[Samba] Best strategy for setup

[Gaiseric Vandal]

Security=user means the samba machine will be a domain controller.      
Are you familiar with Windows Domain vs Workgroup model?  (this is not a 
samba specific thing.)

Are the desktops and laptops Pro or Home?  if they are Home they can not 
join a domain.  If you can't use the domain model, you need to configure 
the same user names and passwords on all the machines.

If your profile roams, then it should include the "My Documents" 
folder.  I think to enable roaming profiles you just need to configure a 
profile share on the server.  I believe that roaming profiles require 
that you are using a domain model.   I think XP and Win 7 will require 
different profile folders. I don't use roaming profiles myself-  found 
then to be too much of a headache.

For other shares-  you can right-click a share and select it to be 
available off line.  (You need offline folder function enabled by the 
administrator on the workstation.)   This is all handled by the windows 
client- as long as it thinks it is talking to a Windows server.   There 
shouldn't be anything to configure on the server side.

FYI I found that with Samba 3.4.x, that enabling offline folders on Win 
7 machines could easily break offline authentication.    But that might 
have just been a bug on my setup.     Instead we use the free MS tool 
"synctoy."








On 03/06/12 14:40, Erik Anderson wrote:
> I have setup samba on a few servers. Each time, it has been a little
> confusing, I read, re-read the documentation, and finally get something
> that works. Usually, I feel like I have not done it the best way.
>
> I have looked at how-tos and guides. I am still a novice in *nix.
>
> This time, I am reaching out for some help. For some reason, I am just an
> idiot with Samba. I understand the configuration for individual shares, but
> I think it is the security, users, and group membership that is confusing.
>
> Let me start with my objective:
> I have several Windoze machines on a home network (XP and 7). Some are
> desktops and some are laptops. The laptops are home at night and gone
> during the day (roaming). I would like to use Samba as a method for backup
> and general file sharing. In general, the same person uses the same machine
> day-in/day-out. For each user, I would like to take their My Documents and
> Profile settings are store them on the server. Then, I would like the files
> to be available offline on the Windows machine. In addition, there will be
> Public files (media essentially) that are read/write for everyone. Of
> course, there are a couple printers to share, the main one being connected
> to a Windoze XP box.
>
> I can share my smb.conf, but was hoping someone could help me out with the
> best way to do this.
>
> I am guessing:
> 1. security=user
> 2. use roaming configuration in smb
> 3. manually create each windows user in both nix and smb, using the
> existing windows password and names (???)
> 4. setup shares in smb.conf
> 5. use windows "make network drive available offline"
>
> Is this the right concept to get started? What am I missing?
>
> Thank you in advance.
> 4. put script