[Samba] Cross-Subnet Browsing Problem

[Craig White]

Hi

On Fri, 2006-07-14 at 19:42 -0500, Todd Pytel wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I've had cross-subnet browsing working in Samba in the past, though I 
> tend to struggle with it each time I set it up. For whatever reason, I 
> can't seem to get things working this time.
> 
> Summary: Only my desktop, not the file server, shows up in the desktop's 
> Network Neighborhood. (I have left the machines running for several 
> hours, in case there's a time-to-sync issue involved.)
> 
> Details: The Samba server (ARISTOTLE) is in the 172.16.0.x subnet and my 
> XP desktop (TIMAEUS) is in 192.168.0.x. There is no NAT or firewall 
> running in between the subnets. Aristotle acts as a WINS server and is 
> recognized as such in Timaeus' ipconfig output. Name lookups work fine, 
> as verified by MS's nblookup tool. Also, I can browse shares on 
> Aristotle using \\aristotle, so the problem is just that the server 
> doesn't register for browsing.
> 
> I ran a capture using ethereal, and everything in there looks OK. The 
> desktop boots up and registers its name with WINS on the server. Shortly 
> thereafter, the desktop looks up the DMB against WINS (which is the 
> server - it's the only one on the network), and sends it a "Backup List 
> Request" to which the server sends a "Backup List Response" naming 
> itself as the backup server. And that's it. Now, from what I can tell 
> from reading the SMB protocol specs, the desktop is supposed to contact 
> the named backup server in order to sync up its browse list. But that 
> doesn't happen - there's nothing else in the packet capture, and no 
> errors anywhere in the level 3 Samba logs or in the desktop's event 
> logs. So it seems like everything works except for the very last step. 
> Any idea what's going on?
> 
> What I'm guessing to be the relevant parts of smb.conf follow. If I can 
> provide any more info, let me know.
> 
> Thanks,
> Todd
> 
> smb.conf:
> 
> workgroup = SOPHROSUNE
> server string = File/Print Server
> security = user
> 
> guest account = guest
> (this account exists on the server)
> local master = yes
> os level = 99
> domain master = yes
> preferred master = yes
> 
> domain logons = yes
> (last time I set this up, this seemed to be needed for cross-subnet 
> browsing, but I don't really know. Something about IPC$ connections?)
> 
> wins support = yes
> 
> [homes]
>      comment = Home Directories
>      browseable = no
>      writable = yes
>      valid users = %S
>      hosts allow = 192.168.0.
>      hosts deny = 127.0.0.1
> 
> [netlogon]
>      comment = Network Logon Service
>      path = /usr/local/lib/samba/netlogon
>      guest ok = yes
>      writable = no
>      share modes = no
> (Like domain logons, prior experiments seemed to show that this was 
> needed, but I don't really know.)
----
I believe what you want is 'remote announce' - you can get a good
definition of it's usage in the man page for smb.conf

Craig