[Samba] 'Not listening for calling name'

[Jay Ts]

Vicky Clarke wrote:
> the WINS server entry is a misunderstanding on my part - I 
> thought it meant 'use a WINS server', not 'be a WINS server'.

In case you're not totally clear on it yet,

	wins support = yes

means that this Samba server (nmbd, actually) will provide WINS name service.

	wins server = <host>

tells Samba to use another system as the WINS server.

Do not try to use both in the same smb.conf.  In general, you
should use one or the other, because Samba will probably run
much better if it has a WINS server to use.  DNS is not a
replacement, because it doesn't keep track of the type
field, as WINS does.

> we're not really using WINS except as an interface to DNS anyway, 
> so I could just comment out the WINS stuff altogether.

You can _try_ it, but I would expect problems. If your Windows PDC
is running WINS, then point Samba to it.  Otherwise, let Samba run
WINS. Whether you think you need it or not, it's good to have a
WINS server on your network, and certainly doesn't hurt.

> >Also, you might as well let Samba take on the role of local master
> >browser at least, with:
> 
> I thought this would cause problems if there was an NT4 PDC in the same 
> domain? (Which there is).

Oops, I wrote that assuming your Samba server was PDC.  The PDC
should *always* be the domain master browser, and if another
server takes that role away from it, things can break.

> I'm not certain I understand the mechanism of name resolution that's
> going on underneath this, is there anywhere I can read up on it?

Microsoft has a white paper on WINS; you can search for it in
their Knowledge Base.  The best place to go for an explanation
of DNS is perhaps the O'Reilly book "DNS and BIND".  To find out
how Windows handles name resolution (and it's complicated!), grab
a copy of the Resource Kit for Windows NT/2000/XP.  (I know it's
in the Win XP Resource Kit at least, and it may be in the Win 2000
Resource Kit online at the Microsoft site, if you can find it.)

And although it's a little out of date, try Using Samba, 1st edition.
(http://samba.he.net, or in the Samba source distribution).  I've
reworked the sections on name resolution and browsing in the 2nd
edition, but it will still be a while until that's published.

Jay Ts
jay at jayts.cx