File sharing part 2(Solved)

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ajh911

File sharing part 2(Solved)

Post by ajh911 »

Further to my original post when I believed all resolved now back to square one despite every effort to try and solve the issue myself.
Let me start afresh. I have a new pc (barebones bundle with added 1TB HDD & dvd-RW) so a fresh install of mint 14 with MATE desktop. A netgear wireless router to which the Mint is connected using a wireless aerial adapter (no wireless lan card). My wife has an Asus laptop running Windows 7 connected wirelessly to router. That's the set up.
The Mint is the main PC so has all the working files and stored items. What we want to achieve is the ability for the laptop to access a shared folder on the Mint PC which has all the joint files. So within this shared folder is now the folders and files from the old XP pc that is no longer used. After my original request for help we were able to access, write and save a test file in the shared folder but now all of the folders and files have been added within the shared folder problems have returned.
The laptop can see the Mint PC on the network. It can see the folders & files within the shared folder. Some it can access but they show as read only, the others it comes up with error message saying "cannot access as document name or path is invalid".
If i go to menu/places/network their are two icons one for laptop and the mint and windows network. within windows network is a folder entitled home and within that there are the two computer icons again.
I have created a user for my wife on the Mint using the same name as the login on the laptop ensuring that it is in the same upper lower case way. If you go to administration/shared folders you then see on shared folders tab the path to the shared folder.
I know you will want me to run items etc but please give me step by step instructions and if for Terminal could you give me something I can copy/paste.
Many thanks for any help I just really need to get this sorted and hope i haven't done something to make matters worse.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
altair4
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Re: File sharing part 2

Post by altair4 »

Please post the output of the following command:

Code: Select all

testparm -s
Please add a [SOLVED] at the end of your original subject header if your question has been answered and solved.
ajh911

Re: File sharing part 2

Post by ajh911 »

Hi Altair4 here is output
testparm -s
Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf
rlimit_max: increasing rlimit_max (1024) to minimum Windows limit (16384)
Processing section "[printers]"
Processing section "[print$]"
Processing section "[andy]"
Processing section "[Shared]"
Processing section "[cv]"
Loaded services file OK.
Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE
[global]
workgroup = HOME
server string = %h server (Samba, LinuxMint)
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

[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

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

[Shared]
path = /home/andy/Shared
read only = No
guest ok = Yes

[cv]
path = /home/andy/Shared/cv
read only = No
guest ok = Yes
ajh911

Re: File sharing part 2

Post by ajh911 »

sorry thought i would post these results as well as they were asked for last time:
ls -l /home/andy/Shared
total 64
drwxrwxrwx 43 andy andy 12288 Apr 21 16:43 Bonfire
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 20 22:13 cv
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 24 13:25 DAD
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 19:48 Family History
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 19:54 House
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 19:49 JACK HENRY WELLER
drwxrwxrwx 17 andy andy 4096 Apr 14 20:51 Lewes Accountancy
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 19:55 Lewes History Bulletin articles
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 20 22:03 Misc
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 19:56 Money
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 19:53 Mum's ebay
drwxrwxrwx 16 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 20:44 Pictures
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 14 21:01 Richard Green
drwxrwxrwx 5 andy andy 4096 Apr 14 21:03 Sam

All help gratefully received. I really love Mint but this problem is driving me nuts!
altair4
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Re: File sharing part 2

Post by altair4 »

So far there is absolutely nothing wrong with what you posted. Not sure if sharing the entire home folder of "andy" is a good idea but that's another discussion.
After my original request for help we were able to access, write and save a test file in the shared folder but now all of the folders and files have been added within the shared folder problems have returned.
The laptop can see the Mint PC on the network. It can see the folders & files within the shared folder. Some it can access but they show as read only, the others it comes up with error message saying "cannot access as document name or path is invalid".
All of your shares allow guest access so they will come across as the user "nobody" or if you added your wife to the users on Mint and then added her to the samba database she will come across as "wife" ( for the sake of discussion ).

So let's say Andy creates a file in say ... /home/andy/Shared/Misc/test.txt. It will have permissions of:
-rw-rw-r-- andy andy test.txt
Only andy can read and write to that file. nobody or wife will only be able to read. Is this the problem you are experiencing?

*** If you want nobody and wife to have full access to the file you can either set the files permissions to allow it:

Code: Select all

chmod 0666 /home/andy/Shared/Misc/test.txt
*** Or, you can set this up so that all remote users appear as "andy":
Edit smb.conf as root:

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gksu pluma /etc/samba/smb.conf
And add the following line to the share defintion:

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force user = andy
So that the share definition looks like this:
[Shared]
path = /home/andy/Shared
read only = No
force user = andy
guest ok = Yes
Then save the file and then restart samba:

Code: Select all

sudo service smbd restart
Note: when you restart samba the network has a hissy fit so wait a few minutes before trying to access the share again.

Now when the remote user accesses the share they will be converted to "andy" and have full access to everything "andy" has access to and conversely, when wife or nobody adds a file to the share it will save with owner = andy instead of nobody or wife so andy will have read / write access to those files while within Mint as well.
Please add a [SOLVED] at the end of your original subject header if your question has been answered and solved.
ajh911

Re: File sharing part 2

Post by ajh911 »

Hi,
You are correct in that I want the laptop/wife to be able open from Mint in laptop, amend and then save to Mint so full access.
Have followed instructions and config is below after adjustment with notice from Terminal following application.
But still no success. Laptop can see but when it opens the file it is read only. Did i enter incorrectly?

# Sample configuration file for the Samba suite for Debian GNU/Linux.
#
#
# This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the
# smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed
# here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options most of which
# are not shown in this example
#
# Some options that are often worth tuning have been included as
# commented-out examples in this file.
# - When such options are commented with ";", the proposed setting
# differs from the default Samba behaviour
# - When commented with "#", the proposed setting is the default
# behaviour of Samba but the option is considered important
# enough to be mentioned here
#
# NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command
# "testparm" to check that you have not made any basic syntactic
# errors.
# A well-established practice is to name the original file
# "smb.conf.master" and create the "real" config file with
# testparm -s smb.conf.master >smb.conf
# This minimizes the size of the really used smb.conf file
# which, according to the Samba Team, impacts performance
# However, use this with caution if your smb.conf file contains nested
# "include" statements. See Debian bug #483187 for a case
# where using a master file is not a good idea.
#

#======================= Global Settings =======================

[global]

## Browsing/Identification ###

# Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will part of
workgroup = home

# server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field
server string = %h server (Samba, LinuxMint)

# Windows Internet Name Serving Support Section:
# WINS Support - Tells the NMBD component of Samba to enable its WINS Server
# wins support = no

# WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client
# Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but NOT both
; wins server = w.x.y.z

# This will prevent nmbd to search for NetBIOS names through DNS.
dns proxy = no

# What naming service and in what order should we use to resolve host names
# to IP addresses
; name resolve order = lmhosts host wins bcast

#### Networking ####

# The specific set of interfaces / networks to bind to
# This can be either the interface name or an IP address/netmask;
# interface names are normally preferred
; interfaces = 127.0.0.0/8 eth0

# Only bind to the named interfaces and/or networks; you must use the
# 'interfaces' option above to use this.
# It is recommended that you enable this feature if your Samba machine is
# not protected by a firewall or is a firewall itself. However, this
# option cannot handle dynamic or non-broadcast interfaces correctly.
; bind interfaces only = yes



#### Debugging/Accounting ####

# This tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine
# that connects
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m

# Cap the size of the individual log files (in KiB).
max log size = 1000

# If you want Samba to only log through syslog then set the following
# parameter to 'yes'.
# syslog only = no

# We want Samba to log a minimum amount of information to syslog. Everything
# should go to /var/log/samba/log.{smbd,nmbd} instead. If you want to log
# through syslog you should set the following parameter to something higher.
syslog = 0

# Do something sensible when Samba crashes: mail the admin a backtrace
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d


####### Authentication #######

# "security = user" is always a good idea. This will require a Unix account
# in this server for every user accessing the server. See
# /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/ServerType.html
# in the samba-doc package for details.
# security = user

# You may wish to use password encryption. See the section on
# 'encrypt passwords' in the smb.conf(5) manpage before enabling.
encrypt passwords = true

# If you are using encrypted passwords, Samba will need to know what
# password database type you are using.
passdb backend = tdbsam

obey pam restrictions = yes

# This boolean parameter controls whether Samba attempts to sync the Unix
# password with the SMB password when the encrypted SMB password in the
# passdb is changed.
unix password sync = yes

# For Unix password sync to work on a Debian GNU/Linux system, the following
# parameters must be set (thanks to Ian Kahan <<kahan@informatik.tu-muenchen.de> for
# sending the correct chat script for the passwd program in Debian Sarge).
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .

# This boolean controls whether PAM will be used for password changes
# when requested by an SMB client instead of the program listed in
# 'passwd program'. The default is 'no'.
pam password change = yes

# This option controls how unsuccessful authentication attempts are mapped
# to anonymous connections
map to guest = bad user

########## Domains ###########

# Is this machine able to authenticate users. Both PDC and BDC
# must have this setting enabled. If you are the BDC you must
# change the 'domain master' setting to no
#
; domain logons = yes
#
# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the location of the user's profile directory
# from the client point of view)
# The following required a [profiles] share to be setup on the
# samba server (see below)
; logon path = \\%N\profiles\%U
# Another common choice is storing the profile in the user's home directory
# (this is Samba's default)
# logon path = \\%N\%U\profile

# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the location of a user's home directory (from the client
# point of view)
; logon drive = H:
# logon home = \\%N\%U

# The following setting only takes effect if 'domain logons' is set
# It specifies the script to run during logon. The script must be stored
# in the [netlogon] share
# NOTE: Must be store in 'DOS' file format convention
; logon script = logon.cmd

# This allows Unix users to be created on the domain controller via the SAMR
# RPC pipe. The example command creates a user account with a disabled Unix
# password; please adapt to your needs
; add user script = /usr/sbin/adduser --quiet --disabled-password --gecos "" %u

# This allows machine accounts to be created on the domain controller via the
# SAMR RPC pipe.
# The following assumes a "machines" group exists on the system
; add machine script = /usr/sbin/useradd -g machines -c "%u machine account" -d /var/lib/samba -s /bin/false %u

# This allows Unix groups to be created on the domain controller via the SAMR
# RPC pipe.
; add group script = /usr/sbin/addgroup --force-badname %g

########## Printing ##########

# If you want to automatically load your printer list rather
# than setting them up individually then you'll need this
# load printers = yes

# lpr(ng) printing. You may wish to override the location of the
# printcap file
; printing = bsd
; printcap name = /etc/printcap

# CUPS printing. See also the cupsaddsmb(8) manpage in the
# cupsys-client package.
; printing = cups
; printcap name = cups

############ Misc ############

# Using the following line enables you to customise your configuration
# on a per machine basis. The %m gets replaced with the netbios name
# of the machine that is connecting
; include = /home/samba/etc/smb.conf.%m

# Most people will find that this option gives better performance.
# See smb.conf(5) and /usr/share/doc/samba-doc/htmldocs/Samba3-HOWTO/speed.html
# for details
# You may want to add the following on a Linux system:
# SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
# socket options = TCP_NODELAY

# The following parameter is useful only if you have the linpopup package
# installed. The samba maintainer and the linpopup maintainer are
# working to ease installation and configuration of linpopup and samba.
; message command = /bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/linpopup "%f" "%m" %s; rm %s' &

# Domain Master specifies Samba to be the Domain Master Browser. If this
# machine will be configured as a BDC (a secondary logon server), you
# must set this to 'no'; otherwise, the default behavior is recommended.
# domain master = auto

# Some defaults for winbind (make sure you're not using the ranges
# for something else.)
; idmap uid = 10000-20000
; idmap gid = 10000-20000
; template shell = /bin/bash

# The following was the default behaviour in sarge,
# but samba upstream reverted the default because it might induce
# performance issues in large organizations.
# See Debian bug #368251 for some of the consequences of *not*
# having this setting and smb.conf(5) for details.
; winbind enum groups = yes
; winbind enum users = yes

# Setup usershare options to enable non-root users to share folders
# with the net usershare command.

# Maximum number of usershare. 0 (default) means that usershare is disabled.
; usershare max shares = 100

# Allow users who've been granted usershare privileges to create
# public shares, not just authenticated ones
usershare allow guests = yes

#======================= Share Definitions =======================

# Un-comment the following (and tweak the other settings below to suit)
# to enable the default home directory shares. This will share each
# user's home director as \\server\username
;[homes]
; comment = Home Directories
; browseable = no

# By default, the home directories are exported read-only. Change the
# next parameter to 'no' if you want to be able to write to them.
; read only = yes

# File creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create files with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
; create mask = 0775

# Directory creation mask is set to 0700 for security reasons. If you want to
# create dirs. with group=rw permissions, set next parameter to 0775.
; directory mask = 0775

# By default, \\server\username shares can be connected to by anyone
# with access to the samba server. Un-comment the following parameter
# to make sure that only "username" can connect to \\server\username
# The following parameter makes sure that only "username" can connect
#
# This might need tweaking when using external authentication schemes
; valid users = %S

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
;[netlogon]
; comment = Network Logon Service
; path = /home/samba/netlogon
; guest ok = yes
; read only = yes

# Un-comment the following and create the profiles directory to store
# users profiles (see the "logon path" option above)
# (you need to configure Samba to act as a domain controller too.)
# The path below should be writable by all users so that their
# profile directory may be created the first time they log on
;[profiles]
; comment = Users profiles
; path = /home/samba/profiles
; guest ok = no
; browseable = no
; create mask = 0600
; directory mask = 0700

wins support = no
[printers]
comment = All Printers
browseable = no
path = /var/spool/samba
printable = yes
guest ok = no
read only = yes
create mask = 0700

# Windows clients look for this share name as a source of downloadable
# printer drivers
[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /var/lib/samba/printers
browseable = yes
read only = yes
guest ok = no
# Uncomment to allow remote administration of Windows print drivers.
# You may need to replace 'lpadmin' with the name of the group your
# admin users are members of.
# Please note that you also need to set appropriate Unix permissions
# to the drivers directory for these users to have write rights in it
; write list = root, @lpadmin

# A sample share for sharing your CD-ROM with others.
;[cdrom]
; comment = Samba server's CD-ROM
; read only = yes
; locking = no
; path = /cdrom
; guest ok = yes

# The next two parameters show how to auto-mount a CD-ROM when the
# cdrom share is accesed. For this to work /etc/fstab must contain
# an entry like this:
#
# /dev/scd0 /cdrom iso9660 defaults,noauto,ro,user 0 0
#
# The CD-ROM gets unmounted automatically after the connection to the
#
# If you don't want to use auto-mounting/unmounting make sure the CD
# is mounted on /cdrom
#
; preexec = /bin/mount /cdrom
; postexec = /bin/umount /cdrom



[andy]
path = /home/andy
available = yes
browsable = yes
public = yes
writable = yes

[Shared]
path = /home/andy/Shared
read only = no
force user = andy
guest ok = yes
available = yes
browsable = yes
public = yes
writable = yes

[cv]
path = /home/andy/Shared/cv
available = yes
browsable = yes
public = yes
writable = yes

gksu pluma /etc/samba/smb.conf
andy@main ~ $ sudo service smbd restart
smbd stop/waiting
smbd start/running, process 4149
altair4
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Re: File sharing part 2

Post by altair4 »

Who owns the specific file that "wife" wants to write to and what are it's permissions?

Code: Select all

ls -l /path/to/specific/file
And by any chance is this a LibreOffice or OpenOffice file?
Please add a [SOLVED] at the end of your original subject header if your question has been answered and solved.
ajh911

Re: File sharing part 2

Post by ajh911 »

Further to the previous post. I had re-entered the smb.conf to check that my alterations were still there, which they were. Copied and pasted as above. I had left everything for about 10 mins and still read only. I re-booted the laptop. Still read only. Shut down and started mint still nothing. sat down wrote the above posting. then shutdown the mint pc, put kettle on and came back, thought i would check emails, pressed button it starts up but screen is white and blank!!! Go to laptop, it can see mint pc, can open files AND save!!!. I try to re-boot mint twice but still only get white screen and no HDD activity. SO, turned power off, make the cup of tea, come back start up and hey presto desktop comes back. Check laptop, and life is till good on the file front. Was this the hissy you referred to?!
So to test - shutdown mint and laptop. Finish tea, start mint, then start laptop, now laptop cannot see mint BUT can see and access files which are still ok can still save. If i go menu/places/network no laptop just mint, open windows network and there is icon for mint and laptop. Still no "sight" on laptop although can access files on shared! Then hey presto the laptop suddenly decides it can see the mint pc. Very weird.
SO - it looks like the share issue is solved but may have an issue with way the Network is set up. Any thoughts other than "oh mygod, please go away"

To answer your query it all started life as Word folder documents and been transferred to Mint. Laptop uses Word mint is Libre office (which I am very impressed by).
ls -l /home/andy/Shared
total 64
drwxrwxrwx 43 andy andy 12288 Apr 25 19:26 Bonfire
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 25 20:00 cv
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 25 18:28 DAD
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 25 19:12 Family History
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 25 19:04 House
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 19:49 JACK HENRY WELLER
drwxrwxrwx 17 andy andy 4096 Apr 14 20:51 Lewes Accountancy
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 19:55 Lewes History Bulletin articles
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 20 22:03 Misc
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 25 20:01 Money
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 19:53 Mum's ebay
drwxrwxrwx 16 andy andy 4096 Apr 15 20:44 Pictures
drwxrwxrwx 2 andy andy 4096 Apr 14 21:01 Richard Green
drwxrwxrwx 5 andy andy 4096 Apr 14 21:03 Sam
altair4
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Joined: Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:27 am

Re: File sharing part 2

Post by altair4 »

What is the name and path of the file that is read only to "wife".

Something like /home/andy/Shared/Misc/readonlyfile.txt is what I'm looking for.
Please add a [SOLVED] at the end of your original subject header if your question has been answered and solved.
ajh911

Re: File sharing part 2

Post by ajh911 »

I may have confused you. Since mint lost the desktop the laptop can access, read, write and save ALL files on the shared folder.
now desktop on mint is back the laptop can still read, write and save ALL files on the shared folder. It worked - thank you.

it somehow seemed to create an issue with the laptop seeing the Mint but it eventually did of it's own accord but could still access the files even though it couldn't see the Mint!!. that's why i wonder if i might have the network set up incorrectly or is it just another Windows 7 issue?
altair4
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Re: File sharing part 2

Post by altair4 »

Every time the samba services are restarted and every time the machine is rebooted Samba and Windows do a little dance together before both can see each other by name. It's a Windows thing and it can take a long time - minutes - many minutes - sometimes 15 minutes or more before things are resolved.

Ironically, In an all Linux or in a Linux / Mac network Samba can be used bypassing this process.
Please add a [SOLVED] at the end of your original subject header if your question has been answered and solved.
ajh911

Re: File sharing part 2 Solved)

Post by ajh911 »

Altair, a very, very big thank you. I hope it hasn't been too much of a strain. Your advice and assistance is very much appreciated.
I can relax now and enjoy a far superior OS.
Thank you again
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