1 <html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"><title>Introduction</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="samba.css" type="text/css"><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.68.1"><link rel="start" href="index.html" title="The Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide"><link rel="up" href="index.html" title="The Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide"><link rel="prev" href="TOSHpreface.html" title="Preface"><link rel="next" href="introduction.html" title="Part I. General Installation"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Introduction</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="TOSHpreface.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center"> </th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="introduction.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></div><div class="preface" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="IntroSMB"></a>Introduction</h2></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">John</span> <span class="othername">H.</span> <span class="surname">Terpstra</span></h3><div class="affiliation"><span class="orgname">Samba Team<br></span><div class="address"><p><code class="email"><<a href="mailto:jht@samba.org">jht@samba.org</a>></code></p></div></div></div></div><div><p class="pubdate">June 29, 2003</p></div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="IntroSMB.html#id2518268">What Is Samba?</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="IntroSMB.html#id2465849">Why This Book?</a></span></dt><dt><span class="sect1"><a href="IntroSMB.html#id2465953">Book Structure and Layout</a></span></dt></dl></div><p>“<span class="quote">
2 A man's gift makes room for him before great men. Gifts are like hooks that can catch
3 hold of the mind taking it beyond the reach of forces that otherwise might constrain it.
4 </span>” --- Anon.
6 This is a book about Samba. It is a tool, a derived work of the labors
7 of many and of the diligence and goodwill of more than a few.
8 This book contains material that has been contributed in a persistent belief
9 that each of us can add value to our neighbors as well as to those who will
12 This book is designed to meet the needs of the Microsoft network administrator.
13 UNIX administrators will benefit from this book also, though they may complain
14 that it is hard to find the information they think they need. So if you are a
15 Microsoft certified specialist, this book should meet your needs rather well.
16 If you are a UNIX or Linux administrator, there is no need to feel badly you
17 should have no difficulty finding answers to your current concerns also.
18 </p><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2518268"></a>What Is Samba?</h2></div></div></div><p>
19 Samba is a big, complex project. The Samba project is ambitious and exciting.
20 The team behind Samba is a group of some thirty individuals who are spread
21 the world over and come from an interesting range of backgrounds. This team
22 includes scientists, engineers, programmers, business people, and students.
24 Team members were drawn into active participation through the desire to help
25 deliver an exciting level of transparent interoperability between Microsoft
26 Windows and the non-Microsoft information
29 The slogan that unites the efforts behind the Samba project says:
30 <span class="emphasis"><em>Samba, Opening Windows to a Wider World!</em></span> The goal
31 behind the project is one of removing barriers to interoperability.
33 Samba provides file and print services for Microsoft Windows clients. These
34 services may be hosted off any TCP/IP-enabled platform. The original deployment
35 platforms were UNIX and Linux, though today it is in common use across
36 a broad variety of systems.
38 The Samba project includes not only an impressive feature set in file and print
39 serving capabilities, but has been extended to include client functionality,
40 utilities to ease migration to Samba, tools to aid interoperability with
41 Microsoft Windows, and administration tools.
43 The real people behind Samba are users like you. You have inspired the
44 developers (the Samba Team) to do more than any of them imagined could or should
45 be done. User feedback drives Samba development. Samba-3 in particular incorporates
46 a huge amount of work done as a result of user requests, suggestions and direct
48 </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2465849"></a>Why This Book?</h2></div></div></div><p>
49 There is admittedly a large number of Samba books on the market today and
50 each book has its place. Despite the apparent plethora of books, Samba
51 as a project continues to receive much criticism for failing to provide
52 sufficient documentation. Samba is also criticized for being too complex
53 and too difficult to configure. In many ways this is evidence of the
54 success of Samba as there would be no complaints if it was not successful.
56 The Samba Team members work predominantly with UNIX and Linux, so
57 it is hardly surprising that existing Samba documentation should reflect
58 that orientation. The original HOWTO text documents were intended to provide
59 some tips, a few golden nuggets, and if they helped anyone then that was
60 just wonderful. But the HOWTO documents lacked structure and context. They were
61 isolated snapshots of information that were written to pass information
62 on to someone else who might benefit. They reflected a need to transmit
63 more information that could be conveniently put into manual pages.
65 The original HOWTO documents were written by different authors. Most HOWTO
66 documents are the result of feedback and contributions from numerous
67 authors. In this book we took care to preserve as much original content as
68 possible. As you read this book you will note that chapters were written by
69 multiple authors, each of whom has his own style. This demonstrates
70 the nature of the Open Source software development process.
72 Out of the original HOWTO documents sprang a collection of unofficial
73 HOWTO documents that are spread over the Internet. It is sincerely intended
74 that this work will <span class="emphasis"><em>not</em></span> replace the valuable unofficial
75 HOWTO work that continues to flourish. If you are involved in unofficial
76 HOWTO production then please continue your work!
78 Those of you who have dedicated your labors to the production of unofficial
79 HOWTOs, to Web page information regarding Samba, or to answering questions
80 on the mailing lists or elsewhere, may be aware that this is a labor
81 of love. We would like to know about your contribution and willingly receive
82 the precious pearls of wisdom you have collected. Please email your contribution to
83 <a href="mailto:jht@samba.org" target="_top">John H. Terpstra (jht@samba.org)</a>.
84 As a service to other users we will gladly adopt material that is technically accurate.
86 Existing Samba books are largely addressed to the UNIX administrator.
87 From the perspective of this target group the existing books serve
88 an adequate purpose, with one exception now that Samba-3 is out
89 they need to be updated!
91 This book, the <span class="emphasis"><em>Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide</em></span>,
92 includes the Samba-HOWTO-Collection.pdf that ships with Samba.
93 These documents have been written with a new design intent and purpose.
95 Over the past two years many Microsoft network administrators have adopted
96 Samba and have become interested in its deployment. Their information needs
97 are very different from that of the UNIX administrator. This book has been
98 arranged and the information presented from the perspective of someone with previous
99 Microsoft Windows network administrative training and experience.
100 </p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2465953"></a>Book Structure and Layout</h2></div></div></div><p>
101 This book is presented in six parts:
102 </p><div class="variablelist"><dl><dt><span class="term">General Installation</span></dt><dd><p>
103 Designed to help you get Samba-3 running quickly.
104 The Fast Start chapter is a direct response to requests from
105 Microsoft network administrators for some sample configurations
106 that <span class="emphasis"><em>just work</em></span>.
107 </p></dd><dt><span class="term">Server Configuration Basics</span></dt><dd><p>
108 The purpose of this section is to aid the transition from existing
109 Microsoft Windows network knowledge to Samba terminology and norms.
110 The chapters in this part each cover the installation of one type of
112 </p></dd><dt><span class="term">Advanced Configuration</span></dt><dd><p>
113 The mechanics of network browsing have long been the Achilles heel of
114 all Microsoft Windows users. Samba-3 introduces new user and machine
115 account management facilities, a new way to map UNIX groups and Windows
116 groups, Interdomain trusts, new loadable file system drivers (VFS), and
117 more. New with this document is expanded printing documentation, as well
118 as a wealth of information regarding desktop and user policy handling,
119 use of desktop profiles, and techniques for enhanced network integration.
120 This section makes up the core of the book. Read and enjoy.
121 </p></dd><dt><span class="term">Migration and Updating</span></dt><dd><p>
122 A much requested addition to the book is information on how to migrate
123 from Microsoft Windows NT4 to Samba-3, as well as an overview of what the
124 issues are when moving from Samba-2.x to Samba-3.
125 </p></dd><dt><span class="term">Troubleshooting</span></dt><dd><p>
126 This short section should help you when all else fails.
127 </p></dd><dt><span class="term">Reference Section</span></dt><dd><p>
128 Here you will find a collection of things that are either too peripheral
129 for most users, or are a little left of field to be included in the
130 main body of information.
131 </p></dd></dl></div><p>
132 Welcome to Samba-3 and the first published document to help you and your users to enjoy a whole
133 new world of interoperability between Microsoft Windows and the rest of the world.
134 </p></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="TOSHpreface.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"> </td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="introduction.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Preface </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Part I. General Installation</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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