[Samba] Samba password and WinNT server password files

[Gavin Hamill]

> What we want to do:
>    Replace a Windows PC acting as a printer server with linux


I think Mandrake uses CUPS for the print-system so this shouldn't be too
much hassle..

> Samba version 2.2.1a


You might want to move up to 2.2.3a - this seems to be the most widely-used
stable version at the moment...

> Comments on the group indicate that there are two sets of passwords.  One
at > the WINNT site and the other in the samba password file.

Not quite... the smbpasswd file contains the user/passwords to authenticate
'Windows users'. It's entirely possible (and sometimes desirable) to use
only this file and not any UNIX /etc/passwd system users.

However, the usage of UNIX /etc/passwd system users in conjunction with the
smbpasswd file is the most common configuration, so the files created in the
home directory of each user are 'owned' by the same UNIX user.

The UNIX user doesn't even need to have a password set (passwd -l
username) - the entry is in /etc/passwd merely to provide a unique user-id.

The magic happens in smbpasswd, and I think this gets updated automatically
if a user chooses Change Password on their NT/2000 workstation.

> Also, have tried using the smbclient program and it does not seem to be
> installed.  Command not recognized.  Any ideas?


smbclient is usually distributed as a seperate installation ... I'm not very
familiar with Mandrake, so I can't offer any more information on this :/

gdh