[Samba] Is a password required for the Linux account?

[Rowland Penny]

On Fri, 04 May 2018 14:47:02 +0000
Chris Weiss via samba <samba at lists.samba.org> wrote:

> On Fri, May 4, 2018 at 9:07 AM Gilles via samba
> <samba at lists.samba.org> wrote:
> 
> > On 04/05/2018 15:46, Chris Weiss wrote:
> > > technically it does not need a passwd, and you don't need to do
> > > password sync.  i should work just fine.
> > Thanks.
> >
> > If the matching Unix account has no password, how come it doesn't
> > trigger an error when Samba accesses the underlying Unix filesystem?
> > Doesn't Linux prompt Samba for a uid + password?
> 
> 
> no, samba runs as root, root can do whatever it needs.  this is also
> why you shouldn't have samba on a web server.

Well, Samba does run as root, but when a user connects, a new process
is forked using the users credentials. You can run a web server on a
machine running Samba, there is no connection.

> 
> there are many tools to get ssh/sftp paths as a local windows file.  I
> really suggest you go that route if this internet facing.
> 
> you can do whatever you want, but you do need to know that what you're
> trying to do here is a Bad Thing.  you're setting yourself with an
> insecure system, and that never ends well.  and also Word makes
> terribly bloated pages.  why not use a CMS or a wiki?  right tool for
> the job.

Totally agree with the above, plus you shouldn't use windows tools to
edit conf files on Unix, the two systems use different line endings.

Rowland