Linux - Windows Networking Probs.

[R4NG3R]

Ok, i have:

Windows Machine, on it i can see computers on my Network for file sharing.

Linux Machine: I can see computers on my Network for file sharing.

Windows Machine: I CANNOT see the Linux Machine for file sharing.

Linux Machine: Sometimes i CANNOT see my LAN for file print sharing in Network Servers.

Can anyone help me see the linux machine on a windows computer? and help me see my LAN 24/7 on the linux machine: sometimes i see the lan, sometimes it just doesn't come up when i get network servers. Help would be appreciated. Thanks.

P.S: If anyone here is familar with the Linux installation of Abyss Web Server, let me know.

[twistedcranium]

Can we assume that you have a Samba server running and properly setup?

[R4NG3R]

umm, no. I don't even know what that is.

[twistedcranium]

Quoted text from a RedHat document gives this....

Chapter 17. Samba


Samba uses the SMB protocol to share files and printers across a network connection. Operating systems that support this protocol include Microsoft Windows (through its Network Neighborhood), OS/2, and Linux.


17.1. Why Use Samba?


Samba is useful if you have a network of both Windows and Linux machines. Samba allows files and printers to be shared by all the systems in your network. If you want to share files between Red Hat Linux machines only, use NFS as discussed in Chapter 16 Network File System (NFS). If you want to share printers between Red Hat Linux machines only, you do not need to use Samba; refer to Chapter 27 Printer Configuration.


Now, you'll find that whole chapter worthwile reading at

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/custom-guide/ch-samba.html

If you bought (or downloaded) the documentation CD....dig up the 'Customization Guide' and click to Chapter 17.

((note: there is no magic button or amazing wizard that will help you with this...you gotta read this material!!))

[R4NG3R]

aw reading sucks. oh well i'll try.

[twistedcranium]

Originally posted by R4NG3R
aw reading sucks. oh well i'll try.

Let me explain something about computers in general and even Linux as well. I'll consider your Samba/Network issue as an example.

You want to network a few windows and linux based pcs together. Which by the way is a very reasonable and common desire. Now at this point in time there are many people and even large corporations doing this quite frequently. So we can reasonably say that SOMEONE has set this type of network up before.

Now, if it were me doing this, why in the world would I want to ignore the travels and experiences of those who attempted this before me. I mean, they got it working right? So, maybe if I can find some document that they wrote that tells me HOW THEY did it, then I can follow that and likely get it working myself.

With the state of the computer industry today and the number of people, techie and non-techie alike, using computers, I think the chances of someone already doing something you want to do is great. So there HAS to be documentation out there for it.

This SAMBA document, that I pointed you in the direction of, has tons of information in it that the nice folks at Red Hat, among others, have put together for you, to help you understand what samba is and how to set it up.

If you're going to ignore the experiences of others, including the guidance of the folks who packaged your operating system....and that, my friend, in the scheme of learning, is a completely dangerous mistake.

Linux documentation in specific exists for the mostpart due to the hard work of a lot of volunteers. People who just want to share what they've learned with you. That is a pretty good commodity if you ask me.

Now, I think I know what it is that you want....you want to be able to press some magic button and have Linux setup its networking, find all your PCs and their shared files, make your lunch, and play your games. Well guess what brotha.... it will be many many years for that to come along. In fact, if you start reading up on some of this, maybe YOU, can be one of the future software engineers that comes up with this.

Let's do a little math...
Reading + Doing = Knowledge

So, I'm not saying that you have to print out all these manuals and go sit in a library and read them in a quiet corner....I'm talking about reading and doing at the same time...save the html files to your pc, open them and read them while you have the configuration files open too.

Lastly, you'll note that I edited your post a bit to remove the profanity....remember, that the amount of energy that you put into typing a post with profanity should be worth the effort. If you're going to say that something sucks.....you better have a reason to back it up, or the world will pass you off as a buffoon.

Seriously R4NG3R, I'm not telling you to read this stuff so that I can pretend that I'm some Teacher giving a homework assignment....I'm pointing you to a wealth of knowledge written down by someone who has either experienced this already or is the creator of the software or process. So, do yourself a favor and read that Samba stuff....it IS the method that you're going to use to get windows and linux machines to play nice together when sharing files. Once you get Samba working, you'll see an improvement and then we can talk about automating the network share viewing in Linux with a neat gui based program.

[jtdoom]

amen!
TC makes me think...

are we twisted?
man, I am a mecanic... A GREASE monkey!
and yet, it do know one or two things bout puters

I read up, I try undertand, and i try figure out what I dont understand at first reading..

I am twisted?
Highbrow?

no!
I am still a grease monkey.

you dont wanna put elbow grease in it, it dont shine, what me granny said.

you dont grind, it dont get sharp, what me dad said
you dont get it, and dont try get it, you dont get it, what we say.

(typoes intentional.
))

[jtdoom]

and yes, I am prolly the dumbest bloke around here

[twistedcranium]

Originally posted by jtdoom
amen!
TC makes me think...

are we twisted?
man, I am a mecanic... A GREASE monkey!
and yet, it do know one or two things bout puters

I read up, I try undertand, and i try figure out what I dont understand at first reading..

I am twisted?
Highbrow?

no!
I am still a grease monkey.

you dont wanna put elbow grease in it, it dont shine, what me granny said.

you dont grind, it dont get sharp, what me dad said
you dont get it, and dont try get it, you dont get it, what we say.

(typoes intentional.
))

You got it there brotha! Exactly my feelings....if you don't get your hands dirty, you ain't going to learn...and often, before you get your hands dirty on that engine, you gotta scope out your plan of attack in a Chilton's car manual.

[R4NG3R]

well i hear ya. It's just when i read that stuff, it's hard to understand that linux jargon. for me anyways. i'm only 13 and not really interested in looking up every word i don't understand i read in the dictionary. So when i read and i don't quite understand the words, i just daydream, and by the time i'm done, i have no idea as to what i just read. that's why i don't prefer reading a manual, even though i know it helps.

[jtdoom]

in DOS


the diff
at command

\..
dir \..
dir *.
dir *.*

[twistedcranium]

Originally posted by jtdoom
in DOS


the diff
at command

\..
dir \..
dir *.
dir *.*

wha? LOL

[twistedcranium]

Originally posted by R4NG3R
well i hear ya. It's just when i read that stuff, it's hard to understand that linux jargon. for me anyways. i'm only 13 and not really interested in looking up every word i don't understand i read in the dictionary. So when i read and i don't quite understand the words, i just daydream, and by the time i'm done, i have no idea as to what i just read. that's why i don't prefer reading a manual, even though i know it helps.

I can fully understand how linux jargon can make one woozy....that's why you read and do at the same time. Especially the RedHat documentation, it is written in a way that resembles step-by-steps.

[twistedcranium]

If you can get through that Samba stuff....that's your ticket to sharing files between windows and linux machines. I won't say that it is simple....because there are a ton of "snags" along the way, and we can cover those after you get the basics down.

[R4NG3R]

i'm doing it right now, and i got it to work, i can see shared files on my windows comp that are on the linux machine, whoo hoo!

[twistedcranium]

do you have any WindowsXP/2K/NT machines in that network of yours?

If so, you'll have to be careful to match user names to the samba list of users allowed to access shares.

What are you using in Linux to view the windows shares?

[R4NG3R]

im not using linux to view windows files. and yes, on the network i have

1. Win98
1. ME
2. XP
1. RedHat

[jtdoom]

faik
2 boxes
one triple boot (lilo)
one me


oaiw?

[twistedcranium]

Originally posted by R4NG3R
im not using linux to view windows files. and yes, on the network i have

1. Win98
1. ME
2. XP
1. RedHat

So you're not looking into the Windows shares from Red Hat?

[R4NG3R]

no, i'm looking in windows for linux shares, and today i can't get access to my linux files from windows comp. i doubled click on them and i get this:


\\LocalHost\root is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of the server to find out if you have access to permissions.

The network path was not found.


i can't get anything, i started samba like redhat told me too

/sbin/service smb start

everything checked okay.

my users on the samba server are:

Unix Username: andrew
Windows Username: Andrew
Samba Password: *******
Confirm: *******

so when i click on the root folder on windows machine i see the login and i type


User: Andrew
Password: *******

what's wrong! i just made it work last night!

[R4NG3R]

also, on samba users, i have like 100 users like

fax
netdump
nut
Idap
mysql
ident
postfix
mailman
postres
postgres
privoxy
wnn
canna
amanda
gdm

and so on, i never had those last night.

[R4NG3R]

also, when i hit Network Servers on my linux machine, it won't open! i dunno why but it won't.

Is there anyway i could restart or reload samba and have a fresh start?

[twistedcranium]

not sure how all of those users got into your samba user list, did you go click happy and add everyone that you saw to try and make it work? LOL

the 'localhost' mention tips me off to the fact that you may not have all of your PCs domain resolving properly.

I'm going to assume that you're not running a DNS server anywhere in the network....there is nothing wrong with that, just have to ensure that IP addresses translate to machine names.

For instance..... say you had this setup

192.168.1.1 router
192.168.1.2 win2k machine 'goober'
192.168.1.3 win98 machine 'neo'
192.168.1.4 redhat machine 'morpheous'

you would then have to edit the hosts file of each machine to map the addresses to the machine names, especially in the redhat machine

on windows machines the hosts file is usually in the following path...
<WINDOWS-INSTALL_DIR>\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

and on linux machines the host file is at
/etc/hosts

— The main purpose of this file is to resolve hostnames that cannot be resolved any other way. It can also be used to resolve hostnames on small networks with no DNS server. Regardless of the type of network the computer is on, this file should contain a line specifying the IP address of the loopback device (127.0.0.1) as localhost.localdomain. For more information, see the hosts man page.

Do not, under any circumstances, remove the 127.0.0.1 loopback, you can see the examples in the redhat documentation to add a name to it, but never remove it.


NOTE: in RedHat, there is a panel to edit the hosts file. See the documentation at

http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/custom-guide/s1-network-config-hosts.html

[R4NG3R]

ok, so you're saying i need to edit the hosts file?

my windows host file looks like this:

127.0.0.1 AdSubtract # Added by AdSubtract for auto-dial.


my linux hosts file looks like this:


#Do not remove the fowlling line, or various programs
#that require network functionality will fail.
127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost


also, when i red that linux documentation, it says

To add an entry to the /etc/hosts file, go to the Hosts tab, click the New button on the toolbar, provide the requested information, and click OK.

what information do i put into the:

Address:
Hostname:
Aliases:

what do i put in those?

[twistedcranium]

Originally posted by R4NG3R
To add an entry to the /etc/hosts file, go to the Hosts tab, click the New button on the toolbar, provide the requested information, and click OK.

what information do i put into the:

Address:
Hostname:
Aliases:

what do i put in those?

address gets the IP address of a machine and the hostname is the machine name of the machine at that address. Aliases are not necessary.

[R4NG3R]

so for every comp. on my network i fill one out?

[twistedcranium]

Originally posted by R4NG3R
so for every comp. on my network i fill one out?

it is best to yes, or at least everyone that you're going to want to share files between....that is one of the drawbacks of not having a DNS server setup....but for a small network (less than 10 PCs) its not too bad to keep up with.

[R4NG3R]

ok thanks, i'll do that now. but would that solve me issue of not being able to get to the linux files from windows machine?

[twistedcranium]

the username that you're logged in as on the windows machine (or the one you use to connect to the linux share) MUST be the same as one of the users setup back in the Samba configuration panel.

[R4NG3R]

still doesn't work when i hit network places i see the linux files when i click on them i get the error:

\\LocalHost\hlds_l is not accessible. You might now have permission to use this network source. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access premissions.
The Network path was not found.


i got this computer setup on the hosts, and the linux one.

[twistedcranium]

Originally posted by R4NG3R
still doesn't work when i hit network places i see the linux files when i click on them i get the error:

\\LocalHost\hlds_l is not accessible. You might now have permission to use this network source. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access premissions.
The Network path was not found.


i got this computer setup on the hosts, and the linux one.

is LocalHost really the name of the linux machine?

[R4NG3R]

no, but i figured it out. i dunno what happend, but i did.

the name of the linux machine is 'linuxcomputer' and in my network folder i see nothing that says 'linuxcomputer' but finally, something happend and BAM, there they were 'linuxcomputer'. i was like yay!!! so i click on them and i got the same error except it had \\linuxcomputer blahblahblah. But then something weird happend...and i got in the linux files. weird, i doubt this will last for long though.

btw, can i delete all those users i have in my samba users thingy?
and does redhat 9 come with its own web server? because i really need one and i can't get my abyss web server running on it.

[twistedcranium]

Originally posted by R4NG3R
no, but i figured it out. i dunno what happend, but i did.

the name of the linux machine is 'linuxcomputer' and in my network folder i see nothing that says 'linuxcomputer' but finally, something happend and BAM, there they were 'linuxcomputer'. i was like yay!!! so i click on them and i got the same error except it had \\linuxcomputer blahblahblah. But then something weird happend...and i got in the linux files. weird, i doubt this will last for long though.

btw, can i delete all those users i have in my samba users thingy?
and does redhat 9 come with its own web server? because i really need one and i can't get my abyss web server running on it.

The machine name is pretty important in a mixed OS network. Adding the entries to the hosts file will help a great deal. If you added the users, yes you can remove them from the SAMBA config panel (only).

Lastly, Linux does include a 'web server', you have to have installed the components for it, if you didn't you can add them through RPMs.....but I won't be the one to help you set that up because I have some 'reservations' setting up a service that I don't feel is necessary. All I want to tell you there is ....if you open a hole, be prepared to deal with the consequences! If you're going to do that, I suggest that you read a lot more regarding linux security!

[R4NG3R]

aw man, i just want to setup a simple site. and how do i leave a hole open if you don't mind.

[twistedcranium]

sorry, that won't be me covering that part....I'm not in support of operating a webserver from the insecurity of a 'home network'.

[ceh383]

Gee,

Go on a little vacation and look what happens.....:p

First, let's backup a little.....

Unix Username: andrew
Windows Username: Andrew
Samba Password: *******
Confirm: *******


One thing I've noticed, Windows is not case sensitive on the username but it is on the password. Linux is case sensitive on both username and password. Make sure you keep them the same on ALL OS's, it's easier that way.

One more thing, network neighborhood/my network places run off of the NETBIOS name. The HOSTS file is for fully qualified domain names, the LMHOSTS file should be used to resolve NETBIOS names to IP addresses. That said, you shouldn't need it anyway.

If your SMBPASSWD file has correct usrenames and passwords most remaining issues are in the "/etc/samba/smb.conf" file. Paste a copy of it here and we'll see if anything looks wrong......

[R4NG3R]

whoa, the smbpasswd file is like


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -00000000:|d

its all encrypted er somthing.

[ceh383]

Yes it is encrypted, don't edit it directly. Make sure the usernames are the same on all machines, and if you need to change a password open a terminal change to SU then type

smbpasswd username

it will ask for the new password enter it, then it will ask to confirm it.......

Learning the command line wil take you a long way with this OS. Sometimes a GUI tool can be a big help. Have a look at THIS (http://www.webmin.com/), it might help you out.....

Oh, always remember.....

RIF, Reading Is Fundamental

[R4NG3R]

aight thanks, yeah yeah eyah RIF...thanks