Configuring and Managing MPE/iX Internet Services (August 2002)

Chapter 7
Samba for MPE/iX Services
Overview of Samba for MPE/iX
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This file consists of sections and parameters. Each section in the configuration file corresponds to a
service. The special sections are
[global], [homes] and [printers]. The [global] section is used to set global
configuration options that apply to the server as a whole. The
[homes] section is designed to grant access
to all users home directories and the entries in
[printers] section correspond to the print services of the
Samba for MPE/iX server.
• TESTPARM: This is a test program to validate the contents of the SMB.CONF configuration file.
If this program reports no problems, you can use the configuration file with confidence that SMBD will
successfully load the configuration file.
• TESTPRNS: This tool checks whether the printer name is valid for the services provided by SMBD.
• SWAT: The acronym SWAT stands for Samba Web Administration Tool. It is used to provide a web
interface to configuring smb.conf. It gives the flexibility of dynamically altering the configuration file to
reflect changes in needs with respect to shares and printers. This is done from a remote location with the
aid of a web browser.
SMB Protocol
SMB, which stands for Server Message Block, is a protocol for sharing files, printers, serial ports, and
communication abstractions, such as named pipes and mail slots, between computers.
SMB is a request/response protocol and it is implemented on top of the NetBIOS API, see Figure 7-2. It plays
the role of session, presentation, and a part of application layer of the OSI stack. SMB can be used over
TCP/IP, NetBEUI, and IPX/SPX. In the case of TCP/IP or NetBEUI, the NetBIOS API is being used. Samba
for MPE/iX uses SMB over TCP/IP.
Figure 7-2 SMB Protocol
SMB
Applications
NetBIOS
on
IPX
NetBeui
NetBIOS
on
TCP/IP
PPP, 802.x
Token Ring, Ethernet, Serial
NetBIOS API