Configuring a FreeBSD machine as a Samba Server

Important Files

• /usr/local/sbin/smbd
• /usr/local/sbin/nmbd
• /usr/local/etc/smb.conf - smbd configuration file
• /etc/inetd.conf - Internet daemon (starts smbd and nmbd)
• /usr/local/private/smbpasswd - encrypted samba passwd file

Steps

• Make sure smbd and nmbd are installed (in /usr/local/sbin/).

• Add (or uncomment) the following lines from /etc/inetd.conf:

    netbios-ssn stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/sbin/smbd smbd 
    netbios-ns dgram udp wait root /usr/local/sbin/nmbd nmbd 
  

• Setup /usr/local/etc/smb.conf. Here's tyagi's file:

  [global]
  # workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name
    workgroup = DIRT
  
  # 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 152.2.137, selected 
  # machines (my office PC and my home PC), and the "loopback" interface. 
  # For more examples of the syntax see the smb.conf man page
    allow hosts = 152.2.137. 152.2.142.123 152.2.129.140 localhost
  
  # This enables or disables logging of connections to a status file that
  # smbstatus can read
    status = yes
  
  # 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
  
  # this tells Samba to use a one log file
    log file = /var/log/smb.log
  
  # Put a capping on the size of the log files (in Kb).
    max log size = 100
  
  # To make this one look like the smb.conf on topsecret
  [homes]
    guest ok = no
    browesable = yes
    read only = no
    create mode = 0750
  

• Setup users. (note: You can only add users who exist in /etc/passwd)

    root@tyagi# cd /usr/local/private
    root@tyagi# cp smbpasswd smbpasswd.old
    root@tyagi# addtosmbpass [username] < smbpasswd.old > smbpasswd.new
    root@tyagi# mv smbpasswd.new smbpasswd
  

• Change existing users' passwords.

    root@tyagi# smbpasswd [username]
  

• Reboot the machine to start the server.

Notes

• There's some way to be able to access directories other than your home directory, but I haven't found it yet. The easiest way to set this up is to create symbolic links from your home directory to your favorite directories (like /usr/dirt/src, /playpen, ...).
• To access the server from a department Windows NT box, you'll have to use the server's IP address rather than its hostname (security reasons). For example, I'd access my home directory on tyagi by mapping a network drive to \\152.2.137.54\clark.
• If you run into problems then http://us1.samba.org/samba/samba.html is always a good place to look.