How to test WINS functionality

[Stephen L Arnold]

When the world was young, Ariel_Orellana at penoles.com.mx carved some runes like this:

[snip]
> Secondly, I'm not exactly sure my host, which has "wins support = yes"
> option, with no other WINS server in the network, is working.  How can I
> test this?   For example, I have another samba server which has "wins
> server = 130.6.96.2" (the first server) but it never shows up in browse
> lists.  The wins.dat file and browse.dat file in the dual-homed host make
> no mention of the second host, but I'm not sure that actually means
> anything.   No log file makes mention of any error.
> 
> Heres my globals section:
> 
>         workgroup = INFORMATICA
>         interfaces = 130.6.96.2/24 130.6.98.2/24
>         max log size = 500
>         log level = 2
>         name resolve order = wins lmhosts bcast
>         socket options =
>         printcap name = lpstat
>         os level = 62
>         preferred master = Yes
>         domain master = Yes
>         wins support = Yes
>         remote announce = 130.6.98.255
>         remote browse sync = 130.6.98.255
>         guest account = red

I take it 130.6.98.255 is the network that the second server sits 
in?  Do the clients in that network see the dual-homed box?  Are 
both networks using the same workgroup name?  You can also specify 
the IP address of the remote samba browse master (as opposed to the 
network address) like:

remote announce = 130.98.6.2

and a (different) remote workgroup name like this:

remote announce = 130.98.6.255/OTHERGROUP

Any of the above (done correctly) should make the first (dual-
homed) server show up in the NetHood of the remote network.  Maybe 
you need to specify the remote announce parameter in the remote 
samba server and point it back at the first IP address.  What do 
you have specified in smb.conf on the second server?

As far as the other stuff goes, WINS is strictly a name resolution 
mechanism for NetBIOS names; building a browse list is a bit more 
involved.

To test WINS, just make sure samba is not resolving NetBIOS names 
via DNS or something, and make sure you don't have lmhosts files on 
the clients.  With WINS on the windoze clients pointing to your 
samba WINS server, try a Net View command from a client using the 
NetBIOS name of another client.  If it resolves, WINS is working.

Steve

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Stephen L Arnold                      http://www.rain.org/~sarnold
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