Command Line Configuration; Encrypted Passwords - Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 4 System Administration Manual

Chapter 22. Samba
• Basic Permissions — Whether users should only be able to read the files in the shared directory or
whether they should be able to read and write to the shared directory.
On the Access tab, select whether to allow only specified users to access the share or whether to
allow all Samba users to access the share. If you select to allow access to specific users, select the
users from the list of available Samba users.
The share is added immediately after clicking OK.

22.2.2. Command Line Configuration

Samba uses /etc/samba/smb.conf as its configuration file. If you change this configuration file,
the changes do not take effect until you restart the Samba daemon with the command service smb
restart.
To specify the Windows workgroup and a brief description of the Samba server, edit the following lines
in your smb.conf file:
workgroup = WORKGROUPNAME
server string = BRIEF COMMENT ABOUT SERVER
Replace WORKGROUPNAME with the name of the Windows workgroup to which this machine should
belong. The BRIEF COMMENT ABOUT SERVER is optional and is used as the Windows comment
about the Samba system.
To create a Samba share directory on your Linux system, add the following section to your smb.conf
file (after modifying it to reflect your needs and your system):
[sharename]
comment = Insert a comment here
path = /home/share/
valid users = tfox carole
public = no
writable = yes
printable = no
create mask = 0765
The above example allows the users tfox and carole to read and write to the directory /home/share,
on the Samba server, from a Samba client.

22.2.3. Encrypted Passwords

Encrypted passwords are enabled by default because it is more secure. If encrypted passwords are
not used, plain text passwords are used, which can be intercepted by someone using a network
packet sniffer. It is recommended that encrypted passwords be used.
The Microsoft SMB Protocol originally used plain text passwords. However, Windows NT 4.0 with
Service Pack 3 or higher, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, and Windows XP require
encrypted Samba passwords. To use Samba between a Linux system and a system running one
of these Windows operating systems, you can either edit your Windows registry to use plaintext
passwords or configure Samba on your Linux system to use encrypted passwords. If you choose to
modify your registry, you must do so for all of your Windows machines — this is risky and may cause
further conflicts. It is recommended that you use encrypted passwords for better security.
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