setting up samba for wins information.

boi

boi

official breaker of macs.
i need to connect to a wins server and specify a workgroup for network sharing. i cannot connect to the network unless i do this (so i'm told). there aren't instructions for os x users, but there are instructions for unix users, and they are as follows:



Samba uses a configuration file called smb.conf. This file contains all the configuration that samba will use when trying to negotiate a connection with any other system on the network. The only changes that you will need to make to smb.conf, which is usually located in /etc/smb.conf or /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf, are the following.

Add the following lines in your smb.conf file under the [global] section

Workgroup = xxxxx

wins server = xxx.xxx.xx.xx

wins support = no
Click to expand...

is there any way i can connect to this?

thanks.
 
Are you trying to connect your MacOSX machine to Windows Server or are you setting up a SAMBA server on the Mac OR are you setting up a MacOSX machine as a SAMBA server but also tring to connect to another server as well?

MacOSX can connect to a Windows environment without setting up SAMBA.
 
I am pretty sure the OS X CIFS client IS the samba client. Adding workgroup and WINS server entries to the smb.conf does change the client's behavior.

If you want to do so from a GUI you can use the "Directory Access" app in /Applications/Utilities (Jaguar only). Open it up and select the "smb" line at the bottom. Click configure. That will drop a dialog with fields for Workgroup and WINS server. It writes them to the /etc/smb.conf. That is where it lives in OS X.

It won't add the "wins support = no" line. You'd need to do that manually with a text editor. I'm not sure what that does. You'd think it disabled WINS support, but then why add a WINS server entry?

I can't guarantee this will work. I added my "workgroup" (actually an NT domain in my case) and WINS server and the only thing that I could browse was the WINS server. However, this is the way it is supposed to work, and others tell me they have no problems.

To manually edit /etc/smb.conf you'll need to be reasonably familiar with unix text editing. If not, now is as good a time ot learn as any. Jaguar comes with pico, which is a simple editor you can run in the terminal. Do a "man pico" to get an idea of how it works, then a "sudo pico /etc/smb.conf".

Hope that helps.
 
Originally posted by svejk
I added my "workgroup" (actually an NT domain in my case) and WINS server and the only thing that I could browse was the WINS server. However, this is the way it is supposed to work, and others tell me they have no problems.
Click to expand...

Woops. I left out a sentence. That should read:

I added my "workgroup" (actually an NT domain in my case) and WINS server and the only thing that I could browse was the WINS server. When I removed the WINS server entry I could see all the machines on my own subnet but not on any others. However, this is the way it is supposed to work without WINS, and others tell me they have no problems with WINS.

Apologies; I was in a hurry.
 
okay, i updated the smb.conf file per your instructions and per the instructions that i received. how do i browse the workgroup? nothing changed in the 'connect to server' dialogue. i know the wins server works because it works on my friend's computer.
thanks for your help so far!
 
Turns out this is a "feature." Apple was basically lying about SMB browsing working. It only partially works. According to Tech Note 2053, Jaguar "SMB browsing is only supported on the local subnet." Annoying use of passive voice as well.

You should be able to browse shares on your own subnet, but not on any others. This fscking sucks.
 
Try a freeware program call smbBrowse.
you can download it here at :

http://shukwit.com/main.php

or at versiontracker.com. Also, Dave 4.0 from Thursby Systems will definitely work but it comes at a cost of $150. Another possibility, (though untested) is to try to mount your server using the command line. 'mount_smbfs' command may work.
 
Thanks but SMBbrowse is kinda kludgey and hasn't been updated in ages. Not really production quality. Dave works but is too expensive. I have ~500 Mac users here. mounting from the command line is not an improvement on typing the url connect server address field.
 
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