Loosing mastership

[James Nord]

Gary Algier wrote:
> 
> Up until recently if I did a "smclient -L server -N" I would see all
> the systems listed.  If I went to a PC and opened "Network Neighborhood"
> I would see the same list.  Suddenly, several PCs see real short lists.
> 
> A command of "smclient -L server -N" still shows the long list, but
> a command of "smclient -L client -N" shows that the client PC thinks
> it is the browse master for the workgroup.
> 
> I am running samba 2.0.6.  My config says:
>     [global]
>         workgroup = Ulticom
>         server string = Spike [the Rugrats dog]
>         log file = /var/samba/log.%m
>         local master = yes
>         os level = 45
>         domain master = yes
>         preferred master = yes
>         domain logons = no
>     [homes]
>         ...
> 
> So, shouldn't "os level = 45" guarantee that the server gets control?

Depends on what clients you have.  If you have any Win2000 machines 65
is needed.
 
> I was having the server loose control to another system until I created
> a cron job that runs every 5 minutes checking the server to make sure it
> thinks it is the master and killing "nmbd" if it is not.  This makes
> the server become master again, however, some clients think they are
> master, too.

> How do I fix this?

We had something similar due to a faulty networking.

in one case broadcast accross subnets only worked in one direction!
In the other faulty cabling was to blame, as the 2k machine kept loosing
netowrk and forcing an election with itself, only to go back onto the
network and say "hey - im the master browser!"

You could try looking at the above issues to see if you find anything.

Is it always 1 machine that becomes master or is it random?

/James

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