~aperrin --------------------------SEIU1199

On Fri, 14 Jan 2000, Cole, Timothy D. wrote:

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:	Dejan Ilic [SMTP:dejan.ilic at home.se]
> > Sent:	Thursday, January 13, 2000 12:17
> > To:	Multiple recipients of list SAMBA-NTDOM
> > Subject:	smbclient messages to a specific user ?
> > 
> > Hello.
> >  I'm using Samba 2.0.5a (PDC) and "smbclient -M" to send feedback messages
> >  to users sitting on WinNT4 machines. The feedback is mostly accounting
> >  information like number of pages left that the user can print, or quota
> >  status when logging in etc.
> > 
> >  smbclient can send to a specific (netbiosname) machine but not to a
> >  specific user on that machine. You can only supply the senders user, not
> >  receiver. This is not a problem today as we have WinNT workstations where
> >  only one user at time work, and the messages are usualy directed to that
> >  user.
> > 
> >  But there are two problems with this limitation:
> >  *) Ie when printing a lengthy document the user can log out, leave the
> >     machine and got to the printer and wait for the printer to finish its
> >     job. When the job is done the server will send a message to the
> >     computer, but the user has left, and the message will be printed on
> > the
> >     loginscreen, or to the next user sitting on by the computer now!
> > 
> >     This could lead to some confusion and possibly leaking of semi-private
> > 
> >     information. I would like to avoid that if possible by directing the
> >     message to a specific user on that machine. The other users should not
> >     be able to see the message.
> > 
> >  *) The limitation will become unbearable when we start using WinNT 
> >     Terminal Servers here. Sending a message to a TS could mean that all
> >     the users logged in will se the message (?), when only one in realy
> >     interested in the result. You could imagine a server with 20-35 users
> >     logged in and every time someone prints or logs in everybody get a
> >     message that they realy shouldn't receive.
> > 
> > Windows NT4 "net send" command has a possibility to send to a specific
> > user. I must admit that I haven't used it, but it indicates that it should
> > work.
> > 
> > Is it possible to extend smbclient so that it can send messages to a
> > specific user on a specific machine (or domain), or is it a limitation in
> > Windows implementation ? Hopefully implemented in a Samba 2.0.x :-)
> > 
> 	Basically the way it works is that each user that logs in registers
> a NetBIOS/WINS record:  username<03h>, with the IP of the machine they're
> logged in on.  I believe when net send sends to a specific user, it looks up
> this record, then dispatches the message to the messenger service at that
> particular IP.
> 
> 	I don't think it's any more involved than that, since it's not
> unheard of to have problems with having two users with the same name in
> different domains to each randomly get print notifications and other
> messages intended for the other.  I think this is because the domain isn't a
> component of the 0x03 name, so the most recent user to log in gets all
> messages for all users with the same name in all domains.
> 
> 	This also suggests to me that the actual windows messanging setup is
> machine-based, rather than user-based.  I have really no idea how terminal
> server copes with that, or if it even does.
>