Samba: Windows can't see Linux

I have a Windows 98SE box and a Red Hat 7.2 box with Samba 2.2.8a.

The Linux box has no problem seeing the Windows box, mounting shares,
etc.
The Windows box has no problem seeing the Linux box for non-Samba
purposes (ping, ssh, etc.) But, the Windows box can't see the Linux
box in Network Neighborhood, and can't access any shares.

I went through the "troubleshooting" chapter on samba.org, and found
that the nmb test fails. That is,

nmblookup -B 192.168.5.255 RH72

does not find the RH72 box -- even when that command is run on the
RH72 box itself!

Changing the IP in that command from the "broadcast" IP to RH72'2 IP
does give the correct response, and "smbclient -L //RH72" produces a
correct list of shares.

So, it seems that RH72 is not responding when queried on the broadcast
IP.

How can I fix this?

(I've already tried invoking nmbd with the "-B" option, but that
didn't work.)

Thanks!

--Robert

Robert Book wrote:

> I have a Windows 98SE box and a Red Hat 7.2 box with Samba 2.2.8a.
>
> The Linux box has no problem seeing the Windows box, mounting shares,
> etc.
> The Windows box has no problem seeing the Linux box for non-Samba
> purposes (ping, ssh, etc.) But, the Windows box can't see the Linux
> box in Network Neighborhood, and can't access any shares.
>
> I went through the "troubleshooting" chapter on samba.org, and found
> that the nmb test fails. That is,
>
> nmblookup -B 192.168.5.255 RH72
>
> does not find the RH72 box -- even when that command is run on the
> RH72 box itself!
>
> Changing the IP in that command from the "broadcast" IP to RH72'2 IP
> does give the correct response, and "smbclient -L //RH72" produces a
> correct list of shares.
>
> So, it seems that RH72 is not responding when queried on the broadcast
> IP.
>
> How can I fix this?
>
> (I've already tried invoking nmbd with the "-B" option, but that
> didn't work.)
>
> Thanks!
>
> --Robert

Did you check /var/log/messages and /var/log/samba/* for any indication of
whats not working? nmbd should start at the same time samba does. You
should be starting samba with /etc/rc.d/init.d/smb start...and that should
start both services. Also, you may want to post your smb.conf file.

Finally, sometimes it takes a while, 15+ minutes, before the smb machines
work out new elections. It may show up if you just wait around for a
while.

Andy

Andy wrote:
>
> Robert Book wrote:
>
> > I have a Windows 98SE box and a Red Hat 7.2 box with Samba 2.2.8a.
> >
> > The Linux box has no problem seeing the Windows box, mounting shares,
> > etc.
> > The Windows box has no problem seeing the Linux box for non-Samba
> > purposes (ping, ssh, etc.) But, the Windows box can't see the Linux
> > box in Network Neighborhood, and can't access any shares.
> >
> > I went through the "troubleshooting" chapter on samba.org, and found
> > that the nmb test fails. That is,
> >
> > nmblookup -B 192.168.5.255 RH72
> >
> > does not find the RH72 box -- even when that command is run on the
> > RH72 box itself!
> >
> > Changing the IP in that command from the "broadcast" IP to RH72'2 IP
> > does give the correct response, and "smbclient -L //RH72" produces a
> > correct list of shares.
> >
> > So, it seems that RH72 is not responding when queried on the broadcast
> > IP.
> >
> > How can I fix this?
> >
> > (I've already tried invoking nmbd with the "-B" option, but that
> > didn't work.)
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > --Robert
>
> Did you check /var/log/messages and /var/log/samba/* for any indication of
> whats not working? nmbd should start at the same time samba does. You
> should be starting samba with /etc/rc.d/init.d/smb start...and that should
> start both services. Also, you may want to post your smb.conf file.
>
> Finally, sometimes it takes a while, 15+ minutes, before the smb machines
> work out new elections. It may show up if you just wait around for a
> while.
>
> Andy

Andy,

I did check the log files, and did some tests with nmblookup, and the
problem seems to be that the Linux box (Samba server) doesn't respond to
queries on the broadcast IP number. It does respond on it's own IP
number, but I don't know if it's possible/advisable to tell the windows
box that the broadcast IP is the IP of one specific machine on the
network.

I am starting smbd and nmbd with "/etc/rc.d/init.d/smb start"; I've
checked and both are running. In fact, the Unix box can access itself
with smbclient, and can access the Windows box with smbclient and even
smbmount.

And, I've waited a LOT longer than 15 minutes -- I blew a couple of
hours on this before posting the problem.

My smb.conf file is below. The RH72 box is named "Melody" and has IP
192.168.5.1; the Win98 box is "laptop" and has IP 192.168.5.2. Samba
version is 2.2.8a, Linux kernel version is 2.4.20.


Thanks!

--Robert





# This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the
# smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed
# here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options (perhaps too
# many!) most of which are not shown in this example
#
# Any line which starts with a ; (semi-colon) or a # (hash)
# is a comment and is ignored. In this example we will use a #
# for commentry and a ; for parts of the config file that you
# may wish to enable
#
# NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command
"testparm"
# to check that you have not made any basic syntactic errors.
#
#======================= Global Settings
=====================================
[global]

# workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name
#workgroup = MYGROUP
workgroup = BOOKHOME
netbios name = MELODY

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
#server string = Samba Server
server string = Dell XPS-R350 (Linux - Samba %v)

# This option is important for security. It allows you to restrict
# connections to machines which are on your local network. The
# following example restricts access to two C class networks and
# the "loopback" interface. For more examples of the syntax see
# the smb.conf man page
; hosts allow = 192.168.1. 192.168.2. 127.
hosts allow = 192.168.5.1 192.168.5.2 192.168.5.20 192.168.5.255
127.0.0.1

# if you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
printcap name = /etc/printcap
load printers = yes

# It should not be necessary to spell out the print system type unless
# yours is non-standard. Currently supported print systems include:
# bsd, sysv, plp, lprng, aix, hpux, qnx
printing = lprng

# Uncomment this if you want a guest account, you must add this to
/etc/passwd
# otherwise the user "nobody" is used
; guest account = pcguest

# this tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine
# that connects
log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log

# Put a capping on the size of the log files (in Kb).
#max log size = 0
max log size = 64

# Security mode. Most people will want user level security. See
# security_level.txt for details.
#security = user
security = SHARE

# Use password server option only with security = server
# The argument list may include:
# password server = My_PDC_Name [My_BDC_Name] [My_Next_BDC_Name]
# or to auto-locate the domain controller/s
# password server = *
; password server = <NT-Server-Name>

# Password Level allows matching of _n_ characters of the password for
# all combinations of upper and lower case.
; password level = 8
; username level = 8
password level = 8
username level = 8

# You may wish to use password encryption. Please read
# ENCRYPTION.txt, Win95.txt and WinNT.txt in the Samba documentation.
# Do not enable this option unless you have read those documents
encrypt passwords = yes
smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd

# The following is needed to keep smbclient from spouting spurious
errors
# when Samba is built with support for SSL.
; ssl CA certFile = /usr/share/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt

# The following are needed to allow password changing from Windows to
# update the Linux sytsem password also.
# NOTE: Use these with 'encrypt passwords' and 'smb passwd file' above.
# NOTE2: You do NOT need these to allow workstations to change only
# the encrypted SMB passwords. They allow the Unix password
# to be kept in sync with the SMB password.
; unix password sync = Yes
; passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
; passwd chat = *New*password* %n\n *Retype*new*password* %n\n
*passwd:*all*authentication*tokens*updated*success fully*

# Unix users can map to different SMB User names
username map = /etc/samba/smbusers

# Using the following line enables you to customise your configuration
# on a per machine basis. The %m gets replaced with the netbios name
# of the machine that is connecting
; include = /etc/samba/smb.conf.%m

# This parameter will control whether or not Samba should obey PAM's
# account and session management directives. The default behavior is
# to use PAM for clear text authentication only and to ignore any
# account or session management. Note that Samba always ignores PAM
# for authentication in the case of encrypt passwords = yes

; obey pam restrictions = yes

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See speed.txt and the manual pages for details
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192

# Configure Samba to use multiple interfaces
# If you have multiple network interfaces then you must list them
# here. See the man page for details.
; interfaces = 192.168.12.2/24 192.168.13.2/24
interfaces = eth0 192.168.5.1/255.255.255.0

# Configure remote browse list synchronisation here
# request announcement to, or browse list sync from:
# a specific host or from / to a whole subnet (see below)
; remote browse sync = 192.168.3.25 192.168.5.255
remote browse sync = 192.168.5.1 192.168.5.2 192.168.5.20
192.168.5.255
# Cause this host to announce itself to local subnets here
; remote announce = 192.168.1.255 192.168.2.44
remote announce = 192.168.5.1 192.168.5.2 192.168.5.20 192.168.5.255

# Browser Control Options:
# set local master to no if you don't want Samba to become a master
# browser on your network. Otherwise the normal election rules apply
; local master = no
; local master = yes

# OS Level determines the precedence of this server in master browser
# elections. The default value should be reasonable
; os level = 33

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. This
# allows Samba to collate browse lists between subnets. Don't use this
# if you already have a Windows NT domain controller doing this job
; domain master = yes

# Preferred Master causes Samba to force a local browser election on
startup
# and gives it a slightly higher chance of winning the election
; preferred master = yes

# Enable this if you want Samba to be a domain logon server for
# Windows95 workstations.
; domain logons = yes

# if you enable domain logons then you may want a per-machine or
# per user logon script
# run a specific logon batch file per workstation (machine)
; logon script = %m.bat
# run a specific logon batch file per username
; logon script = %U.bat

# Where to store roving profiles (only for Win95 and WinNT)
# %L substitutes for this servers netbios name, %U is username
# You must uncomment the [Profiles] share below
; logon path = \\%L\Profiles\%U

# All NetBIOS names must be resolved to IP Addresses
# 'Name Resolve Order' allows the named resolution mechanism to be
specified
# the default order is "host lmhosts wins bcast". "host" means use the
unix
# system gethostbyname() function call that will use either /etc/hosts
OR
# DNS or NIS depending on the settings of /etc/host.config,
/etc/nsswitch.conf
# and the /etc/resolv.conf file. "host" therefore is system
configuration
# dependant. This parameter is most often of use to prevent DNS lookups
# in order to resolve NetBIOS names to IP Addresses. Use with care!
# The example below excludes use of name resolution for machines that
are NOT
# on the local network segment
# - OR - are not deliberately to be known via lmhosts or via WINS.
; name resolve order = wins lmhosts bcast
name resolve order = lmhosts host bcast wins

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable it's WINS
Server
; wins support = yes

# WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client
# Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but NOT
both
; wins server = w.x.y.z

# WINS Proxy - Tells Samba to answer name resolution queries on
# behalf of a non WINS capable client, for this to work there must be
# at least one WINS Server on the network. The default is NO.
; wins proxy = yes

# DNS Proxy - tells Samba whether or not to try to resolve NetBIOS names
# via DNS nslookups. The built-in default for versions 1.9.17 is yes,
# this has been changed in version 1.9.18 to no.
dns proxy = no

# Case Preservation can be handy - system default is _no_
# NOTE: These can be set on a per share basis
; preserve case = no
; short preserve case = no
# Default case is normally upper case for all DOS files
; default case = lower
# Be very careful with case sensitivity - it can break things!
case sensitive = no


min password length = 4



#============================ Share Definitions
==============================
#[homes]
# comment = Home Directories
# browseable = no
# writable = yes
# valid users = %S
# create mode = 0664
# directory mode = 0775
## If you want users samba doesn't recognize to be mapped to a guest
user
#; map to guest = bad user


[C]
comment = Melody
path = /c
#revalidate = Yes
browseable = yes
valid users = rbook mbook Robert Mandy
public = yes

[D]
comment = Data
path = /d
#revalidate = Yes
writeable = Yes
valid users = rbook mbook Robert Mandy
public = yes


[E]
comment = Extra
path = /e
#revalidate = Yes
writeable = Yes
valid users = rbook mbook Robert Mandy
public = yes


# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain
Logons
[netlogon]
comment = Network Logon Service
path = /usr/local/samba/lib/netlogon
guest ok = yes
writable = no
share modes = no


# Un-comment the following to provide a specific roving profile share
# the default is to use the user's home directory
;[Profiles]
; path = /usr/local/samba/profiles
; browseable = no
; guest ok = yes


# NOTE: If you have a BSD-style print system there is no need to
# specifically define each individual printer
[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
#browseable = no
browseable = yes
# Set public = yes to allow user 'guest account' to print
public = yes
guest ok = no
writable = no
printable = yes

Andy wrote:
>
> Robert Book wrote:
>
> > I have a Windows 98SE box and a Red Hat 7.2 box with Samba 2.2.8a.
> >
> > The Linux box has no problem seeing the Windows box, mounting shares,
> > etc.
> > The Windows box has no problem seeing the Linux box for non-Samba
> > purposes (ping, ssh, etc.) But, the Windows box can't see the Linux
> > box in Network Neighborhood, and can't access any shares.
> >
> > I went through the "troubleshooting" chapter on samba.org, and found
> > that the nmb test fails. That is,
> >
> > nmblookup -B 192.168.5.255 RH72
> >
> > does not find the RH72 box -- even when that command is run on the
> > RH72 box itself!
> >
> > Changing the IP in that command from the "broadcast" IP to RH72'2 IP
> > does give the correct response, and "smbclient -L //RH72" produces a
> > correct list of shares.
> >
> > So, it seems that RH72 is not responding when queried on the broadcast
> > IP.
> >
> > How can I fix this?
> >
> > (I've already tried invoking nmbd with the "-B" option, but that
> > didn't work.)
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > --Robert
>
> Did you check /var/log/messages and /var/log/samba/* for any indication of
> whats not working? nmbd should start at the same time samba does. You
> should be starting samba with /etc/rc.d/init.d/smb start...and that should
> start both services. Also, you may want to post your smb.conf file.
>
> Finally, sometimes it takes a while, 15+ minutes, before the smb machines
> work out new elections. It may show up if you just wait around for a
> while.
>
> Andy

Andy,

I did check the log files, and did some tests with nmblookup, and the
problem seems to be that the Linux box (Samba server) doesn't respond to
queries on the broadcast IP number. It does respond on it's own IP
number, but I don't know if it's possible/advisable to tell the windows
box that the broadcast IP is the IP of one specific machine on the
network.

I am starting smbd and nmbd with "/etc/rc.d/init.d/smb start"; I've
checked and both are running. In fact, the Unix box can access itself
with smbclient, and can access the Windows box with smbclient and even
smbmount.

And, I've waited a LOT longer than 15 minutes -- I blew a couple of
hours on this before posting the problem.

My smb.conf file is below. The RH72 box is named "Melody" and has IP
192.168.5.1; the Win98 box is "laptop" and has IP 192.168.5.2. Samba
version is 2.2.8a, Linux kernel version is 2.4.20.


Thanks!

--Robert





# This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the
# smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed
# here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options (perhaps too
# many!) most of which are not shown in this example
#
# Any line which starts with a ; (semi-colon) or a # (hash)
# is a comment and is ignored. In this example we will use a #
# for commentry and a ; for parts of the config file that you
# may wish to enable
#
# NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command
"testparm"
# to check that you have not made any basic syntactic errors.
#
#======================= Global Settings
=====================================
[global]

# workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name
#workgroup = MYGROUP
workgroup = BOOKHOME
netbios name = MELODY

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
#server string = Samba Server
server string = Dell XPS-R350 (Linux - Samba %v)

# This option is important for security. It allows you to restrict
# connections to machines which are on your local network. The
# following example restricts access to two C class networks and
# the "loopback" interface. For more examples of the syntax see
# the smb.conf man page
; hosts allow = 192.168.1. 192.168.2. 127.
hosts allow = 192.168.5.1 192.168.5.2 192.168.5.20 192.168.5.255
127.0.0.1

# if you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
printcap name = /etc/printcap
load printers = yes

# It should not be necessary to spell out the print system type unless
# yours is non-standard. Currently supported print systems include:
# bsd, sysv, plp, lprng, aix, hpux, qnx
printing = lprng

# Uncomment this if you want a guest account, you must add this to
/etc/passwd
# otherwise the user "nobody" is used
; guest account = pcguest

# this tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine
# that connects
log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log

# Put a capping on the size of the log files (in Kb).
#max log size = 0
max log size = 64

# Security mode. Most people will want user level security. See
# security_level.txt for details.
#security = user
security = SHARE

# Use password server option only with security = server
# The argument list may include:
# password server = My_PDC_Name [My_BDC_Name] [My_Next_BDC_Name]
# or to auto-locate the domain controller/s
# password server = *
; password server = <NT-Server-Name>

# Password Level allows matching of _n_ characters of the password for
# all combinations of upper and lower case.
; password level = 8
; username level = 8
password level = 8
username level = 8

# You may wish to use password encryption. Please read
# ENCRYPTION.txt, Win95.txt and WinNT.txt in the Samba documentation.
# Do not enable this option unless you have read those documents
encrypt passwords = yes
smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd

# The following is needed to keep smbclient from spouting spurious
errors
# when Samba is built with support for SSL.
; ssl CA certFile = /usr/share/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt

# The following are needed to allow password changing from Windows to
# update the Linux sytsem password also.
# NOTE: Use these with 'encrypt passwords' and 'smb passwd file' above.
# NOTE2: You do NOT need these to allow workstations to change only
# the encrypted SMB passwords. They allow the Unix password
# to be kept in sync with the SMB password.
; unix password sync = Yes
; passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
; passwd chat = *New*password* %n\n *Retype*new*password* %n\n
*passwd:*all*authentication*tokens*updated*success fully*

# Unix users can map to different SMB User names
username map = /etc/samba/smbusers

# Using the following line enables you to customise your configuration
# on a per machine basis. The %m gets replaced with the netbios name
# of the machine that is connecting
; include = /etc/samba/smb.conf.%m

# This parameter will control whether or not Samba should obey PAM's
# account and session management directives. The default behavior is
# to use PAM for clear text authentication only and to ignore any
# account or session management. Note that Samba always ignores PAM
# for authentication in the case of encrypt passwords = yes

; obey pam restrictions = yes

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See speed.txt and the manual pages for details
socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192

# Configure Samba to use multiple interfaces
# If you have multiple network interfaces then you must list them
# here. See the man page for details.
; interfaces = 192.168.12.2/24 192.168.13.2/24
interfaces = eth0 192.168.5.1/255.255.255.0

# Configure remote browse list synchronisation here
# request announcement to, or browse list sync from:
# a specific host or from / to a whole subnet (see below)
; remote browse sync = 192.168.3.25 192.168.5.255
remote browse sync = 192.168.5.1 192.168.5.2 192.168.5.20
192.168.5.255
# Cause this host to announce itself to local subnets here
; remote announce = 192.168.1.255 192.168.2.44
remote announce = 192.168.5.1 192.168.5.2 192.168.5.20 192.168.5.255

# Browser Control Options:
# set local master to no if you don't want Samba to become a master
# browser on your network. Otherwise the normal election rules apply
; local master = no
; local master = yes

# OS Level determines the precedence of this server in master browser
# elections. The default value should be reasonable
; os level = 33

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. This
# allows Samba to collate browse lists between subnets. Don't use this
# if you already have a Windows NT domain controller doing this job
; domain master = yes

# Preferred Master causes Samba to force a local browser election on
startup
# and gives it a slightly higher chance of winning the election
; preferred master = yes

# Enable this if you want Samba to be a domain logon server for
# Windows95 workstations.
; domain logons = yes

# if you enable domain logons then you may want a per-machine or
# per user logon script
# run a specific logon batch file per workstation (machine)
; logon script = %m.bat
# run a specific logon batch file per username
; logon script = %U.bat

# Where to store roving profiles (only for Win95 and WinNT)
# %L substitutes for this servers netbios name, %U is username
# You must uncomment the [Profiles] share below
; logon path = \\%L\Profiles\%U

# All NetBIOS names must be resolved to IP Addresses
# 'Name Resolve Order' allows the named resolution mechanism to be
specified
# the default order is "host lmhosts wins bcast". "host" means use the
unix
# system gethostbyname() function call that will use either /etc/hosts
OR
# DNS or NIS depending on the settings of /etc/host.config,
/etc/nsswitch.conf
# and the /etc/resolv.conf file. "host" therefore is system
configuration
# dependant. This parameter is most often of use to prevent DNS lookups
# in order to resolve NetBIOS names to IP Addresses. Use with care!
# The example below excludes use of name resolution for machines that
are NOT
# on the local network segment
# - OR - are not deliberately to be known via lmhosts or via WINS.
; name resolve order = wins lmhosts bcast
name resolve order = lmhosts host bcast wins

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable it's WINS
Server
; wins support = yes

# WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client
# Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but NOT
both
; wins server = w.x.y.z

# WINS Proxy - Tells Samba to answer name resolution queries on
# behalf of a non WINS capable client, for this to work there must be
# at least one WINS Server on the network. The default is NO.
; wins proxy = yes

# DNS Proxy - tells Samba whether or not to try to resolve NetBIOS names
# via DNS nslookups. The built-in default for versions 1.9.17 is yes,
# this has been changed in version 1.9.18 to no.
dns proxy = no

# Case Preservation can be handy - system default is _no_
# NOTE: These can be set on a per share basis
; preserve case = no
; short preserve case = no
# Default case is normally upper case for all DOS files
; default case = lower
# Be very careful with case sensitivity - it can break things!
case sensitive = no


min password length = 4



#============================ Share Definitions
==============================
#[homes]
# comment = Home Directories
# browseable = no
# writable = yes
# valid users = %S
# create mode = 0664
# directory mode = 0775
## If you want users samba doesn't recognize to be mapped to a guest
user
#; map to guest = bad user


[C]
comment = Melody
path = /c
#revalidate = Yes
browseable = yes
valid users = rbook mbook Robert Mandy
public = yes

[D]
comment = Data
path = /d
#revalidate = Yes
writeable = Yes
valid users = rbook mbook Robert Mandy
public = yes


[E]
comment = Extra
path = /e
#revalidate = Yes
writeable = Yes
valid users = rbook mbook Robert Mandy
public = yes


# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain
Logons
[netlogon]
comment = Network Logon Service
path = /usr/local/samba/lib/netlogon
guest ok = yes
writable = no
share modes = no


# Un-comment the following to provide a specific roving profile share
# the default is to use the user's home directory
;[Profiles]
; path = /usr/local/samba/profiles
; browseable = no
; guest ok = yes


# NOTE: If you have a BSD-style print system there is no need to
# specifically define each individual printer
[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
#browseable = no
browseable = yes
# Set public = yes to allow user 'guest account' to print
public = yes
guest ok = no
writable = no
printable = yes