making samba work xfce debian missing opt w thunar [SOLVED]

[wm_commercial]

for some reason this respin isn't giving me the same options the last time i followed the instructions for installing and running samba shares.

all i need to do is make the /home/<phil>/public folder read & writable from within the network. it would be nice to be able to easily add & remove folders and change them from read only to read & write and back and forth as i see fit, but so far i haven't been able to do that since gloria without using the terminal.

here are my testparm -s results:

phil@phil ~ $ testparm -s
Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf
rlimit_max: increasing rlimit_max (1024) to minimum Windows limit (16384)
Processing section "[homes]"
Processing section "[printers]"
Processing section "[print$]"
Loaded services file OK.
Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE
[global]
server string = %h server
map to guest = Bad User
obey pam restrictions = Yes
pam password change = Yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
unix password sync = Yes
syslog = 0
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 1000
dns proxy = No
usershare allow guests = Yes
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
idmap config * : backend = tdb
force user = phil

[homes]
comment = Home Directories
valid users = %S
create mask = 0700
directory mask = 0700
browseable = No

[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
create mask = 0700
printable = Yes
print ok = Yes
browseable = No

[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /var/lib/samba/printers


i'm not sure what's different, but every other time i followed the instructions here: viewtopic.php?f=42&t=23169&p=315218#p315218 i may have had things to work out, but there was always a "shared folders" setting/option in the application menu somewhere AND my smb.conf actually changed to the network name i'm using, this time it still says "WORKGROUP".

thanks in adance!

[altair4]

I'm confused by your post.

** You posted in the "Main Edition" part of the forum but you are in fact running the Debian Edition, correct?

** The "Simple File Sharing in Mint" HowTo you referenced is Nautilus specific so it doesn't work as presented with Thunar. If you want to create shares from Thunar somewhat like you create shares in Nautilus you need to follow this HowTo:

Create Samba Shares Directly from Thunar: viewtopic.php?f=197&t=88255

[xenopeek]

Moved here by moderator

[wm_commercial]

** You posted in the "Main Edition" part of the forum but you are in fact running the Debian Edition, correct?

oops, yes you are correct, tyvm admin for moving me.

** The "Simple File Sharing in Mint" HowTo you referenced is Nautilus specific so it doesn't work as presented with Thunar. If you want to create shares from Thunar somewhat like you create shares in Nautilus you need to follow this HowTo:

Create Samba Shares Directly from Thunar: viewtopic.php?f=197&t=88255

i made that work once, but when i tried to change the folder to read/write i buggered it. i liked having the shared folders option in the system tools. i'll try it again soon as i'm waiting for an answers on pulse audio and grub.

[altair4]

Confused again.

i made that work once, but when i tried to change the folder to read/write i buggered it.

Please post the output of the following command:

Code: Select all

net usershare info --long

i liked having the shared folders option in the system tools.

I'm not aware of any such option. I'm beginning to think we are talking about 2 different things. There is a utility called "Personal File Sharing" that allows a user to share the Public folder in his home directory. But that's not samba. It's a baby apache file server that uses avahi to broadcast the existence of that Public folder share. Main Mint has that utility. LMDE XFCE does not.

EDIT: Unless you are talking about an entry in the System Tools called "Samba". That comes from the package "system-config-samba". But that is a package developed by Ubuntu for Ubuntu and is not part of the Debian repositories. If you want to reproduce that in Debian do it by hand:

Code: Select all

[Public]
path = /home/phil/Public
read only = No
guest ok = yes

"read only = Yes" will make it read only. "guest ok = No" will require your users to provide credentials.

Then restart samba:

Code: Select all

sudo service samba restart

[wm_commercial]

Please post the output of the following command:

Code: Select all

net usershare info --long

[Public]
path=/home/phil/Public
comment=
usershare_acl=Everyone:R,
guest_ok=y

I'm not aware of any such option. I'm beginning to think we are talking about 2 different things. There is a utility called "Personal File Sharing" that allows a user to share the Public folder in his home directory. But that's not samba. It's a baby apache file server that uses avahi to broadcast the existence of that Public folder share. Main Mint has that utility. LMDE XFCE does not.

EDIT: Unless you are talking about an entry in the System Tools called "Samba". That comes from the package "system-config-samba". But that is a package developed by Ubuntu for Ubuntu and is not part of the Debian repositories.

i bet in my last half dozen installs i've done both. i know i've seen the samba option, it was workable and i am pretty sure i've seen the utility you refer before also.

so i hope you like pickles because now i'd like to know which is better? works with debian xfce most efficiently and which can be used by morons like me who are trying to set this up for ppl who can't cut & paste?

i'd like to be able to turn on/off shares and the ability to set permissions from read-only to read/write from within the file manager (another question is thunar or nautalis - i like using thunar more, much less trouble making this and gigolo work) AND i certainly don't mind being able to reach it from the xfce applications menu.

o thanks so much!!

*edit to include current hang-ups = 1- pulse audio (remove & replace or just remove) currently have 1/2 answer
2- remote share to & from linux & windoze machine within & outside network
3- remote assistance (mostly control from linux & windoze)
-i've been using gigolo to mount shares from windoze auto, but can't make it go outside network
-was able to make remote assistance work from windoze, but couldn't make it go outside network either = could anyone streamline this: http://scarygliders.net/2011/09/23/install-xrdp-and-x11rdp-the-comprehensive-howto-for-ubuntu-and-debian-based-systems/


! i have had success making all the shares work inside the lan

[altair4]

At this point I'm going to assume that this is my problem not yours because after reading your last post it's not clear if this issue with Samba is resolved or not. If the remaining question on samba is which method is better there is no correct answer. It's my opinion that creating samba shares from Thunar ( once it's set up ) is easier but I wrote the HowTo so I may not be unbiased

[wm_commercial]

you should be exceedingly proud man, that and several other posts of yours are the be all end all as far as they exist.

i seriously used one of them for samba since gloria and never really had any issues making it work once some particular was worked out (like pcmanfm or whatever lol).

i'll take the op to say THANK YOU for all of them. *and thanks to the guy w/ the woody allen icon too, he's saved me months w/ some of his awsomeo answers.

so go back to your samba install instructions then? i'll let you know what i get unless you say hold on or off or ...

[update] after a fresh install and not trying the remote assistance i was able to make this work with the updated instructions w/ no issues other than i get an error when i put 'gksu gedit ...' in the terminal.

thanks again guys. i'd sure love to see this function the way it did before, the little things like recognizable auto changed folder icons go a long way.

[wm_commercial]

** the missing option appears when i kept installing alacarte when trying to edit my xfce applications menu (which i still can't do lol).

after install, (aside from a few others) the menu-system list gets a new entry: shared folders.

[altair4]

That's great ?

Just out of curiosity, what is launched when you select "shared folders" in the menu?

The only "shared folders" in a menu I can think of is in VirtualBox.

[wm_commercial]

looks like a normal settings property box...when i clicked on help it raised the "shared folders administration tool manual".

has 3 tabs, shared folders; general properties; users with one of those unlock buttons i hate so much next to the close button .. want a screenshot of it?

[altair4]

has 3 tabs, shared folders; general properties; users with one of those unlock buttons i hate so much next to the close button .. want a screenshot of it?

If it's not too much trouble.

[wm_commercial]

you've got a lot of sweat in that 'how to' and it's saved me hundreds of hours, so .. it was my pleasure and i seriously hope it helps.








it shared that folder, added the folder the instant i opened my network places on the xp machine and it opened no problem.

let me know if you need the apparently truncated by mint forums part.

[altair4]

OMG! That's shares-admin.

Holy Frijoles, I remember shares-admin. Back in the day it could also create NFS shares. I didn't realize it was still available in the repositories unless it snuck in with gnome-system-tools. Well, paint me purple!

Does it still work?

EDIT: just read your last few lines of the post - I guess it does still work. Who knew?

[wm_commercial]

i keep messing w/ a couple things at the same time, the application control panel, volume control deamon, and add/removing some programs - all right after i complete samba.

it pops up for sure when i install alacarte. i never had any problems using it the 3-5 times i've used it. was wondering if you want to see the result of shares added via the instructions and what that box shows when you do... ie, if you need a guinea pig for a bit, sent me a note, i just got remote desktop working (i think) lol.

[altair4]

No, that's ok. I don't use Debian based systems so if I were to use a utility I would use system-config-samba ( Ubuntu utility ). As I recall, shares-admin only allowed the user to create a guest share. You could always edit smb.conf and add "valid users" to the share definition shares-admin created but ....

I really forgot all about shares-admin - I thought it was gone.

[wm_commercial]

no worries, thanks for all your help.

[altair4]

This is more for future reference: There's a dirty little secret about these applications written for Gnome ( and probably for KDE as well ). All these applications create *.desktop launchers in /usr/share/applications and within those launchers are instructions on how and when they are to be made visible to the menu.

In some cases you will see a line like this:

OnlyShowIn=GNOME;

In this case it will only show up in the Menu if you are running Gnome.

For shares-admin it shows up like this:

NoDisplay=true

In this case it wont show up in any Menu regardless of what Desktop Environment you use.

So for shares-admin edit the desktop file as root:

Code: Select all

gksu gedit /usr/share/applications/shares.desktop

Find the line and comment it out:

#NoDisplay=true

It will instantly show up on the menu without you having to use alacarte.

[wm_commercial]

thank you very much, i think for most of these basic computers this little tidbit will be enough.

no, can't figure out how to control the users/passwords for private shares, but still haven't been able to do so for the samba share entries we added to thunar's custom actions either, so no loss yet lol. it seems to only recognize guest shares.

can't seem to remove the share using the remove line we added in thunar's custom actions either.

some other peculiar stuff too, like: even tho i uninstalled alacarte, this folder remained in the application menu, the last line still reads 'NoDisplay=True' but i remarked it out still anyway.

i don't suppose someone has instructions laying around on how to add private shares with this?

thanks much, i think i'll be able to use this some.

[altair4]

no, can't figure out how to control the users/passwords for private shares, but still haven't been able to do so for the samba share entries we added to thunar's custom actions either, so no loss yet lol. it seems to only recognize guest shares.

If you're talking about shares-admin, it only knows how to make a guest share. You can use it to create the initial share but if you want to make it private you need to go into smb.conf and change it. For example if I use shares-admin to create a share of my Pictures folder I end up with this in smb.conf:

[Pictures]
path = /home/altair/Pictures
read only = No
guest ok = Yes

Just change "Yes" to "No":

[Pictures]
path = /home/altair/Pictures
read only = No
guest ok = No

That sets up a chain of events however depending on how you have things set up. If the client to this server wants to access this share he will have to use the "altiar" user name and he will have to pass the samba password for altair. You would create a samba password for altair this way:

Code: Select all

sudo smbpasswd -a altair

If the client user is named "bob" then you have another step to do first and that's to create a user on the server named "bob" and then add bob to the samba password database:

Code: Select all

sudo smbpasswd -a bob

And then you need to change permissions on the folder being shared to allow "bob" to have write access. There are many ways to do this depending on how restrictive you want to be but one way is to make the folder itself accessible to everyone:

Code: Select all

sudo chmod 0777 /home/altair/Pictures

And then have Samba be the gate keeper restricting access only to those with a samba password.

If you create a Private share using Thunar you have to do the same thing as far as users and samba passwords but it will do the chmod'ing automatically.

can't seem to remove the share using the remove line we added in thunar's custom actions either.

Does the Command look like this:

Code: Select all

net usershare delete %n && chmod 755 %f