The Common Internet File System (CIFS) is the standard way that computer users share files across corporate intranets and the Internet. It provides users with seamless file and print interoperability between VMs and Windows-based clients. CIFS allows multiple clients to access and update the same file while preventing conflicts by providing file sharing and file locking.
SoftNAS uses Samba Windows File Sharing for secured, stable and fast file sharing and print services. It allows the networking of Microsoft Windows®, Linux, UNIX, and other operating systems together, enabling access to Windows-based file and printer shares. Samba seamlessly integrates Linux/Unix Servers and Desktops into Active Directory environments using the winbind daemon.
Shared Files Grid
The Shared Files Grid displays the list of all shared files in a tabular grid format. It has the following fields.
Field
Description
Share Name
It is the name of the share.
Path
It specifies the path that is shared.
Security
It shows the type of security available for the share.
Note: Before you start creating a new file share, it is better to configure the default windows network environment settings.
1. On the CIFS Shares panel, click the Create a New File Share link.
The Create File Share section of the panel will be displayed.
2. Enter the name of the share that will appear as the network mount point in the Share Name text entry box.
3. The Directory to share is the path to the Volume that was created in the prior step. Click the Browse button to select the Volume from the filesystem for sharing.
4. Set the Automatically Create Directory field option to be Yes.
5. The Create with Owner fielddetermines which Linux user will be assigned to the shared folder.
6. Enter the permission mask in the Create with Permissions text entry box. Example, 777 is read/write/excute for all users.
7. The Create with Group fielddetermines which Linux group will be assigned to the shared folder.
8. To make the share to be available on the network, check the Yes option in the Available field.
9. To make the share to be browseable on the network, check the Yes option in the Browseable field.
10. Enter the comment if any to display to users who browse the share, in the Share Comment text entry box.
11. Click the Create button.
The new file share will be created and published for access by windows servers and clients.
Creating a new printer share is easy. Simply follow the steps given below.
1. Click the Create a New Printer Share button.
The Create Printer Share page will be displayed.
2. In the Share name field, make sure the first button is selected and enter a unique alphanumeric name for your share into the text box. This should be the same as the name of the Unix printer you select in the next step to avoid confusion. If an automatically created printer share with the same name already exists, this new one will override it.
3. From the Unix printer drop down list, select the printer to make available to SMB clients.
4. In the Spool directory field, enter the name of a directory in which temporary files for printing are stored.
5. To disable this printer so that it cannot be used, change the Available? field to No.
6. To hide this printer from the list that appears when the server is browsed, change the Browseable? field to No. It will still be directly accessible using a \\servername\printername path though.
7. In the Share comment field, enter a short description for this printer.
8. Click the Create button to add the share to the Samba configuration.
You can edit this share and configure security options.
1. To do so, click the Windows Networking icon in the Global Configuration section.
The Windows Networking Options page will be displayed.
2. Set the name of the workgroup in the Workgroup field. This setting should be appropriate to your environment. It should match your Windows workgroup or domain environment.
3. Select the appropriate security option for your particular environment from the Security drop down list. The available options include Default, Share Level, User Level, Password Server, Domain and Active Directory.
Note: Configuring other settings in the Windows Networking Options dialog is optional.
1. To do so, click the Authentication icon in the Global Configuration section.
The Password Options page will be displayed.
2. The Use encrypted passwords field determines if Samba uses its own separate password file or the standard Unix user database. Because all recent versions of Windows use a password encryption format that is incompatible with the Unix format, this field should generally be set to Yes.
3. To allow logins by users who have no password set, select Yes for the Allow null passwords field.
4. The Password program field sets the program that Samba will use to change a user's Unix password if synchronization is enabled. If Default is selected /bin/passwd will be used.
5. To change a user's Unix password when his SMB password is changed over the network, set the Change Unix password as well field to Yes.
6. Similarly specify password in the Change Password Chat field.
7. To define fake SMB accounts, select Listed below in the Username mapping field. Enter a valid Unix username, and an SMB login name of your choice.
You can configure Windows to Unix Printing options.
1. To do so, click the Windows to Unix Printing icon in the Global Configuration section.
The Printing Options page will be displayed.
2. Select the type of print system in use on your box from the Unix print style drop down list. The available options are :
BSD -The traditional Unix print software, found on FreeBSD? , NetBSD? and older Linux distributions.
SYSV - The print system used on Solaris, UnixWare? and a few other versions of Unix.
HPUX -The print system shipped with HP/UX.
AIX -The print software that comes with AIX, IBM's version of Unix.
CUPS -The superior Common Unix Print System, which is included with many new Linux distributions.
LPRNG - An improved version of the old BSD print system, used on all Linux systems that do not run CUPS.
3. Normally, Samba will find all the printers on your system and make them visible to clients when the special printers share exists. To disable this, change the Show all printers? field to No.
4. When the Printcap file field is set to Default, Samba will get the list of printers available on your system from the standard /etc/printcap file.
5. Samba caches the output from whatever command is used to list waiting print jobs (such as lpq) in order to reduce the frequency with which it is run. By default this cache time is 10 seconds, but you can increase or decrease it using the Printer status cache time field.
6. Click the Save button to activate your new printing settings.
1. To do so, click the Winbind Options icon in the Global Configuration section.
The Winbind Options page will be displayed.
2. Enter the full domain name of your Windows domain; e.g., SOFTNAS.LOCAL, MYDOMAIN.COM, etc in the Kerberos Realm on Domain Server text entry box.
3. Enter the range as 10000-30000 in the Range of UIDs for Windows Users text entry box. Using this numeric range, the mapping of Windows user ID's to Linux UID's occurs dynamically.
4. Similary enter the range as 10000-30000 in the Range of UIDs for Windows Groups text entry box for mapping of groups.
