Samba for NetWare 4.1 Servers

Updated on 12/16/96

Overview

Samba is basically a free implementation of the smb (Server Message Block) networking protcols that are in Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, and Windows NT. Loading "samba services" allows a non-Microsoft operating system to serve files and printers to Microsoft operating systems without loading any special clients. See http://lake.canbera.edu.au/pub/samba/ for thorough information on Samba in general. There is also the comp.protocols.smb newsgroup which is helpful.

Samba grew up freely on the net and is available for a wide range of unix operating systems. A version is now also available (without source) for NetWare 4.1 servers. The NetWare 4.1 version of samba (samba.nlm, naturally) is currently in "beta" and is being put out by Novell Consulting Services. This document gives thorough infomation (more so than Novell) on setting up Samba services on a NetWare 4.1 server.

Novell Consulting Services

Novell Consulting Services (NCS) is responsible for the port of Samba to NetWare 4.10 servers. NCS is responsible for those extra utilities and docs that are somewhat outside of the normal NetWare product line. The main NCS homepage is at http://www.novell.com/corp/programs/ncs/ and has other useful tools in addition to the recently added Samba port. Since NCS activities are outside the usual Novell stuff, they request that you email ncs_toolkit@novell.com with Migration Tools in the subject line for any issues connected with the Samba NLM.

The samba.nlm stuff comes under the category of "migration tools" and can be found at http://www.novell.com/corp/programs/ncs/toolkit/migqt.html. The Migration toolkit is a humongous archive of client software (in addition to Samba) for migrating PC clients from NT servers to NetWare servers. The sheer size (around 12Mb compressed) and the poor Samba documentation are the primary reasons I've created this page and packaged up the Samba stuff into a small archive.

Additionally, the migration toolkit documentation is in Envoy (*.evy files as opposed to the *.pdf files for Acrobat) format. It is most easily viewed with the Envoy plug-in for Netscape. Envoy plug-ins are available from Tumbleweed Software at http://www.tumbleweed.com/ and versions are available for various flavors of Windows and Mac. (NT users, such as myself, should use the Windows 95 version. The Netscape plug-in is also the only way to view *.evy documents under NT without hanging your system up.)

Samba.nlm Cautions

I highly recommend running the Samba nlms on a test server so that you can test it out first. Though samba.nlm works, if you unload it, you will get lots of lost memory allocations (memory leak) such as this console capture shows:


SAMBA: terminating -

 6-05-96  12:44:52 pm:    SERVER-4.10-2715

     Module did not release 178768 resources

     Module: Samba - SMB Server

     Resource: Small memory allocations

     Description: Alloc Memory (Bytes)



Module SAMBA.NLM unloaded



 6-05-96  12:44:53 pm:    SERVER-4.10-2715

     Module did not release 2 resources

     Module: NBNS - NetBIOS Name Service

     Resource: CLib BSD Socket

     Description: CLib BSD Sockets





 6-05-96  12:44:53 pm:    SERVER-4.10-2715

     Module did not release 1744 resources

     Module: NBNS - NetBIOS Name Service

     Resource: Small memory allocations

     Description: Alloc Memory (Bytes)



Module NBNS.NLM unloaded

Module NWGLUE.NLM unloaded

As long as you don't unload it, which you need to do when you reconfigure it, it appears that things are ok. On the application level, file sharing appears to work; I haven't tried the printing stuff. Also, though I am running it in debug mode, on a test server :-), I haven't checked to into minimizing traffic or looking into whether it is doing the smb stuff right. (By this, I am referring to samba.nlm 9.15h, nbns.nlm 9.14a, and nwglue.nlm 1.01a.)

Samba on NetWare PreRequisites

There are a few basic, minimum requirements that your NetWare server must meet before you comtemplate setting up samba services on it. Namely:

NetWare 4.1

Thankfully, samba.nlm is only for NetWare 4 (hopefully only 4.1x and above as well). If you are running anything below 4.10, go away, upgrade, then come back. On NetWare 4.1, use the version command at the server console to verify your revision of NetWare:
```
     version
```
Bindery Emultation

The 4.1 server on which you will be loading samba.nlm must have its default context listed first in the bindery context. At the server console, do:
```
     config
```
domain.nlm

If you boot your NetWare 4.1 server with "load domain.nlm" as the first non-comment line in your startup.ncf, you have access to the rings in the Intel processor and a little protection from abends. (To fully benefit from domain.nlm though, I've tested and found that running the latest static and dynamic patches is necessary. Do it!)
Latest Patches

Running the latest patches from Novell is very important. Unlike NetWare 3.x and below, you can load all of them instead of having to experiment to see which ones will blow up your server.

At a minimum, you should be running the 4.1 patches from the archives libup8.exe, 41nds6.exe, 410pt3.exe, 41rtr3.exe, landr5.exe, ps4x03.exe, pu4x03.exe, smsup4.exe, strtl4.exe, tcp41b.exe. Use the modules and patches command at the console to see what you are running.

You should also look into the other numerous patches, but these are the core patches from Novell that you should be running.
TCP/IP

By now you should be running IP on your NetWare server so that you can at least ping it! I've only tested Samba over IP (I think that is all that is supported right now also). In Microsoft terms, this is referred to "netbios over ip." If need be, configure IP on your server with:
```
     load inetcfg.nlm
```
Once you are done configuring your IP stack, do a reinitialize system to start the services. Use the ping.nlm to ping a machine not on the same subnet to make sure everything works.

Detailed Installation Instructions

Here are the detailed instructions for downloading the Samba NLM support and installing it.

Download ALL of the Required Files In One Shot.

I extracted relevant 5 relevant files from Novells hundreds of files in their migration toolkit and added a couple *.ncf files that are useful. Download NetWare Samba (about 190k) and install it according to the following directions. (I put a link for each file below in case you only want an updated version of a single file and not the whole pile again.)

Download Samba files for install in sys:system

You will need the following files in sys:system:

File	bytes	File Date	Version	Description
nwglue.nlm	18,692	05/06/96	1.01a April 8, 1996	API layer for samba on NetWare.
nbns.nlm	57,269	03/01/96	March 1, 1996	Netbios Name Service.
samba.nlm	200,097	05/06/96	May 6, 1996	The actual Samba NLM that does file and printer sharing.
samba.ncf	?	?	?	File to start Samba Services.
smbon.ncf	?	?	n.a.	My file for turning on Samba.
smboff.ncf	?	?	n.a.	My file for turning off Samba.

Download Samba files for install in sys:samba

The following files are needed in the sys:samba directory:

File bytes File Date Version Description
smb.cfg ? ? n.a. Config file for samba.
Tweak the sys:etc\hosts file.
Make sure that you have the loopback node and your server's IP address in your hosts file. It should look something like this:
```
	#    Mappings of host names and host aliases to IP address.

	#

	127.0.0.1     loopback lb localhost    # normal loopback address

	a.b.c.d     your_netware_server_name	# use YOUR IP ADDRESS for a.b.c.d
```
WARNING! A number of Novell's files in sys:etc are whitespace sensitive. ALWAYS use a tab to separate non-comment entries. (i.e., use tabs between the IP address and host name in sys:etc\hosts, NOT spaces.)
Tweak the sys:etc\services file.

Whenever adding new IP services, I always like to update the services file to reflect this fact. Two entries are relevevant to netbios over IP:
```
	#

	# Netbios/Samba Support

	#

	netbios-ns    137/tcp                # NETBIOS Name Service

	netbios-dgm    138/udp                # NETBIOS Datagram Service
```
Create a sys:samba directory.

Hard coded into the Samba NLMs is a need for a sys:samba directory into which it places log files. Not having this directory means the Samba NLMs are quarantined when you load them (if you are running the latest patches and domain.nlm) or your server abends.
Create a sys:samba\locks directory.

Also mandatory. The Samba NLMs put some scratch files here connected with, I guess, file locking.
Create empty samba log files.

With Windows notepad (or whatever plain text edittor you like), create two empty files called sys:samba\log.nmb and sys:samba\log.smb. Then do a "flag sys:samba\log.* sh rw" so that they are shareable and read/writable. By doing this, you will be able to view the log files while samba is running.
Tweak the sys:samba\lmhosts file.

This is the smb version of the hosts file. My test server is not using NetWare NFS 2.1 (configured as a DNS and NIS client) as my production servers are, so I've used an lmhosts file. Here's an example:
```
	a.b.c.d    	your_netware_server

	a1.b1.c1.d1	your_nt_pdc

	a2.b2.c2.d2	your_unix_samb_server
```
Looks like a sys:etc\hosts, doesn't it. (Note that this isn't true on Windows NT or such because of the extensions like #PRE and #DOM, etc. These of course don't matter on NetWare.)
Samba.ncf or Smbon.ncf/Smboff.ncf?

Novell's Samba distribution has a file called samba.ncf which you place in the sys:system directory. It contains just two entries:
```
load nbns -G NTDOMAIN

load samba
```
At the very least, you need to edit this file and replace NTDOMAIN with the name of the Windows NT Domain whose browse list you want the server to appear in. The samba.ncf file is then run at the server console to load the samba services.

In general, however, I always create two files for every "service": a fooon.ncf which is used to turn on the service and a foooff.ncf which is used to turn off the service. I do this since unloading NLMs in the wrong order sometimes will cause an abend, because it is annoying to remember which NLMs are involved, and also to log any messages that appear on the console.

In case you want to use them, my smbon.ncf looks like:
```
# Save old Samba console messages in console.old.

# New ones go in console.smb

unload conlog

load conlog file=sys:\samba\console.smb save=sys:\samba\console.old



# Start Samba

load nwglue

load sys:system\nbns -H sys:samba\lmhosts -G NTDOMAIN

load sys:system\samba



# Turn off console logging.

unload conlog
```
My smboff.ncf looks like:
```
unload samba

unload nbns

unload nwglue
```

Starting Samba

Before you load Samba, a few configuration details need to be taken care of.

Create Directory Map Objects in the NDS

If you want to configure Samba shares quickly, create Directory Map objects in the default bindery context of the server on which you are going to load Samba Services.
Create Print Queue Aliases in the NDS

I haven't tried sharing print queues with NDS objects, but if you want to do so the documentaion makes mention of creating NDS alias objects for the print queues.
Configure smb.cfg?

If you wish, you can also edit the sys:samba\smb.cfg file (which Novell has populated with examples and comments) instead of configuring NDS objects. This is necessary if you want comments to appear in the browse list.

Undocumented Parameters

The samba nlms have some undocumented parameters. You can discover them by purposely trying to load the NLMs with wrong parameters or, as I usually do, start Windows write.exe (yes, yes, I know I should be using a hex edittor) and pull in the NLM and select "No Conversion"; paging down towards the bottom of an NLM, you will see error strings, parameters, etc. It is also useful to search for volume names and such to discover defaults.

Playing this game with nbns.nlm, you will discover:


Usage: SYS:SYSTEM\NBNS.NLM [-n name] [-B bcast address] [-D] [-p port] [-d debug

level] [-l log basename]

Version 1.9.14p1

        -D                    become a daemon

        -P                    passive only. don't respond

        -R                    only reply to queries, don't actively send claims

        -p port               listen on the specified port

        -d debuglevel         set the debuglevel

        -l log basename.      Basename for log/debug files

        -n netbiosname.       the netbios name to advertise for this host

        -B broadcast address  the address to use for broadcasts

        -N netmask           the netmask to use for subnet determination

        -L name              lookup this netbios name then exit

        -S                   serve queries via DNS if not on the same subnet

        -H hosts file        load a netbios hosts file

        -G group name        add a group name to be part of

        -b                   toggles browsing support (defaults to on)

        -M group name        searches for a master browser for the given group

        -T interval          sets the browse announcement interval in seconds

        -C comment           sets the machine comment that appears in browse lis

ts

I'm using the -d 4 switch in my smbon.ncf because I wanted a log file to analyze. Beware that in a couple days I had a 25mb file to look at. Really, all you need is the -G switch, -N (because I'm paranoid) and maybe -T. Anyway, I'm still playing with this stuff. Don't have it optimized yet.

Upon Loading, You Should See . . .

Once you have loaded Samba with smbon.ncf, you should see something like the following appear on the console:

	NWGLUE.NLM

	  NWGlue - Support Library

	  Version 1.01a   April 8, 1996

	  (C) Copyright 1994-6 Novell, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

	NBNS.NLM

	  NBNS - NetBIOS Name Service

	  Version 9.14a   March 1, 1996

	  (C) Copyright 1992-4 Andrew Tridgell

	     Portions (C) Copyright 1995 Novell, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

	SAMBA.NLM

	  Samba - SMB Server

	  Version 9.15h   May 6, 1996

	  (C) Copyright 1992-4 Andrew Tridgell

	     Portions (C) Copyright 1995-6 Novell, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

Use It!

Assuming you have Microsoft TCP/IP (available free) on Workgroups (or a stack such as FTP software which supports Netbios over IP) or IP loaded on Windows 95 (yuck) or Windows NT (yeah), pop open file manager and try connecting to a drive.

Administration Details

Advantages/Disadvantages of Samba

If you need additional help (with the NetWare 4.10 server component only!) or want to make suggestions/corrections to this web page, drop me a note at merchant@parc.xerox.com
(Last Updated, June 6, 1996.)

Gurdon E. Merchant, Jr.