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Samba Server and Client FAQ
This page should become a collection of tips and tricks around the setup and operation of the Samba Server and Client for eComStation and OS/2.
Q: The current utilities packaged with Samba server for eCS (OS/2) only have a limited feature set. How can I configure all the other features without messing with commandline utilities?
A: While the feature set of the utilities will grow over time, you can use the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools in order to configure options presently not found in the OS/2 utilities. Both SRVMGR.EXE and USRMGR.EXE work very well with the Samba Server for eCS (OS/2) when run from a Windows NT/2000/XP workstation.
Another possibility is the Microsoft Nexus package. This package comes with functionally equivalent versions of SRVMGR.EXE and USRMGR.EXE, but designed to run on Windows 95/98/ME machines.
Note: Unfortunately none of utilities cannot be run using Odin/InnoWin.
Q: Can Samba Server for eCS (OS/2) operate as a Primary Domain Controller?
A: Yes, that is possible. The sscc.exe installer utility version 0.5.7 or better that comes with the 3.0.31 WPI package is able to create a smb.conf suitable for a Primary Domain Controller, however it cannot migrate an existing smb.conf.
Note: It is strongly recommended to use tdbsam backend instead of standard smbpasswd backend if you intend to run a Primary Domain Controller. Use pdbedit in order to migrate users and groups from smbpasswd backend to tdbsam backend.
Commandline to migrate backend from smbpasswd to tdbsam:
pdbedit -i smbpasswd -e tdbsam
Afterwards edit smb.conf and add the following line to the [global] section and restart Samba:
[global] ... passdb backend = tdbsam ...
Q: I see a completely erratic behaviour, when I try to add users to groups - I always get NT_ACCESS_DENIED errors, although credentials should be sufficient. Sometimes the user appears magically after the next operation. What is wrong here?
A: The problem is located in the group file and in the addusertogroup.cmd and deluserfromgroup.cmd scripts. The userlist MUST be terminated by a comma. Examples of the group file syntax floating around neglect this issue, and the scripts mentioned above do not provide the comma either (updated revisions are available here).
Each line of your group file should look like this:
ntadmin:*:3019:root,paul,herwig,master,administrator,
Note: For real Unix it seems that it does not matter whether the trailing comma is added or not. The OS/2 implementation in klibc however depends upon this trailing comma in order to work properly.
Q: How should my protocol bindings look like in MPTS?
A: You must not have installed NetBIOS over TCP/IP. Samba server uses the same ports and thus cannot run at the same time as NetBIOS over TCP/IP. This is no bug and no limitation of the OS/2 version, this just the way Samba works.
The most simple protocol binding in MPTS would look like the following (in case no Virtual Machine solution such as VirtualPC, SVISTA or VirtualBox is installed):
Intel(R) Pro 1000 network connection....... (for example) 0 - IBM TCP/IP
Q: Does Samba really need this libc063x.dll, I have libc063.dll anyway? I want to get rid of one of these two files! This is the DLL hell!
A: Samba comes with an enhanced version of libc063.dll named libc063x.dll. In order to run Samba successfully you must have this file, the standard libc063.dll does not work for Samba. The two DLLs are not interchangeable and you cannot just rename one or the other. Please note that you also must not rename libc063x.dll to libc063.dll in order to use the enhanced DLL with other applications. This will not work, too.
Note: Most Samba builds already come with libc063x.dll], but some of the more recent builds did not.
Note: Samba version 3.0.30 and later come with libc064x.dll. So libc063x.dll is obsolete and can savely be removed from your system. You must NOT delete libc063.dll however!
Q: What is faster, Samba Server for eCS (OS/2), IBM Peer, LAN Server or WarpServer for eBusiness?
A: The Samba Server provides a much better performance than all the older IBM products on a given hardware. The Samba Client is slower than the IBM LAN Requester. Speedwise the order of possible combination is the following:
- Samba Server plus IBM LAN Requester (fastest)
- Samba Server plus Samba Client
- IBM Peer/LAN Server/WSeB plus IBM LAN Requester (slowest)
Note: The combination IBM Peer/LAN Server/WSeB plus Samba Client is untested. It is probably the slowest and least stable combination anyway.
Q: What about stability? Is Samba for eCS (OS/2) stable enough to run my company's network?
A: There are several case studies where Samba Server for eCS (OS/2) is already used in a real life office environment successfully for approximately a year, without real problems. Nevertheless Samba still has quirks and in its current status is more difficult to handle than the older IBM products (which definitely also have quirks and limitations, especially when it comes to newer Windows clients).
Q: Which OS/2 components are replaced by Samba?
A: The following table provides an overview:
| Samba component | Original eCS (OS/2) component | Remarks |
| Samba Server | IBM Peer/LAN Server/WSeB | Samba cannot share serial devices, but is much faster on the same hardware |
| Netdrive + Samba client plugin | IBM LAN Requester | Used to access files/directories on a Samba server from an eCS (OS/2) client |
| eVFS + Samba client plugin | IBM LAN Requester | Used to access files/directories on a Samba server from an (OS/2) client |
| Samba smbspool + eRedMan | IBM LAN Requester | Used to print from OS/2 on a printer shared by a Samba server |
Note: eVFS comes with eComStation 2.x
Note: eRedMan can be found here.
Q: Is the Samba Server for eCS (OS/2) able to store OS/2 extended attributes properly?
A: Yes. Recent Samba builds can do that nicely. You have to add the following statement to your smb.conf in order to enable extended attributes:
[global] ... ea support = Yes ...
Note: Samba Server builds older than 2007-02-26 had problems with Extended Attributes (EAs), both with clients connected with IBM LAN Requester and with clients connected with the older Samba 3.0.9 plugins for Netdrive.
