permissions on VFAT partitions

[Kohei Yoshida]

On Thu, 2001-12-27 at 09:50, Rodger Haynes wrote:
> I'm looking at the feasability of switching from a Novell server to a
> Linux server, and we have software that runs under DOS which is still
> important to us. When I tried sharing the files from Linux, the
> executables stored on the server wouldn't run. I'm a NEWBIE and in the
> first stages of looking into this, so I thought perhaps the programs
> would run better from a DOS partition. The files are accessed from
> terminals that have no disk drives, so the executables must be stored on
> the server. I don't think I should need DOSEMU because the code executes
> on the DOS box.

I can say from my experience that using a (V)FAT partion via Samba is a
bit tricky business, and I'd avoid it if at all possible.  I remember I
struggled with this issue during my first exposure to Samba nearly 2
years ago.

As to your problem with DOS executables, just make sure your "case
sensitive" parameter is set to no.  If set to yes, it produces many odd
behaviors when accessing/executing files on the Samba server.  This is
because all versions of DOS/Windows are case insensitive, while
Linux/Unix are not.  The followings are the settings I use, and I can
execute DOS programs that reside on a Samba server with no problem.

   [global]

       case sensitive = no
       default case = lower
       preserve case = yes
       short preserve case = yes
       mangle case = no
       mangled names = yes

Hope this helps.

Kohei