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

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

ISBN 10: 0596005466 / ISBN 13: 9780596005467

Published by O'Reilly Media, 2003

About this Item

Seller Inventory # ABLING22Oct2018170020629

Bibliographic Details

Title: Samba Pocket Reference: A Unix-to-Windows ...

Publisher: O'Reilly Media

Publication Date: 2003

Binding: Soft cover

Condition: New

Edition: 2nd Edition

About this title

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.

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.