Using Samba (O'Reilly System Administration) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Robert Eckstein (Author), David Collier-Brown (Author), Peter Kelly (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Samba, the Server Message Block (SMB) server software that makes it relatively easy to integrate Unix or Linux servers into networks of Microsoft Windows workstations, has to date been mostly explained as an afterthought. Most often, it's appeared in the latter chapters of books about Linux. It deserves better, and the authors of Using Samba have delivered exactly that.

This book documents Samba 2.0.4 fully (version 2.0.5, source and binary, appears on the companion CD-ROM), focusing on smbd, nmbd, the command-line tools, and Samba's newfound ability to integrate itself securely with Windows NT domains.

Though it includes a bit of information on the SMB and Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocols that underlie Samba, the emphasis here is on setting up and configuring software. Explicit sections explain how to install Samba on a Unix/Linux system and how to set up Microsoft clients to communicate with the Samba machine. The authors pay lavish attention to the Samba configuration file, smb.conf, and explain exactly what settings you need to include in it to allow disk shares, network browsing, and integration with Windows domains. A highly useful reference that lists all Samba configuration options (along with their valid values, default values, and explanations) appears in an appendix. --David Wall

Topics covered: All aspects of setting up and configuring Samba 2.0 and its variants, including client configuration, file sharing, network browsing, file system differences between Windows and Unix/Linux, security, and the contents of the Samba configuration file.

Review
'Setting up a Samba server is made easy with a copy of Using Samba. The reader is taken through the installation and configuration of Samba with thoughtful reflections and general recommendations for network configuration. Here you will find out more about Windows networks than in many Windows or Windows NT 'complete' guides.' - Ronan Webb, The Irish Times, February 14th 2000

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly; 1 edition (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565924495
• ISBN-13: 978-1565924499
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,039,830 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Source of Information, December 2, 1999

By	B. Connelly (East Lansing, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'd been wanting to set up Samba on my LAN for quite a while, but I just couldn't find decent documentation on it. I even e-mailed O'Reilly with the suggestion of making a Samba book and was very happy to be told that one was on its way. This book not only covers Samba and its configuration, but also explains it's protocol SMB/CIFS very well. I was able to breeze through the book in a short time and have Samba up and running perfectly within a week. O'Reilly lives up to it's reputation with this one.

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Treatment of Samba and Networking, August 9, 2000

By	Robert L. Cochran (Greenbelt, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is by far the finest computer book I have ever read. I recommend this book to people wanting to install and use Samba because no other book, HOWTO, or online forum explains SAMBA so well. I also recommend this book to people just getting their feet wet with networking because it comprehensively examines both Linux and Windows networking issues in an extremely easy to read, step-by-step way.

This book has screen shots -- a lot of them. This book has examples -- a lot of them. This book has very easily followed writing that tells you how to set up your Linux and Windows machines and how to get Samba going. The book sits down with you, rolls up your sleeves, and shows you how to progress in a way that yeilds desired results -- Samba installs and works on your network! It blends instruction with just the right amount of background explanation without forcing you to read page after page of useless, smothering detail. A lot of authors would be well advised to achieve this kind of balance in computer books and darn few succeed. I had my Windows box talking to my Linux box via Samba in just a day. I spent about 2 weeks going over the book and studying my existing Windows network before making any software changes whatsoever.

This book offers a comprehensive networking fault tree people new to networking will find extremely useful. Follow this fault tree and you will be able to correct general networking problems as well as specific Samba problems. When I had networking problems back when I first got into Linux with Red Hat 6.0, I could have fixed them with this book's fault tree. It would have saved me hours of frustration to have worked through this book's fault tree.

I think everyone wanting to connect Linux boxes to Windows boxes should rush to order this book and then spend 2 weeks reading it cover to cover before messing with ANY network settings. You will be rewarded for your money and patience with results and a feeling of genuine accomplishment.

I've noticed a trend in Linux books where the authors like to waste space and reader's time with useless banner "warnings" and sometimes repetitive moralizing. Some writers print warnings every 2 pages and sound as bad as hoax emails. Well you won't find many warnings in Using Samba. They are worth reading when found.

As far as I can see, there are only 2 bad points about this book and you can't blame the authors for them: unless it is lovingly revised in a new edition, increasing rollouts of Windows 2000 will rapidly obsolete the excellent Samba advice you can get here. As of this writing (August 2000), Windows Millenium Edition will be available to consumers September 14, and depending on sales this may help obsolete the book also. The second bad point is that Samba has not gone into a new version which can deal with Windows 2000 and Millenium Edition yet. It is still stuck at 2.0.7. Hopefully the Samba team will release a new version in the near future covering Windows 2000. And I sure hope The Samba Book, as it is called, is revised to cover the new Windows products!

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Great O'Reilly Book, December 31, 1999

By	Bill "amazon8824" (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

I've beed using Samba for the last 2 years and this book helped me finally understand how to properly configure it in 1 night. Very well written and easy to understand. Topics like oplocks and network printer configuration are explained in an easy to read manner. If your using or plan to use Samba, you need this book. Well worth the money.