Samba Pocket Reference: A Unix-to-Windows File & Print Server - Softcover

Ts, Jay; Eckstein, Robert; Collier-Brown, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0596005466 ISBN 13: 9780596005467

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, 2003

Synopsis

Samba is a cross-platform triumph: it turns a Unix or Linux system into a file and print server for Microsoft Windows network clients.This book describes all the options for Samba's configuration file in quick-reference format. It also contains command-line options and related information on the use of the Samba daemons (smbd, nmbd, and winbindd) and the utilities in the Samba distribution.

The current edition covers Samba 2.x and the most important features of 3.0, which was under development as this book went to print. New options pertain to Samba's acting as a primary domain controller and as a domain member server, its support for the use of Windows NT/2000/XP authentication and filesystem security on the host Unix system, and access to shared files and printers from Unix clients.

System administrators who are familiar with Samba and want a handy reminder of how to administer it without the bulk of a full-sized book will find this pocket reference invaluable.

About this title

Review

Since Samba is most often a fire-and-forget solution for getting computers running Linux and Unix to speak Microsoft Windows Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, it's easy for administrators to do exactly that: Forget the details of Samba configuration after setting it up. Samba Pocket Reference combats that problem superbly. Though it probably won't tell you what ails your Samba installation or how to adjust it to do what you want--not in so many words, anyway--this tiny guide (it will literally fit into your pocket) will remind you of the Samba commands and configuration file options available to you, and the details of each one's syntax.

One might say that Pocket Reference books like this one are Nutshell books boiled down to even greater density. Absent is all introductory information, all explanatory material, and most explicit references between related subjects. The authors assume that readers know what they're looking for (for example, the allowable values for the character set entry in the smb.conf file) and need only to be given the facts. You can learn about Samba from this book, but you'll find it most useful as a refresher and printed substitute for the man pages. --David Wall

Topics covered: Configuration file settings and commands associated with Samba 2.0.x and 2.2.x, presented in extremely concise reference format. Coverage goes to all legal smb.conf values, the smbd and nmbd daemons, and the utilities that ship with Samba.

About the Author

Jay Ts is a system administrator and programmer with many years of experience working with several versions of Unix and other operating systems. Nowadays he works as an independent consultant out of his home in Sedona, Arizona. When he is not busy reading the Samba mailing lists and learning about new computer technology, Jay might be analyzing stock market behavior, meditating, playing around in his recording studio, or hiking in the wilderness near his home.

Robert Eckstein, an editor at O'Reilly, works mostly on Java books (notably Java Swing) and is also responsible for the XML Pocket Reference and Webmaster in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition. In his spare time he has been known to provide online coverage for popular conferences. He also writes articles for JavaWorld magazine. Robert holds bachelor's degrees in computer science and communications from Trinity University. In the past, he has worked for the USAA insurance company and more recently spent four years with Motorola's cellular software division. He is the co-author of Using Samba.

David Collier-Brown is a consulting systems integrator, currently working for the performance and engineering group at Sun Opcom in Toronto. He is also co-author of the first edition of Using Samba. In his spare time he reads assiduously, keeps score for his wife's baseball team and, in the two weeks of the local summer, sails from Toronto's outer harbor.

Edition details

• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0596005466
• ISBN 13: 9780596005467
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 139