PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

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gcmartin

PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

#1 Post by gcmartin »

Has anyone ever used ANY GUI to setup SAMBA on Puppy?

I am looking for experiences in setting up SAMBA to share a Puppy folder on a LAN full of Microsoft Desktop PCs.

Anyone anywhere do this via a GUI?
OR has anyone simply modified smb.conf manuallly....successfully?


Thanks in advance.

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Béèm
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#2 Post by Béèm »

This has been addressed quite some times in these forums. I wonder if in the HOW TO forum there aren't instructions. Or in the wiki pages.
In any case with the puppysearch link in my sign you could find posts related on your subject.
Time savers:
Find packages in a snap and install using Puppy Package Manager (Menu).
[url=http://puppylinux.org/wikka/HomePage]Consult Wikka[/url]
Use peppyy's [url=http://wellminded.com/puppy/pupsearch.html]puppysearch[/url]

disciple
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#3 Post by disciple »

I guess because Samba is so complicated, I don't think there is any good gui for configuring it... except probably in a distro with the full KDE or Gnome... I certainly hope they'd have one anyway ;)

As Béèm says, depending on whether or not you actually want to control access to the server one of the howtos like this might be what you need: http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=22363
Do you know a good gtkdialog program? Please post a link here

Classic Puppy quotes

ROOT FOREVER
GTK2 FOREVER

sidders
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#4 Post by sidders »

I have used SWAT and Samba in a past life, but not on Puppy. Its a web based gui so it may slip seemlessly into Puppy.

You could be breaking new ground here

http://www.samba.org/samba/GUI/

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rcrsn51
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#5 Post by rcrsn51 »

A very simple way to set up a Puppy fileserver without needing Samba is described here.

gcmartin

PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

#6 Post by gcmartin »

Thanks everyone for your support.
Thanks @Béèm for you Forum Search tool.
Thanks @disciple for your direction to something you assisted with in 2008. You were right in how his printing was set on his system.

Here's what I concerned about and why I asked for assistance. Puppy (at least from DistroWatch) has SAMBA. But, it appears crippled. I believe this to be an accident (but, I'm not sure). I am trying to find someone....anyone...who knows what's needed to make SAMBA work in a PUP5 system.

Most distros ask some simple questions when installing that will configure SAMBA so that it inserts, simply, in LAN comprising Microsoft PCs. PUP5 (and others) seem to want to operate in some sort of a stealth mode without providing SAMBA available to make simple changes to use in PUP5.

The directory structure that is used in PUP5 does not match any of the documents I find on the NET. So, I posted hoping that someone has figured and may have a step by step solution to settting SAMBA up to share a local printer and a local folder from PUP5 that can be seen by any Windows Machine on the LAN.

I, personally, at this time, don't know enough debugging techniques to be able to track down the links that would be necessary to provide the consistency that CUPS and SAMBA require so that all of this would work smoothly in PUPPY. Looking over the forum entries and the working solutions I find in other Distros, do NOT seem to apply here in PUPPY.

I am willing to devote the time and to write the document, but I will need a little hand-holding to get success.

For starters, I would like to know if I should start with PUP5 (using CUPS 1.4.2) or if I should start with Quirky 1.1 (using CUPS 1.3.11)? If I had my way, I would like to start with PUP5, if there are people to assist with my questions. I have already done this for the attached printer. But, I'm not so sure what should be done so that CUPS allows SAMBA printing.

Next, I would like to pursue getting SAMBA operational with my CUPS so that my Microsoft network can see the PUPPY derivative in their "My Network Places".

I DO NOT NEED MICROSOFT DIRECTIONS. I merely need PUPPY Linux type assistance. At this time, it appears, mostly with SAMBA and its setup in PUPPY so that CUPS and it can do their thing.

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RetroTechGuy
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Re: PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

#7 Post by RetroTechGuy »

gcmartin wrote:Has anyone ever used ANY GUI to setup SAMBA on Puppy?

I am looking for experiences in setting up SAMBA to share a Puppy folder on a LAN full of Microsoft Desktop PCs.

Anyone anywhere do this via a GUI?
OR has anyone simply modified smb.conf manuallly....successfully?


Thanks in advance.
Would FreeNAS possibly do what you want?

http://freenas.org/freenas

gcmartin

#8 Post by gcmartin »

Tahnks @RetroTechGuy.

FreeNAS is a very good storage solution. But, what I'd like is a Puppy....e.g. a procedure/directions that I can use to share a printer and a folder with the multitude of Windows LANs that I assist people with. Its a very good way to get the Windows Techies to step into a simple, easy to use, Linux environment.

And, I willing to work to make it happen and put together a Tutorial/Wiki for Puppy users.

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RetroTechGuy
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#9 Post by RetroTechGuy »

gcmartin wrote:Tahnks @RetroTechGuy.

FreeNAS is a very good storage solution. But, what I'd like is a Puppy....e.g. a procedure/directions that I can use to share a printer...
http://www.instructables.com/id/FreeNAS ... nt-Server/

(note: I haven't tried any of this, but I am planning to -- unless gcmartin finds a really elegant solution to use a puppy system instead... :) )

What I found interesting is that FreeNAS doesn't particularly high hardware requirements (Pentium class CPU, 64MB memory)

gcmartin

PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

#10 Post by gcmartin »

OK, I'm ready to attempt this. Based upong my investigations, it seems that I will need to set SAMBA up first, as CUPS will use a "properly" set up SAMBA.

To start, I need to know if anyone knows what is "FHS-compliant" thats referred to in the last paragraph of the following from
http://www.cups.org/documentation.php/m ... ddsmb.html
Samba Configuration

cupsaddsmb uses the new RPC-based printing support in SAMBA 2.2.x to provide printer drivers and PPD files to Windows client machines. In order to use this functionality, you must first configure the SAMBA smb.conf(5) file to support printing through CUPS and provide a printer driver download share, as follows:

[global]
load printers = yes
printing = cups
printcap name = cups

[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
browseable = no
public = yes
guest ok = yes
writable = no
printable = yes

[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /etc/samba/drivers
browseable = yes
guest ok = no
read only = yes
write list = root
This configuration assumes a FHS-compliant installation of SAMBA; adjust the [printers] and [print$] share paths accordingly on your system as needed.
Does anyone know if Puppy implement SAMBA following compliance?
Does anyone know if there is something I should do that insures Quirky/Puppy sets up SAMBA such that CUPS can find and use it appropriately?

Thanks for any help

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RetroTechGuy
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#11 Post by RetroTechGuy »

@gcmartin

Does anything in this help?

"Use puppy to be a server (detailed)"

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=56338

gcmartin

PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

#12 Post by gcmartin »

Thanks @RetroTechGuy
Does anything in this help?
"Use puppy to be a server (detailed)"
I'm not seeing where he addresses SAMBA or CUPS to deliver network (CIFS) functionality. Did I miss something there?

I did find out what FHS is. Even though I do not see it currently in the SAMBA implementation, Yet, I want to assume that Puppy is following it for both SAMBA and for CUPS. It is a Standard. It says at http://www.pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html
This standard consists of a set of requirements and guidelines for file and directory placement under UNIX-like operating systems. The guidelines are intended to support interoperability of applications, system administration tools, development tools, and scripts as well as greater uniformity of documentation for these systems.
Now, my task is to find out how SAMBA is implemented in PUPPY. Can anyone shed some light on this implementation?
In other words, there does not seem to be a way to go about using it in its current state.

UPDATE
Here where I am currently.
Is the SAMBA implementation an oversight or a bug?
Did someone start and then cripple it accidentally?
Something is very wrong in the PUPPY/QUIRKY distro with SAMBA. Does anyone anywhere know anything about this or its setup?

And if anyone of you agree that it is a bug, I'm so new at this I don't know the first thing about how to report it. Help

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efiguy
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PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

#13 Post by efiguy »

Hi gcmartin,

I have researched before in this, what I find a really good doc

Chapter 29 is Network servers
a topic 29.9:
How to set up a file and print server for Windows clients using Samba.

[url]http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO885 ... RK-SERVERS[/url]

I hope this might help,
Jay

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Patriot
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#14 Post by Patriot »

Hmmm .....

Before you get carried away ..... have you already installed the full samba pet/package? ... If you're still not aware, the official puppy iso only contains the samba client modules (which is only sufficient to access windows shares) .....

As far as I'm aware of, manual configuration of samba server equivalent to XP simple shares is not difficult. It was what I planned for to complement lameSMBxplorer earlier on (this year) ..... just that I don't have that much spare time nowadays to tinker as much as I like .....


Rgds

gcmartin

#15 Post by gcmartin »

Thanks @efiguy , I am aware of this and other several references to SAMBA in other environments.

I was perplexed when looking at Puppy as it did not have library structures in place that I've seen in other distros (i.e. Knoppix, fedora, Ubuntu, etc.). And, I thought I was missing something in the Puppy implementation for I kept looking for the SAMBA that Distrowatch says is there.

@Patriot, I thnik has clarified why. This is not the full SAMBA so CUPS cannot find what it would need to handle print jobs that would be queued from SAMBA.

Now that I understand this, the implementation document I had begun to build for PUPPY LInux users will NOT work until SAMBA is added into the recents systems.

I did try, 2 days ago, to install from the repos but this failed miserably. And I do not yet have the expertise to resolve the problems (and the problem manifest differently in Quirky than it did in Puppy5). Without more knowledge on my part, I am powerless to produce a current document that shows how to setup a recent Puppy so that Windows users of the Puppy printers can get the proper print drivers from Puppy/Quirky during their connect process (same as Windows machines do for other LAN windows machines). This is a new feature in the CUPS-SAMBA pairing that allow PUPPY linux to exist on the Windows network producing the same services as any Window PC does for other LAN PC.

I already have this working in a Knoppix and wanted to do the same for Puppy.

In summary, PUP5/QUIRKY have a version on SAMBA that is deprecated. And my attempts to use the Puppy Package Manager to "re"-install SAMBA was a failure due to other missing parts of the system.

Here to Help.

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efiguy
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PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

#16 Post by efiguy »

Hi gcmartin,

- If I understand correctly, you have a working Samba on a Knoppix install.

- There is an interesting (seemingly solved) thread here, could it lead to reconstucting the Knoppix Samba components to a simple base Puppy version?

Is there a complete list of kernel modules?
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=56130

- Don't know how far you explored - the freebsd article points to several Linux versions of a Samba download.

- This is a powerful tool technically and psychologically for the advancement of Puppy, imho should exist in Puppy, consider enlisting the forum tech leaders via pm's (off top of the head - Pizzasgood, raffy, MU, and even BK).

- And it just may exist somewhere in archives.

[quote]
sunburnt
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 2975
Location: AZ
PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 2:47 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
If this SFS file can be verified to work, I'll add the LanManager GUI, & I'll add options for DHCP & TFTP (on/off) to make it a more flexable server setup.
This server addon for Puppy 2 versions can be just a Samba server,
or just a DHCP server or just a PXE boot server, or any combination of the 3.[/quote]


BK posts in many of these

pnethood - samba share mounter
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... &start=240

How to Get Samba Server Working in Puppy 4
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=36141

Howto: Set up a simple (insecure) Windows compatible network
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=22363

Samba - Network Printer Problems
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=44158

Samba File and Print Services for SMB/CIFS clients
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=46670

PupServer SFS - Testing... Samba & PXE boot.
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... ca0fa1c46b



Search - Samba
http://wellminded.com/puppy/pupsearch.html


Have a better day
Jay

gcmartin

PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

#17 Post by gcmartin »

Thanks @efiguy.

I a little new so your post is very helpful. The articles you post WERE accurate during their day.

But, it appears that the SAMBA product in Puppy has undergone some sort of a change and does NOT exist in the new systems the way it may have been when those articles were written.

I say this, because the folders are not where there suppose to be. And, I tried to install using the Puppy Package Man and came up with stuff missing. I am still trying to find the time to learn my way around enough to correct this, but kids, wife, job, repairs doesn't leave enough sit down and focus time to resolve this. That's the prime reason for the appeal.

I will (or would have by now) written the manual for Windows Admins to use to insert PUP5/Quirky into their LAN over the last weekend, but I spent the better part of 3 days over the last week trying to get to where I'm at now.

Frankly, until I can get a recent PUP5/Quirky with SAMBA in its libraries, I can't begin to produce the manual. I want to help, but I feel helpless in PUPPY.

Thanks

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efiguy
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PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

#18 Post by efiguy »

Hi gcmartin,

I think this file illustrates what you had presumed happened to the configurations and perhaps the time frame. The ever present goal to reduce Puppy size below 100 mb was the Holy Grail, others worked to make full suites of over 200 mb, and a real business useful app was just forgotten.

But wait!!!, there maybe some hope within the file, because many of the texts mention a common puplet, although older than what you were looking for, it may have a stable 301 heritage, certainly worth looking into, especially while your link "Plea" is burried in all the re-distribution of Puppy Goals.

I don't have any disc space or an operating chassis to try it.

This could be a good day

Jay

PS edit:
http://puppylinux.com/news/ - lots of official version differences
300 mentions
smbspool as re-added for 301

[quote]'8-bit' reported that the Samba utility 'smbspool' is required to access a Windows network printer. Well, no, it isn't small, it's 830K, but perhaps this is an important utility to have so I put it in.[/quote]

last blog page that mentions modules was 210 samba-3.0.22

4.00alpha1 to 4.00alpha3 used pnethood as a samba replacement

Muppy-Live-008.4c-EN.iso just may have the samba modules
it was posted by forum member MU http://puppyisos.org/isos/Muppy008.4c/English/Live/
----- 801662976 06.12.08, 22:44
-
Attachments
Samba_app_search.ZIP
(1.53 KiB) Downloaded 292 times

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BarryK
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#19 Post by BarryK »

gcmartin,
I am not a Samba expert, haven't actually used it, but I have been looking into Samba packages recently, see my blog:

http://bkhome.org/blog/

Note that earlier Samba packages in Puppy had the files in strange locations. I have compiled these latest packages with "normal" paths, in line with most other distros.

I seem to recall there was a little GTK GUI app to edit smb.conf, for setting up a server, but I don't recall it's name.
[url]https://bkhome.org/news/[/url]

gcmartin

PUPPY SAMBA as a File Server to Windows PCs on a small LAN

#20 Post by gcmartin »

@BarryK ===> Thanks

One of the GUI's you refer to are Webmin which does "Complete Linux Systems Management" via a web interface.

The other GUI is SWAT which focuses on SAMBA to make it simple. This would probably have visibility in Puppy/Quirky Menu---.Setup---"Samba Wizard" (or something like this) if you decide to use it or PET it.

I thank you for foreseeing that consistent Linux directory placement will make all of your future working much easier, not just for SAMBA, but also for CUPS, LDAP, and the litter of other system features that will comprise an operational Puppy/Quirky in the future.

I will post back as soon as I can on whether this allows setting up a folder to be shared via SMB/CIFS for access by my other LAN users, both Linux and Windows.

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