Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc Path: gmd.de!newsserver.jvnc.net!yale.edu!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net! wupost!csus.edu!netcom.com!jeremy From: jer...@netcom.com (Jeremy Allison) Subject: Public Domain SMB server available for UNIX machines Message-ID: <jeremyCnK1nz.61E@netcom.com> Summary: PD SMB server - no need for NFS for Windows NT Keywords: Lanman, WinNT, SMB, UNIX Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Fri, 1 Apr 1994 00:35:59 GMT Lines: 147 Hi All, I have seen many posts in this group asking for an NFS server for Windows NT. However, there is another solution - a Public domain SMB server for UNIX machines has just been announced, available under the GNU GPL I helped in some of the development and regularly use it to mount my UNIX filesystems onto NT (DOS style names only as yet though). I would welcome people using it and giving any bug reports/feedback to the mailing list so it can continue to be improved. Here follows the official announcement from Andrew Tridgell (the maintainer of the source and original developer). --------------Announcement starts here----------------- Announcing SMBServer version 1.6 ================================ What is SMBServer? ------------------ SMBServer is a unix based SMB file server. This allows a unix host to act as a file and print server for SMB clients. This includes Lan-Manager compatible clients such as LanManager for DOS, Windows for Workgroups, Windows NT, OS/2, Pathworks and many more. The package also includes a unix SMB client and a netbios nameserver. What can it do for me? ---------------------- If you have any PCs running SMB clients, such as a PC running Windows for Workgroups, then you can mount file space or printers from a unix host, so that directories and files on the unix host are available on the PC. The client part of the package will also allow you to attach to other SMB servers (such as windows NT and windows for workgroups 3.11) so that you can copy files to and from your unix host. The client also allows you to access a SMB printer (such as one attached to an OS/2 or WfWg server) from Unix, using an entry in /etc/printcap, or by explicitly specifying the command used to print files. What are it's limitations? -------------------------- Currently the server completely supports up to the CORE+ level of the SMB protocol. This allows you to do all the normal file and print operations from a PC. Work is nearly complete on the LANMAN1.0 protocol level which will add some new features. Following this work will begin on supporting the LANMAN2.1 level. The main thing this will gain is long filenames for clients that support them (such as Windows NT). The protocol includes a negotiation phase, and all clients should support working with the CORE+ protocol (or a lower protocol), so the transition from one protocol level to another is transparent for most users. What are it's features? ------------------------ SMBServer supports many features that are not supported in other SMB implementations (all of which are commercial). Some of it's features include host as well as username/password security, a unix client, automatic home directory exporting, automatic printer exporting, dead connecton timeouts, umask support, guest connections and hidden and system attribute mapping. Look at the man pages included with the package for a full list of features. Where can I get a client for my PC? ----------------------------------- There is a free client for MS-DOS based PCs available from ftp.microsoft.com in the directory Advsys/MSclient/. Please read the licensing information before downloading. The Windows for Workgroups client is also very good. What network protocols are supported? ------------------------------------- Currently only TCP/IP is supported. One person has used the server with Decnet but the patches are not yet available. As most clients come with a TCP/IP option it is unlikely that SMBServer will have support for other protocols in the near future. How much does it cost? ---------------------- SMBServer software is free software. It is available under the GNU Public license in source code form at no cost. Please read the file COPYING that comes with the package for more information. What flavours of unix does it support? --------------------------------------- The code has been written to be as portable as possible. It has been "ported" to many unixes, which mostly required changing only a few lines of code. It has been run (to my knowledge) on these unixes: Linux, SunOS, Solaris, SVR4, Ultrix, OSF1 (Alpha), AIX, BSDI, NetBSD, Sequent, HP-UX, SGI, FreeBSD, and NeXT. Some of these have received more testing than others. If it doesn't work with your unix then it should be easy to fix. Why version 1.6? ---------------- This may be the first time you have heard of this software, because it hasn't been widely advertsed before. Please look at the file `history' in the distribution for a brief description of the development of the software. Who wrote it? ------------- Many people on the internet have contributed to the development of SMBserver. The maintainer and original author is Andrew Tridgell, but large parts of the package were contributed by several people from all over the world. Please look at the file `change-log' for information on who did what bits. Where can I get it? ------------------- The package is available via anonymous ftp from nimbus.anu.edu.au in the directory pub/tridge/server/. The tarred/ subdirectory contains archived copies of the complete package. Where can I get more info? --------------------------- Please join the mailing list for the software if you want to discuss the development or use of SMBserver. To join the mailing list send mail to li...@arvidsjaur.anu.edu.au with a body of "subscribe netbios". Andrew Tridgell (Andrew.Tridg...@anu.edu.au) March 1994 -----------end of announcement-------------------------