The Official Samba 3 HOWTO and Reference Guide

Matt Will writes "The Official Samba 3 How-To and Reference Guide was written by John H. Terpstra and Jelmer Rinze Vernooij in collaboration with the core developers of the Samba-Team (www.samba.org) and expert end users. The book is written with special focus towards administrators of Microsoft Windows systems, giving them a first insight into the capabilities of Samba and a well guided step-by-step guide for migrating systems from a Microsoft solution to Samba." Read on for the rest of Will's review. The Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide author John H. Terpstra, Jelmer R. Vernooij pages 736 publisher Prentice Hall rating 9 reviewer Matt Will ISBN 0131453556 summary Good summary of setting up, using, and troubleshooting Samba 3

The book itself For people with little time, the book starts with the chapter "FastStart: Cure for the Impatient," which features many example configurations of working solutions, each illustrating working setups using Samba to different ends -- as a file and print server, CD-ROM server, etc.

In the following chapters, the How-To and Reference Guide deals with all aspects of server and security modes, domain control and backup domain control and stand-alone configurations. Each of the chapters include further example configurations as well as in-depth discussion of the chapter's topic, and a "common errors" section that answers the most obvious real life errors.

In the third part of the book (Advanced Configuration) the reader is presented with detailed information on the topics of network browsing, account information databases, and group mapping from MS Windows to the Unix world, as well as file, directory and share access controls and file and record locking. There is also a second chapter about security in this part of the book.
Still in the third part, the book explains the new features of Samba 3.0.0, for instance interdomain trust relationships and distributed file systems.

Two very thorough chapters explain the conventional printing support with Samba, as well as printing via the newer print system CUPS. Following short chapters about winbind and network management, the Guide explains how to set up and maintain system and account policies, and how to exercise desktop profile management, and provides short but informative chapters about PAM authentication, Windows/Samba network integration, character sets, and some words about backups and high availability.

Part 4 of the Samba How-To Guide deals exclusively with updating and migrating from Samba 2.x to Samba 3.0.0, including an example migration from a NT4 PDC to a Samba-3 PDC and a user guide to the SWAT (graphical interface for configuring Samba) tool.

In part 5 (Troubleshooting) the reader is given a very good checklist to verify all functions of the Samba installation are working correctly and a guide how to analyze and solve problems with Samba.

In the appendices, the book gives information on how to obtain and compile Samba, lists supported platforms, gives hints for performance tuning, dhcp and dns, and includes the man pages to the Samba programs and configuration files.

Primary audience The book is written for people in the "Windows world" who want to take a look into the services and possibilities Samba offers for them. Beginners get very detailed information which things are possible with Samba and which are not (for now), as well as the necessary background for installing and configuring Samba on a Unix/Linux system. For the advanced user, there are still some diamonds of new information and also a good reference for all the new settings and options in the new Samba release. Personal Rating I can recommend this book to everyone interested in Samba - especially the new 3.0 version - no matter if you are new to Samba or even an experienced user of the software who is interested in expanding your knowledge and trying new features. It has its place on my bookshelf of very useful documentation.

You can purchase The Official Samba 3 HOWTO and Reference Guide from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

i have a question

[theMerovingian]

The book is written with special focus towards administrators of Microsoft Windows systems giving them a first insight into the capabilities of Samba and a well guided step by step guide for migrating systems from a Microsoft solution to Samba.

Wait a minute - What's wrong with Microsoft?

Re:i have a question

[sporty]

Can you get windows 2k running with 30 users on a p2-266?

How about giving people access to a development unix jboss webapps directory, directly from their windows workstations?

Sometimes, it's not whether windows is good or bad.. it's just bloody inconvenient with what you have before you.

Pizza?

[SharpFang]

Do they include more info on delivering Pizza to Samba authors?

Re:Pizza?

[lintux]

I was once told that Mr. Tridgell got enough pizza's in house for the rest of his life, so I guess they left that part out now. :-)

How does it compare to the online docs?

[ErikTheRed]

I seriously considered purchasing this book the other day, however, I paused because its contents sound so similar to what you download with the product for free. If there are better explanations, information, etc., I would love to acquire it. Does anyone familiar with both have any comments?

Re:How does it compare to the online docs?

[zontroll]

I've seen many books where the contents were just copies of man pages, javadocs or online documentation. (a lot of the books reviewed here on /. are anywhere between 25-75% copies of documentation with very little original thought by the authors).

People like to curl up with their book, so they don't mind paying for a printed copy of the online docs. Personally, I'm waiting for paper-thin organic displays to replace paper books before I move back from reading online docs at my computer to reading on my couch or bed.

Re:How does it compare to the online docs?

[tulare]

I bought a dead-tree version for one very simple reason: it perches on the back lid of a porcelin office-type chair known to contain liquids on a frequent or constant basis. Call it insurance. Here's my math:

Loss of the dead-tree version should it fall in: US$50

Loss of the laptop should it fall in: US$1400 plus hundreds of hours of lost productivity that went in as well.

Kind of made the choice an easy one.

I like the part...

[FreeLinux]

where the acquire, compile, install instructions are in the appendix. So many books on Linux and Linux apps usually waste several of the first few chapters on this. Happily, Linux an Linux app installation has improved to the point that any more than a paragraph or two on compiling and installation is a waste.

For those unable to buy it....

[geoff313]

While it is an excellent idea to financially support the Samba project, not only because of what they are doing but for how well they do it, but for those who are looking for who can't afford this book essentially the same document can be found here. Keep in mind this was the pre-release version of the published book. And I would just like to say thanks to the Samba team for all the excellent work they have done!!!

Re:A hidden cost of open source?

[jaymz666]

Except that you also have to buy all sorts of books for say, Windows servers, Oracle, etc.

This is not a review

[shaneb11716]

It's a copy/paste from the table of contents.

But anyway, the problem I have with this book is that as you read about configuration in more detail as the book progresses, it sort of assumes you understand various MS networked file system concepts.

I think the book could definitely use either an intro chapter or at least an appendix that discusses the core concepts of SMB first. Then I could make better decisions on deployment.

-Shane

Re:A hidden cost of open source?

[ShaggyZet]

Yeah, Windows Help files include everything you could ever need. Most of the Windows developers and administrators I know have completely empty bookshelves in their offices. And I can't remember the last time I was in a bookstore that had a section on Windows Foo or Visual Bar++.

Now come off it. Books are useful when they are more in depth than what is included with the software. MSDN (if that's what you're refering too) is good, but it's not the be all and end all of Windows Programming documentation. I'm not familiar enough with the Windows Admin side to know if there is even an equivelent.

From a programming perspective, I generally find simple man pages to be much more in depth and up to date than MSDN or any other windows help files. And the many HOWTOs from LDP go even further.

You got me.

[FreeLinux]

I know this is a blatant troll but, for the sake of any newbies that might put credence in your statements, I must respond. The amount of documentation that comes with open source applications and the quality of said documentation varies depending on the application. Just as it does in the Microsoft world. There is almost always a man page and usually a readme file with the necessary documentation for most open source apps. These are usually far more detailed than the Windows Help or .chm files. Additionally, one can usually find a detailed online how-to for the desired application which is usually harder to find for Windows applications.

Finally, if Windows documentation is so good, why are there so many books from Microsoft Press and third parties for so many Windows applications? Microsoft Exchange 2000 uses a .chm for its included documentation. It is incomplete, to say the least. That is why there are at least three very large books available from Microsoft Press on the subject and there are dozens of third party books that cover Exchange 2000. This is only one example but there are many many more. A casual stroll throught the Computer section of any book store clearly demonstrates this.

The fact of the matter is that there definitely is a lot of free documentation for open source software and some is excellent. That does not mean that there shouldn't be third party books for it too though.

Sorry for feeding the trolls.

Need more of the same

[Ridgelift]

The book is written for people in the "Windows world" who want to take a look into the services and possibilities Samba offers for them.

We need more books that help Windows users make the change to Linux. Although I probably wouldn't benefit from this book since I'm now used to reading the documentation myself, I would have appreciated such a text a few short years ago.

Making the transition from Windows to Linux can be a lot like learning to ski. Windows is all about bunny hills, where you can learn to snow plow quickly and initially have some fun, but it gets boring fast. Linux, on the other hand, is like a full mountain without proper directions. Some people start with Linux and find the green runs and have fun. Others end up beginning on a double diamond run, and hate it because it was such a harrowing and confusing experience.

Books like these help those bunny hill Windows users find the Linux green runs, and help them advance to the blue and black diamond aspects of Linux at a controlled pace.

One word...

[cnelzie]

CALs.

Extra words follow...

For our small corporate network, I have determined that it would cost us nearly $40,000 USD (Just for the Software!) to maintain a Primary and Back-up Domain Controller using Microsoft Windows 2000. This includes both the Main Server License costs and the multiple packs of CALs required to allow each user access to the servers.

Instead of that, we went with a Linux/Samba solution using the same hardware and saved... $40,000 in licensing costs. Sure, it took me a little longer to setup in the first place, of course my pay rate isn't even high enough to consider an issue in regards to choosing between Linux/Samba or Windows 2000 for our domain.

From my reading, I can double and even triple the number of users with the current Samba system and see no additional license costs for CALs (or the time to calculate how many CALs we would need) or the need for upgrading the hardware.

Re:One word...

[FatherOfONe]

Exchange, no. But most people don't run Exchange AND their file/print server on the same box. So you could piece-mail this, and still save a ton of money on CALs.

CRM- Depends what package you use. Some yes some no. But remember not all CRM packages run on all versions of Windows either, and some require certain service packs, so again most people run their CRM services on a dedicated machine.

Solomon??? Never heard of it.... Just did a Google search and found out that it is a MICROSOFT solution. SHOCKER!!! Do you work for Microsoft? Here is their info on the product.

"Microsoft Business Solutions-Solomon(R) is a robust, flexible solution built to meet the needs of project-centric and distribution-driven companies. Its customization and integration tools help you adapt best practices, integrate with other systems, serve customers better, and excel in your industry. It also boosts employee efficiency by providing real-time data access through a Web-based interface. "

Well after reading that I feel that I know a ton about it :-). Yep that was descriptive :-) God, how did I ever live without it. :-)

I will bet that it doesn't run on Linux and that it never will, but you would have three options
1. Use VMware and run it.
2. Find a replacement for it that runs on more than one platform.
3. Keep an NT server around just to run that app. (kinda like Exchange).

The great thing about SAMBA is that it doesn't have to replace your ENTIRE NT network, it can co-exist well, and as a side benefit you get FREE CALS and a product that (for me) has worked great.

You could be like us. Use it and save some money, then over time evaluate migrating off of Microsoft altogether. It took us around 2 years but we are now CAL free! Man I can't tell you how great it is not to have to worry about that.

Lastly, how much does Exchange cost you per user? When we ran it, it was around $20/user.

Re:One word...

[Malc]

I disagree. We are a 25 person company with an additional self-managed co-lo facility. It's in The Valley, and so with the current job market you would expect lots of good people around. It took us 5 months to find a good enough replacement for our network admin. He doesn't know Linux very well (although he's played with it), and certainly not Samba. Restricting ourselves further to candidates who also knew Samba would mean we would be still looking and I would still be providing network support rather than developing software. Furthermore, when you talk about 2-3 days to figure out Samba... what about the other projects and getting up to speed that they have to do? 2-3 days at just a few hours per day spreads out over weeks. I've played around with Samba prior to v3, and use it at home, but it took many hours, and I'm not convinced it's configured properly for a corporate environment - that would take a deeper understanding which requires time and experience.

Incidentally, it seems there are a lot of UNIX and Oracle people looking for jobs (we got enough unrealistic applications from them) - I would suggest they get themselves an MSDN subscription or something if they want to bridge both worlds.

Re:One word...

[FatherOfONe]

I disagree, we have a similar company and are based out of Indiana and I put out a job listing and had so many qualified resume's the next day I couldn't go through them all in a week. I began to wonder if they handed out MCSE's at Walmart. :-) I can find Linux guys who know windows and windows guys who are not so biased that they can learn SAMBA in way less than a week. I don't know how much you pay, but around here there is NO cost difference between an MCSE and a Linux/Windows guy.

Again I have setup SAMBA now for quite a few organizations around town and have NEVER had an issue.

When you mention that it is not configured for a corporate environment, I would disagree. I was part of a LAN team that worked on a 50k+ NT network and we used SAMBA a ton on our SUN boxes and it worked well. We had FAR FAR FAR FAR more problems with WINS on our Windows boxes than we EVER did with our SAMBA solutions.

I want to make one point clear. Once the software is installed it runs. For 99% of the companies out there it never needs to be touched again (unless you want to). You would not need to spend 2-3 hours a week for every new project that comes up. I know because I run it. I have ran it and will continue to run it. I have ran it in 50k+ mixed networks and 5 user church networks.

It's funny you mention UNIX and Oracle people looking for jobs, on our job posting we looked for exactly that and we got around 35% MCSE's and Microsoft Access guys. I was thinking the same thing but in reverse, :-) :-) (Mabe we should switch roles). I personally don't care if a developer,LAN Guy,DBA etc, doesn't know our specific technology. I look more for what they have shown on the job, and their ability to learn new stuff. I feel for all those poor saps that thought they would have a job forever doing Visual Basic, only to have Microsoft pull the plug on them. The good ones will show that they can learn something else. (I would suggest JAVA).... but that is me :-)

Re:One word...

[arctuniol]

In order to set up 300 users for MSFT on my network it would have cost my company around $180,000. This is for exchange, the CAL's the microsoft guys to help set it up, and the hardware. Around 30 to 40 thousand of it was licensing costs.

I did it with Samba, plus one extra guy to help, a full migration for about $25,000. Most of that was the extra helps salary. Let's see, that was 7 servers, two black box cabinets, two unmanaged switches, a cisco router, arcserve backup, and an 8 tape dlt 4 changer.

I still have one NT box running old admin software and payroll software, but windows grabs the user info from samba.

So the savings was oh about $140,000 give or take a few thousand for my personal toys that I snuck under the radar.

Is one better then the other, who really knows. I think it really comes down to the core OS. Linux is more solid, the old MSFT boxes used to crash on a daily basis. My linux systems only one has gone down, and that was my email server.

The only real concern isn't what is better, but the users get their data and they do it, without having to know what you are doing behind the scenes or if it is windows or linux, or unix, or POS AS400.

This Book is Under an Open Source License

[Bruce Perens]

The book is under an Open Source license, as are all titles in Bruce Perens' Open Source Series, and the remaining 5 chapters that aren't already checked into Samba CVS will be there soon. Unencrypted PDF will also be made available.

Thanks

Bruce

It is the online doc

[Bruce Perens]

As good citizens of the Open Source developer community, the authors and editiors in Bruce Perens' Open Source Series place the text of their books under Open Source licenses. We think that Open Source software deserves Open Source documentation. As a result, you can already get all but 5 chapters of this book online from the Samba project, and the remaining 5 will eventually be there too. Most people buy paper because it's hard to curl up with an e-book. That seems to be working for this title, we are already in the second printing. But if you want to read it online, you are welcome to.

Thanks

Bruce

Available Online

[deacon_jay]

I just went through a new Samba install and this documentation was a great help.
It's all available online from samba.org:

HTML Version | PDF Version

Note: There are a couple of chapters that are missing from these versions but all-in-all it should answer most of your questions.

Re:NFS?

[jbwolfe]

This may not be what your after, but take a look here...
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/sfu/unix proresour ces/
Shipping will go about ten dollars, but the software is free.

Overstock.com is a godsend...

[beatbox32]

Overstock.com. $28.79 USD... nice, real nice.

Re:user passwords?

[jdoff]

pwdump does this:

http://us1.samba.org/samba/ftp/pwdump/

See the comments in pwdump.c.

Re:NFS?

[Cheetahfeathers]

Samba really is your easiest/fastest/most supported solution, for this case. It works well. We use it in our corporate enviornment. Mostly a Sun shop with NFS mounted home dirs and software shares and such, but there are windows folks out there that want the same home dir. We support many hundreds this way.

The Samba section is pretty minimal to setup, for NFS. If you want printing and domains and such, it
starts to get more complicated.

Ask and ye shall receive...

[Soulfader]

Linux for Windows Administrators, 2nd Ed by Mark Minasi is probably a fairly close fit. It helped me over some very rough spots in my home network migration. Mr. Minasi is something of an authority in the NT world--his Windows 2000 series is also excellent.

Only downside is that it's getting a little dated--how about a 3rd edition, Mark? =)

Re:Oh goodie

[vlankhaar]

I would be very interested in seeing you write something like the HOWTO Collection. Yes, I'll admit, it was written by experts, but the language presented here is certainly not by any stretch of the imagination "difficult language."

I think your comment about the authors being unable to relate to simple end uers is very unfair. John and Jelmer, and indeed all of the other contributors, do an amazing job relating to end users.

Like a good open source project, this book was composed in such a way that input from _all_ users was greatly appreciated. If you feel that this document is useless, or if there is a section that you feel is hard to understand, by all means, do something about it. Write a new chapter, rewrite a section, add a section, do whatever is necessary. If you send your changes to John or Jelmer, I'm sure they will be merged into the next version of the book, and into the online version.

Granted, I am no stranger to Samba and CIFS itself, but when going through this book, I read it with as much of a new user's perspective as possible, and found that it was very complete and very useful. There was no time in which I felt that a new user should feel overwhelmed by the information presented nor the manner in which this information was presented.

Vance Lankhaar