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When working with Samba, you will almost always see the keys referred to as parameters or options. They are combined in sections (also called stanzas) introduced by labels in square brackets. The stanza name goes by itself on a line, like this:

[stanza-name]

Each directory or printer you share is called a share or service in Windows networking terminology. You can specify each service individually using a separate section name, but we'll show you some ways to simplify the configuration file and support many services using just a few sections. One special section called [global] contains parameters that apply as defaults to all services, and parameters that apply to the server in general. Although Samba understands literally hundreds of parameters, it is very likely that you will need to use only a few of them, because most have reasonable defaults. If you are curious which parameters are available, or you are looking for a specific parameter, read the manpage for smb.conf(5). But for now, let's get started with the following smb.conf file:

[global]

workgroup = MIDEARTH

printing = BSD

wins support = yes

[homes]

browseable = no

read only = no

[printers]

printable = yes

printing = BSD

path = /var/spool/samba

[data]

path = /export/data

read only = no

map archive = no

Although this is a very simple configuration, you may find it satisfactory for most purposes. We'll now explain each stanza in the file in order of appearance, so you can understand what's going on, and make the changes necessary for it to fit your own system. The parts you most likely need to change are emphasized in boldface in the file listing just shown.

In the [global] section, we set parameters that configure Samba on the particular host system. The workgroup parameter defines the workgroup to which the server belongs. You will need to replace MIDEARTH with the name of your workgroup. If your Windows systems already have a workgroup defined, use that workgroup. If not, create a new workgroup name here and configure your Windows systems to belong to it. Use a workgroup name other than the Windows default of WORKGROUP, to avoid conflicts with misconfigured or unconfigured systems.

For our server's computer name (also called NetBIOS name), we are taking advantage of Samba's default behavior of using the system's hostname. That is, if the system's fully qualified domain name is dolphin.example.com, it will be seen from Windows as dolphin. Make sure your system's hostname is set appropriately. If you want to explicitly name your Samba server by its hostname, enter a line in the global stanza like this:

netbios name = DOLPHIN

You can provide a NetBIOS name that differs from the hostname, so it is perfectly acceptable to name the computer like this:

netbios name = WHITESHARK

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Warning

The default hostname used by several Linux distributions is localhost. Please be certain to change that to a valid name, because any machine that has the NetBIOS name of LOCALHOST is completely unusable. This name will always resolve on a Windows network client as the IP address 127.0.0.1, and that is the client itself!

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The encrypt passwords parameter tells Samba to expect clients to send passwords in encrypted form, rather than plain text. This parameter should be set on all versions of Samba prior to Version 3.0 because it is necessary in order for Samba to work with Windows 98, Windows NT Service Pack 3, and later versions. Samba version 3.0 and later default to using encrypted passwords, so the parameter is unnecessary, but worth including just to make sure you're doing it right.

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Tip

The wins support parameter tells Samba to function as a WINS server, resolving computer names into IP addresses. This is optional, but helps to keep your network running efficiently as described earlier in this chapter in "Protocols and Things Windows-Related." A WINS server is like a DNS server for NetBIOS names, with the key difference that clients register themselves with a WINS server.

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