Subj : Re: NFS vs. Samba
To   : comp.os.linux
From : Sybren Stuvel
Date : Sun Dec 19 2004 12:57 pm

Gerald Meazell enlightened us with:
> You see, that's the problem.  That bit of text means absolutely
> nothing to a novice.  To you, it is clear as day.  I was a
> programmer for 13 years.  I picked up a little bit of SMB networking
> along the way as well as a little TCP/IP.  This exercise has
> exhausted all that knowledge and left me wanting.

But if you see "wins support = yes", don't you start looking for the
"wins support" option somewhere in that manual page?

> That's what I'm trying to do as well.  However, if nobody answers
> your questions with even so much as a RTFM, how is one supposed to
> learn?

1) RTFM isn't polite.
2) You should be aware that there are documents to read, so RTFM would
   be useless.
3) I've learned by trying, reading, and asking specific questions
   about specific problems instead of asking for a complete solution
   of a complex problem.

> If I knew where to publish such a thing, I would.

So left to yourself you wouldn't write & publish documentation about
the problem. Now you know why the documentation you're looking for
isn't there. When you're done writing the docs, send them to me and
I'll get them published at the right place.

> 1. I got the VPN working to where my external Windows boxes could
> connect to my internal Windows boxes.

Ok, so the SMB connections are Windows <-> Windows.

> 2. I got my internal Windows boxes to connect to my Samba server.

Ok, so we also have internal Windows <-> Linux SMB connections.

> 6. With that done, my external Windows boxes still could not
> connect.  However, the message changed from "Path not found" to
> "Access Denied."

Have you actually configured the external Windows boxes to use the
WINS server?

> 7. Checked the Samba server config to make sure the passwords were
> correct.  They were.

What security level are you using on the Samba box?

> Why is it not working?

Check the log files.

> Is there a way to test the Samba server's WINS function or do I have
> to just take it on faith that it's working?

I never gotten that specific with the Netbios stuff, sorry.

> Are there ports that need to be opened up on my router?  139 has
> been open.  Do 137 and 138 need to be open as well?

I don't know, because I don't know your network layout. If I were to
set thing up, the router would only see IPsec traffic.

> What configuration needs to take place on the external Windows box?
> Lmhosts?  Specify the WINS server in TCP/IP configuration?  Both?
> Did both.  No help.

Ok.

> I come to usenet for help with these issues and all I get is "Dude, you 
> need to learn to read."

Well, first you asked how to turn a Samba box into a WINS server. If
in your first post you would have posted the steps you took, just as
you did in this one, you would have gotten a lot more help.

Remember that we aren't psychic, and we don't know what you've done so
far. There are many people here that do nothing for themselves and
expect us to help them out like we're some paid helpdesk.

> Perhaps I put my problem in too simple of terms and made it appear
> as if I had not done *any* investigation.

Yep.

> If that's the case, I apologize.

Nothing to apologise for - it's you who's got the VPN/Samba problem,
not us.

Sybren
-- 
The problem with the world is stupidity. Not saying there should be a
capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the
safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?

.