FW: PROBLEMS

Wed Jul 5 20:13:51 GMT 2000

> Mr. Andrew Tridgell:
> 
> I have made a gallant attempt to install and make use of the Samba 2.0.7
> suite of disk-sharing utility software
> on my Sun E-3000 running Solaris 2.5.1.  (You will probably think my
> attempt was not gallant enough
> since I'm not currently able to use the package.  Sorry...)
> 
> While we are a City, and have a substantial desktop population of Windows
> NT 4.0 PC's and servers, 
> nearly 1500 PC's and almost 35 servers, we also make use of Digital
> Alpha/Digital UNIX systems for
> our Oracle database and Financials as well as Sun/Solaris systems for our
> GIS (Geographic Information
> Systems) users.
> 
> I am attempting to make available the GIS data disks on this Sun server to
> the nearly 500 clients who are
> using ArcView from their Windows NT 4.0 PC's to access this data -
> currently via Intergraph's
> NFS product, DiskAccess.  There are some issues with DiskAccess as well,
> most notably the cost
> and speed (lack of?) of performance.  However, this solution DOES in fact
> work - whereas the Samba solution
> appears to not work;
> 
> Herewith, some of my issues:
> 
> 1)	The initial tarball I downloaded from the (4th) mirror site on the
> www.samba.org Web Site proved to
> 	be bad.  It installed with numerous errors, no entries under the
> codepages sub-directory and no testparm
> 	program to test my SMB.CONF file.  The total size was about 12+MB.
> I remedied this by downloading
> 	a new tarball from mirror sites 2, 3 & 5 and installing the one from
> site 2.  This one came to
> 	about 16+MB and the package adds ran with NO errors.  testparm IS
> present and works in this
> 	installation.  (Initial tarball =
> samba-2.0.7-sparc-sun-solaris2.5.1.tar.Z, 5.98MB.  Final install
> 	tarball = samba-2.0.7-sparc-sun-solaris.2.5.1.tar.Z, 6.89MB.  I have
> two other, untried tarballs
> 	if you so recommend:  samba-2.0.7.tar.gz 4.07MB and
> samba-latest.tar.gz, 4.07MB.  I also
> 	have a couple of earlier versions:
> samba-2.0.3-sparc-sun-solaris2.5.1.tar.Z, 719KB and
> 	samba-2.0.4b-nonis+-sparc-sun-solaris2.5.1.tar.Z, 4.70MB.  I am not
> using NIS or NIS+.)
> 
> 2)	The version I installed was a binary, so the paths were completely
> different from those mentioned in
> 	the O'Reilly book "Using Samba" which I purchased prior to beginning
> this entire process.  Also, this	
> 	book covered up to Samba 2.0.5 only, but I thought what the hell, it
> will probably be quite useful.
> 
> 3)	I followed all the instructions in the initial three (3) chapters of
> the Using Samba book including the
> 	sample SMB.CONF file.  I finally looked in the /opt/samba/doc area
> and found out about the various
> 	settings and steps I should take to make Samba work with an NT 4.0
> network.  I successfully created
> 	the smbpasswd file, where this version says it's supposed to be and
> successfully updated the
> 	passwords for the various users I added to the smbpasswd file.  In
> order to NOT have to deal with an
> 	administrative nightmare, I provide a "generic" ArcView user for all
> those 500 PC's so they don't need
> 	accounts OR need to know the password to connect.   (NOTE:  when I
> used the "man smbpasswd"
> 	command to obtain usage information on the smbpasswd command, I got
> a nice explanation of
> 	the smbpasswd file.  It would have been a smidge helpful if the
> command and the name of the file itself
> 	were somehow just a tad different and had entries in the manpages.)
> 
> 4)	I spent considerable time in the appendix of the Using Samba book to
> go thru the sample SMB.CONF file
> 	and the various usage instructions for the entries it could contain.
> Here is a copy of my SMB.CONF:
> 
> 						 <<smb.conf>> 
> 
> I was able to successfully create the shares you see in this SMB.CONF file
> and particularly like the ability to
> attach to a share while making it "hidden".  However, here's what I
> encountered when I finally got the Samba
> suite UP and "advertising" its shares:
> 
> 5)	I (naturally) had to login to the Samba server using one of the
> valid username/password entries in the
> 	smbpasswd file.  This allowed me to see the browseable shares.  I
> found I could accomplish this only
> 	after logging off and re-logging in to my PC.  Apparently the Samba
> suite needs to be UP and alive prior
> 	to the PC's coming UP - in order for them to "see" the Samba server
> in the Network Neighborhood.
> 	This added considerable time to the testing procedures, as every
> time I made any changes to the
> 	SMB.CONF I had to stop the Samba suite and re-start it - then log
> out the PC and re-log it in for it
> 	to acknowledge the changes I'd just made.  Simply issuing the
> commands for the SMBD & NMBD
> 	to be re-read to pick up any changes to the SMB.CONF didn't work.
> 
> 6)	I found that I could quite easily attach to both the browseable and
> non-browseable shares and see
> 	the contents of the shares as if they were local.  Unfortunately
> this now renders the vast majority
> 	of the GIS data required by our GIS users null - since our Library
> and our Image Catalogues both
> 	contain hard coded UNIX pathnames to make them useable and relevant
> on the UNIX side - which
> 	is where all this data is initially created and made available to
> the PC GIS users.  {This has been the
> 	primary reason for continuing to use the Intergraph NFS product vs.
> several alternatives - the ability
> 	to successfully read/interpret UNIX pathnames.)
> 
> 7)	I also found two rather curious anomalies:  when I log in to the
> Samba server as my login name,
> 	I am connected but with the wrong user ID.  I get the correct group
> ID, but the wrong user ID.  (This
> 	is indicated in one of the many samba_log files that began appearing
> in the /var/adm area.  Most of
> 	them have a 0-extent, but the directory is getting quite full!)  The
> second anomaly is that when I
> 	log the PC off, then log it back in again, the shares appear to be
> attached after I finish coming
> 	back in.  But, if I select one of the shares in the Windows
> Explorer, it tells me access denied - 
> 	invalid username/password or username not found.  If I bring up the
> Samba server from the network
> 	neighborhood by double-clicking on it to re-log in, I type in the
> same username/password that
> 	permitted me to attach in the first place, but I get an invalid
> username/password or username
> 	not found message.  This means that the re-logging in of those 500
> PC's would not be transparent
> 	to those users, as it is now.  Here is the samba_log file:
> 
> 									 
> <<samba_log.it-rmagnew>> 
> 
> I'm sure I've done many things wrong and there are no doubt workarounds
> for all these issues, but until
> I know what they are, I cannot, in good conscience, use the product.
> 
> Thank you for the creating the product in the first place.  Thank you in
> advance for any assistance you could
> provide me.
> 
> Robert M. Agnew
> Sr. GIS Analyst - Administrator
> City of Las Vegas
> (702) 229-6049
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