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+<HTML>
+<HEAD>
+<TITLE> Samba FAQ: General Information</TITLE>
+</HEAD>
+<BODY>
+Previous
+<A HREF="sambafaq-2.html">Next</A>
+<A HREF="sambafaq.html#toc1">Table of Contents</A>
+<HR>
+<H2><A NAME="s1">1. General Information</A></H2>
+
+<P>
+<A NAME="general_info"></A>
+</P>
+<P>All about Samba - what it is, how to get it, related sources of
+information, how to understand the version numbering scheme, pizza
+details</P>
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.1">1.1 What is Samba? </A></H2>
+
+<P>
+<A NAME="introduction"></A>
+
+Samba is a suite of programs which work together to allow clients to
+access to a server's filespace and printers via the SMB (Server
+Message Block) protocol. Initially written for Unix, Samba now also
+runs on Netware, OS/2 and VMS.</P>
+<P>In practice, this means that you can redirect disks and printers to
+Unix disks and printers from Lan Manager clients, Windows for
+Workgroups 3.11 clients, Windows NT clients, Linux clients and OS/2
+clients. There is also a generic Unix client program supplied as part
+of the suite which allows Unix users to use an ftp-like interface to
+access filespace and printers on any other SMB servers. This gives the
+capability for these operating systems to behave much like a LAN
+Server or Windows NT Server machine, only with added functionality and
+flexibility designed to make life easier for administrators.</P>
+<P>The components of the suite are (in summary):</P>
+<P>
+<UL>
+<LI><B>smbd</B>, the SMB server. This handles actual connections from clients, doing all the file, permission and username work</LI>
+<LI><B>nmbd</B>, the Netbios name server, which helps clients locate servers, doing the browsing work and managing domains as this capability is being built into Samba</LI>
+<LI><B>smbclient</B>, the Unix-hosted client program</LI>
+<LI><B>smbrun</B>, a little 'glue' program to help the server run external programs</LI>
+<LI><B>testprns</B>, a program to test server access to printers</LI>
+<LI><B>testparms</B>, a program to test the Samba configuration file for correctness</LI>
+<LI><B>smb.conf</B>, the Samba configuration file</LI>
+<LI><B>smbprint</B>, a sample script to allow a Unix host to use smbclient to print to an SMB server</LI>
+<LI><B>Documentation!</B> DON'T neglect to read it - you will save a great deal of time!</LI>
+</UL>
+</P>
+<P>The suite is supplied with full source (of course!) and is GPLed.</P>
+<P>The primary creator of the Samba suite is Andrew Tridgell. Later
+versions incorporate much effort by many net.helpers. The man pages
+and this FAQ were originally written by Karl Auer.</P>
+
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.2">1.2 What is the current version of Samba? </A></H2>
+
+<P>
+<A NAME="current_version"></A>
+
+At time of writing, the current version was 1.9.17. If you want to be
+sure check the bottom of the change-log file.
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/alpha/change-log">ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/alpha/change-log</A></P>
+<P>For more information see
+<A HREF="#version_nums">What do the version numbers mean?</A></P>
+
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.3">1.3 Where can I get it? </A></H2>
+
+<P>
+<A NAME="where"></A>
+
+The Samba suite is available via anonymous ftp from
+samba.org. The latest and greatest versions of the suite are in
+the directory:</P>
+<P>/pub/samba/</P>
+<P>Development (read "alpha") versions, which are NOT necessarily stable
+and which do NOT necessarily have accurate documentation, are
+available in the directory:</P>
+<P>/pub/samba/alpha</P>
+<P>Note that binaries are NOT included in any of the above. Samba is
+distributed ONLY in source form, though binaries may be available from
+other sites. Recent versions of some Linux distributions, for example,
+do contain Samba binaries for that platform.</P>
+
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.4">1.4 What do the version numbers mean? </A></H2>
+
+<P>
+<A NAME="version_nums"></A>
+
+It is not recommended that you run a version of Samba with the word
+"alpha" in its name unless you know what you are doing and are willing
+to do some debugging. Many, many people just get the latest
+recommended stable release version and are happy. If you are brave, by
+all means take the plunge and help with the testing and development -
+but don't install it on your departmental server. Samba is typically
+very stable and safe, and this is mostly due to the policy of many
+public releases.</P>
+<P>How the scheme works:
+<OL>
+<LI>When major changes are made the version number is increased. For
+example, the transition from 1.9.15 to 1.9.16. However, this version
+number will not appear immediately and people should continue to use
+1.9.15 for production systems (see next point.)
+</LI>
+<LI>Just after major changes are made the software is considered
+unstable, and a series of alpha releases are distributed, for example
+1.9.16alpha1. These are for testing by those who know what they are
+doing. The "alpha" in the filename will hopefully scare off those who
+are just looking for the latest version to install.
+</LI>
+<LI>When Andrew thinks that the alphas have stabilised to the point
+where he would recommend new users install it, he renames it to the
+same version number without the alpha, for example 1.9.16.
+</LI>
+<LI>Inevitably bugs are found in the "stable" releases and minor patch
+levels are released which give us the pXX series, for example 1.9.16p2.</LI>
+</OL>
+
+So the progression goes:
+<PRE>
+ 1.9.15p7 (production)
+ 1.9.15p8 (production)
+ 1.9.16alpha1 (test sites only)
+ :
+ 1.9.16alpha20 (test sites only)
+ 1.9.16 (production)
+ 1.9.16p1 (production)
+</PRE>
+
+The above system means that whenever someone looks at the samba ftp
+site they will be able to grab the highest numbered release without an
+alpha in the name and be sure of getting the current recommended
+version.</P>
+
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.5">1.5 What platforms are supported? </A></H2>
+
+<P>
+<A NAME="platforms"></A>
+
+Many different platforms have run Samba successfully. The platforms
+most widely used and thus best tested are Linux and SunOS.</P>
+<P>At time of writing, the Makefile claimed support for:
+<UL>
+<LI> A/UX 3.0</LI>
+<LI> AIX</LI>
+<LI> Altos Series 386/1000</LI>
+<LI> Amiga</LI>
+<LI> Apollo Domain/OS sr10.3</LI>
+<LI> BSDI </LI>
+<LI> B.O.S. (Bull Operating System)</LI>
+<LI> Cray, Unicos 8.0</LI>
+<LI> Convex</LI>
+<LI> DGUX. </LI>
+<LI> DNIX.</LI>
+<LI> FreeBSD</LI>
+<LI> HP-UX</LI>
+<LI> Intergraph. </LI>
+<LI> Linux with/without shadow passwords and quota</LI>
+<LI> LYNX 2.3.0</LI>
+<LI> MachTen (a unix like system for Macintoshes)</LI>
+<LI> Motorola 88xxx/9xx range of machines</LI>
+<LI> NetBSD</LI>
+<LI> NEXTSTEP Release 2.X, 3.0 and greater (including OPENSTEP for Mach).</LI>
+<LI> OS/2 using EMX 0.9b</LI>
+<LI> OSF1</LI>
+<LI> QNX 4.22</LI>
+<LI> RiscIX. </LI>
+<LI> RISCOs 5.0B</LI>
+<LI> SEQUENT. </LI>
+<LI> SCO (including: 3.2v2, European dist., OpenServer 5)</LI>
+<LI> SGI.</LI>
+<LI> SMP_DC.OSx v1.1-94c079 on Pyramid S series</LI>
+<LI> SONY NEWS, NEWS-OS (4.2.x and 6.1.x)</LI>
+<LI> SUNOS 4</LI>
+<LI> SUNOS 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 (Solaris 2.2, 2.3, and '2.4 and later')</LI>
+<LI> Sunsoft ISC SVR3V4</LI>
+<LI> SVR4</LI>
+<LI> System V with some berkely extensions (Motorola 88k R32V3.2).</LI>
+<LI> ULTRIX.</LI>
+<LI> UNIXWARE</LI>
+<LI> UXP/DS</LI>
+</UL>
+</P>
+
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.6">1.6 How can I find out more about Samba? </A></H2>
+
+<P>
+<A NAME="more"></A>
+
+There are a number of places to look for more information on Samba, including:
+<UL>
+<LI>Two mailing lists devoted to discussion of Samba-related matters. </LI>
+<LI>The newsgroup, comp.protocols.smb, which has a great deal of discussion on Samba. </LI>
+<LI>The WWW site 'SAMBA Web Pages' at
+<A HREF="http://samba.edu.au/samba/">http://samba.edu.au/samba/</A> includes:
+<UL>
+<LI>Links to man pages and documentation, including this FAQ</LI>
+<LI>A comprehensive survey of Samba users.</LI>
+<LI>A searchable hypertext archive of the Samba mailing list.</LI>
+<LI>Links to Samba source code, binaries, and mirrors of both.</LI>
+</UL>
+</LI>
+<LI>The long list of topic documentation. These files can be found in the 'docs' directory of the Samba source, or at
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/">ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/</A>
+<UL>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/Application_Serving.txt">Application_Serving.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/BROWSING.txt">BROWSING.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/BUGS.txt">BUGS.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/DIAGNOSIS.txt">DIAGNOSIS.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/DNIX.txt">DNIX.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/DOMAIN.txt">DOMAIN.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/DOMAIN_CONTROL.txt">CONTROL.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/ENCRYPTION.txt">ENCRYPTION.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/Faxing.txt">Faxing.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/GOTCHAS.txt">GOTCHAS.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/HINTS.txt">HINTS.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/INSTALL.sambatar">INSTALL.sambatar</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/INSTALL.txt">INSTALL.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/MIRRORS">MIRRORS</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/NetBIOS.txt">NetBIOS.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/OS2.txt">OS2.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/PROJECTS">PROJECTS</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/Passwords.txt">Passwords.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/Printing.txt">Printing.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/README.DCEDFS">README.DCEDFS</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/README.OS2">README.OS2</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/README.jis">README.jis</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/README.sambatar">README.sambatar</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/SCO.txt">SCO.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/SMBTAR.notes">SMBTAR.notes</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/Speed.txt">Speed.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/Support.txt">Support.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/THANKS">THANKS</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/Tracing.txt">Tracing.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/UNIX-SMB.txt">SMB.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/Warp.txt">Warp.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/WinNT.txt">WinNT.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/history">history</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/security_level.txt">level.txt</A></LI>
+<LI>
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/docs/wfw_slip.htm">slip.htm</A></LI>
+</UL>
+</LI>
+</UL>
+</P>
+
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.7">1.7 How do I subscribe to the Samba Mailing Lists?</A></H2>
+
+<P>
+<A NAME="mailinglist"></A>
+
+Send email to
+<A HREF="mailto:listproc@samba.org">listproc@samba.org</A>. Make sure the subject line is
+blank, and include the following two lines in the body of the message:
+<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
+<PRE>
+subscribe samba Firstname Lastname
+subscribe samba-announce Firstname Lastname
+</PRE>
+</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+
+Obviously you should substitute YOUR first name for "Firstname" and
+YOUR last name for "Lastname"! Try not to send any signature stuff, it
+sometimes confuses the list processor.</P>
+<P>The samba list is a digest list - every eight hours or so it
+regurgitates a single message containing all the messages that have
+been received by the list since the last time and sends a copy of this
+message to all subscribers.</P>
+<P>If you stop being interested in Samba, please send another email to
+<A HREF="mailto:listproc@samba.org">listproc@samba.org</A>. Make sure the subject line is blank, and
+include the following two lines in the body of the message:
+<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
+<PRE>
+unsubscribe samba
+unsubscribe samba-announce
+</PRE>
+</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
+
+The <B>From:</B> line in your message <EM>MUST</EM> be the same address you used when
+you subscribed.</P>
+
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.8">1.8 Something's gone wrong - what should I do? </A></H2>
+
+<P>
+<A NAME="wrong"></A>
+
+<B><F>#</F> *** IMPORTANT! *** <F>#</F></B></P>
+<P>DO NOT post messages on mailing lists or in newsgroups until you have
+carried out the first three steps given here!</P>
+<P>Firstly, see if there are any likely looking entries in this FAQ! If
+you have just installed Samba, have you run through the checklist in
+<A HREF="ftp://samba.org/pub/samba/DIAGNOSIS.txt">DIAGNOSIS.txt</A>? It can save you a lot of time and effort.
+DIAGNOSIS.txt can also be found in the docs directory of the Samba distribution.</P>
+<P>Secondly, read the man pages for smbd, nmbd and smb.conf, looking for
+topics that relate to what you are trying to do.</P>
+<P>Thirdly, if there is no obvious solution to hand, try to get a look at
+the log files for smbd and/or nmbd for the period during which you
+were having problems. You may need to reconfigure the servers to
+provide more extensive debugging information - usually level 2 or
+level 3 provide ample debugging info. Inspect these logs closely,
+looking particularly for the string "Error:".</P>
+<P>Fourthly, if you still haven't got anywhere, ask the mailing list or
+newsgroup. In general nobody minds answering questions provided you
+have followed the preceding steps. It might be a good idea to scan the
+archives of the mailing list, which are available through the Samba
+web site described in the previous
+section.</P>
+<P>If you successfully solve a problem, please mail the FAQ maintainer a
+succinct description of the symptom, the problem and the solution, so
+I can incorporate it in the next version.</P>
+<P>If you make changes to the source code, _please_ submit these patches
+so that everyone else gets the benefit of your work. This is one of
+the most important aspects to the maintainence of Samba. Send all
+patches to
+<A HREF="mailto:samba-bugs@samba.org">samba-bugs@samba.org</A>. Do not send patches to Andrew Tridgell or any
+other individual, they may be lost if you do.</P>
+
+
+<H2><A NAME="ss1.9">1.9 Pizza supply details </A></H2>
+
+<P>
+<A NAME="pizza"></A>
+
+Those who have registered in the Samba survey as "Pizza Factory" will
+already know this, but the rest may need some help. Andrew doesn't ask
+for payment, but he does appreciate it when people give him
+pizza. This calls for a little organisation when the pizza donor is
+twenty thousand kilometres away, but it has been done.</P>
+<P>Method 1: Ring up your local branch of an international pizza chain
+and see if they honour their vouchers internationally. Pizza Hut do,
+which is how the entire Canberra Linux Users Group got to eat pizza
+one night, courtesy of someone in the US</P>
+<P>Method 2: Ring up a local pizza shop in Canberra and quote a credit
+card number for a certain amount, and tell them that Andrew will be
+collecting it (don't forget to tell him.) One kind soul from Germany
+did this.</P>
+<P>Method 3: Purchase a pizza voucher from your local pizza shop that has
+no international affiliations and send it to Andrew. It is completely
+useless but he can hang it on the wall next to the one he already has
+from Germany :-)</P>
+<P>Method 4: Air freight him a pizza with your favourite regional
+flavours. It will probably get stuck in customs or torn apart by
+hungry sniffer dogs but it will have been a noble gesture.</P>
+
+
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