Introduction

Introduction
Prev		Next

John H. Terpstra

Samba Team

<jht@samba.org>

June 29, 2003

Table of Contents

What Is Samba?
Why This Book?
Book Structure and Layout

“ +A man's gift makes room for him before great men. Gifts are like hooks that can catch +hold of the mind taking it beyond the reach of forces that otherwise might constrain it. +” --- Anon. +

+This is a book about Samba. It is a tool, a derived work of the labors +of many and of the diligence and goodwill of more than a few. +This book contains material that has been contributed in a persistent belief +that each of us can add value to our neighbors as well as to those who will +follow us. +

+This book is designed to meet the needs of the Microsoft network administrator. +UNIX administrators will benefit from this book also, though they may complain +that it is hard to find the information they think they need. So if you are a +Microsoft certified specialist, this book should meet your needs rather well. +If you are a UNIX or Linux administrator, there is no need to feel badly you +should have no difficulty finding answers to your current concerns also. +

What Is Samba?

+ Samba is a big, complex project. The Samba project is ambitious and exciting. + The team behind Samba is a group of some thirty individuals who are spread + the world over and come from an interesting range of backgrounds. This team + includes scientists, engineers, programmers, business people, and students. +

+ Team members were drawn into active participation through the desire to help + deliver an exciting level of transparent interoperability between Microsoft + Windows and the non-Microsoft information + technology world. +

+ The slogan that unites the efforts behind the Samba project says: + Samba, Opening Windows to a Wider World! The goal + behind the project is one of removing barriers to interoperability. +

+ Samba provides file and print services for Microsoft Windows clients. These + services may be hosted off any TCP/IP-enabled platform. The original deployment + platforms were UNIX and Linux, though today it is in common use across + a broad variety of systems. +

+ The Samba project includes not only an impressive feature set in file and print + serving capabilities, but has been extended to include client functionality, + utilities to ease migration to Samba, tools to aid interoperability with + Microsoft Windows, and administration tools. +

+ The real people behind Samba are users like you. You have inspired the + developers (the Samba Team) to do more than any of them imagined could or should + be done. User feedback drives Samba development. Samba-3 in particular incorporates + a huge amount of work done as a result of user requests, suggestions and direct + code contributions. +

Why This Book?

+ There is admittedly a large number of Samba books on the market today and + each book has its place. Despite the apparent plethora of books, Samba + as a project continues to receive much criticism for failing to provide + sufficient documentation. Samba is also criticized for being too complex + and too difficult to configure. In many ways this is evidence of the + success of Samba as there would be no complaints if it was not successful. +

+ The Samba Team members work predominantly with UNIX and Linux, so + it is hardly surprising that existing Samba documentation should reflect + that orientation. The original HOWTO text documents were intended to provide + some tips, a few golden nuggets, and if they helped anyone then that was + just wonderful. But the HOWTO documents lacked structure and context. They were + isolated snapshots of information that were written to pass information + on to someone else who might benefit. They reflected a need to transmit + more information that could be conveniently put into manual pages. +

+ The original HOWTO documents were written by different authors. Most HOWTO + documents are the result of feedback and contributions from numerous + authors. In this book we took care to preserve as much original content as + possible. As you read this book you will note that chapters were written by + multiple authors, each of whom has his own style. This demonstrates + the nature of the Open Source software development process. +

+ Out of the original HOWTO documents sprang a collection of unofficial + HOWTO documents that are spread over the Internet. It is sincerely intended + that this work will not replace the valuable unofficial + HOWTO work that continues to flourish. If you are involved in unofficial + HOWTO production then please continue your work! +

+ Those of you who have dedicated your labors to the production of unofficial + HOWTOs, to Web page information regarding Samba, or to answering questions + on the mailing lists or elsewhere, may be aware that this is a labor + of love. We would like to know about your contribution and willingly receive + the precious pearls of wisdom you have collected. Please email your contribution to + John H. Terpstra (jht@samba.org). + As a service to other users we will gladly adopt material that is technically accurate. +

+ Existing Samba books are largely addressed to the UNIX administrator. + From the perspective of this target group the existing books serve + an adequate purpose, with one exception now that Samba-3 is out + they need to be updated! +

+ This book, the Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide, + includes the Samba-HOWTO-Collection.pdf that ships with Samba. + These documents have been written with a new design intent and purpose. +

+ Over the past two years many Microsoft network administrators have adopted + Samba and have become interested in its deployment. Their information needs + are very different from that of the UNIX administrator. This book has been + arranged and the information presented from the perspective of someone with previous + Microsoft Windows network administrative training and experience. +

Book Structure and Layout

+ This book is presented in six parts: +

General Installation: + Designed to help you get Samba-3 running quickly. + The Fast Start chapter is a direct response to requests from + Microsoft network administrators for some sample configurations + that just work. +
Server Configuration Basics: + The purpose of this section is to aid the transition from existing + Microsoft Windows network knowledge to Samba terminology and norms. + The chapters in this part each cover the installation of one type of + Samba server. +
Advanced Configuration: + The mechanics of network browsing have long been the Achilles heel of + all Microsoft Windows users. Samba-3 introduces new user and machine + account management facilities, a new way to map UNIX groups and Windows + groups, Interdomain trusts, new loadable file system drivers (VFS), and + more. New with this document is expanded printing documentation, as well + as a wealth of information regarding desktop and user policy handling, + use of desktop profiles, and techniques for enhanced network integration. + This section makes up the core of the book. Read and enjoy. +
Migration and Updating: + A much requested addition to the book is information on how to migrate + from Microsoft Windows NT4 to Samba-3, as well as an overview of what the + issues are when moving from Samba-2.x to Samba-3. +
Troubleshooting: + This short section should help you when all else fails. +
Reference Section: + Here you will find a collection of things that are either too peripheral + for most users, or are a little left of field to be included in the + main body of information. +

+Welcome to Samba-3 and the first published document to help you and your users to enjoy a whole +new world of interoperability between Microsoft Windows and the rest of the world. +

Prev		Next
Preface	Home	Part I. General Installation