Windows machines can't see Linux machine on network (1 Viewer)

[Ken Garrison]

How do I configure Red Hat 7.3 so when I go to My Network Places on my XP machines, I will be able to see the Linux box?

 

[Bill Slack]

You need to setup Samba. This will enable you to map it as a network drive to Windows. You should already be able to connect to it with any old TCP protocol.

 

[Steven K]

Also, check out an application called "Exceed" by Hummingbird. It acts as an X-Windows server on your NT box, thus letting you use your Windows box to telnet into any UnixLinux machine, with a full GUI (just as it would be on the actual machine).

I love it... I rely on it at work, couldn't get by without it! Granted it is not going to solve the dilemma that you mention above, but while on the subject of Win-Unix software, check it out.

 

[Ken Garrison]

I want to be able to see the Linux box in My Network Places. I installed Samba, but don't know how to configure it. I'm thinking about just using Win2k on my server, since it's easier to use. But try to help me configure this so my windows machines will see the linux box in MY Network Places in XP.

 

[Bill Slack]

You just need to confiure Samba to appear in the same workgroup. Thet config file is /etc/samba/smb.conf.

I use Debian, so debconf confirued it through a nice little menu for me after downloading it via apt-get (I heard RH supports apt-get now?)

Anyway, I had never setup Samba in my life before, but it took very little time. Check the config file, and make sure Samba is running too. (ps aux |grep smb; /usr/bin/smb -D shoudl show up)

To set the password for connecting to the Samba share, su to root and run smbpasswd [username] and you'll be all set.

 

[Ken Garrison]

Where is Samba located. What is the program called? Where do I find all this stuff and how do I configure it? I found a thing called Kick Start. I did that, saved it, rebooted and didn't do shit. Tell me where Samba is at so I can configure it.

 

[Rob Speicher]

Check out Webmin - http://www.webmin.com makes all this stuff really easy regardless of Distro.

 

[DonRoeber]

Ken, as Bill Slack said, the config file for Samba is /etc/samba/smb.conf. Edit it with a text editor. After editing it, restart samba by running /etc/rc.d/init.d/samba restart as a root user.

Kick Start isn't meant for configuring services, it's software to allow you to create a network installation for Redhat. It's very useful when you're setting up a bunch of identical servers, but useless for you.

 

[Ken Garrison]

NOPE, not working. Guys, please don't use jibberish. I've only been using linux for a few days now. I know nothing about it. Please give me a step by step way. From how to set up Samba and put in the workgroup names and crap to getting Windows to see it.

 

[Bill Slack]

It's very hard to give a total step-by-step instructions. If you want those, from me, you will need to download and install Debian, instead of using Redhat.

Do you defiantley have Samba installed? Does typing 'samabastatus' on the command line work?

If Samba exists, then you just need to make sure it's running. Like I said, type 'ps aux |grep smb' and you should see a result in the list, such as '... smb -D'

Lastly, edit /etc/samba/smb.conf with your favorite editor. I use emacs, so I type 'emacs /etc/samba/smb.conf' and type Ctrl-X, Ctrl-S in order to save from emacs (hey, it's more intuitive than vi!) Pico is a very simple editor that might be included in your distrubution, and is simpler to use.

Whatever you use to edit it, look for the 'WORKGROUP = [whatever]' line, and make sure the [whatever] is the same as what you call your windows workgroup. After that, it should be showing up in Windows, provided it is on the same network.

 

[nolesrule]

Buy a Linux book. It'll teach you all the basics for using the shell commandline interface for just about any Linux distro. After about a week, none of this will seem like gibberish.

And not to get into a text editor war, but I prefer vi to emacs.

 

[John_Berger]

Um ... Have you RTFM or the HOWTOs in this case???
There are NUMEROUS web sites on the Internet that provide plenty of this kind of information, not to mention www.samba.org itself.
Before running around like a chicken with its head cut off, please try searching the Internet which will give you the insight of thousands of knowledgeable individuals as opposed to a few knowledgeable people on HTF. Many of said web sites give the step-by-step instructions that you're begging us to give you.
http://www.samba.org/
http://www.linuxorbit.com/howto/sambahowto.php3
Link Removed
http://www.linux-mag.com/2000-04/newbies_01.html
http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stori...linuxcorp.html
I'm not trying to sound callous and we on HTF are not unwilling to help -- quite the opposite. But there is something to be said for those who take the incentive to find the answers on their own before asking for help, particularly on a topic such as this.

 

[John_Berger]

And not to get into a text editor war, but I prefer vi to emacs.

Absolutely! Six rules!

 

[Ken Garrison]

Hell with it. I'll use Win2k on my server machine. I also wanna use it as an Internet Gateway and the PCI modem I got won't work in Linux and don't wanna buy a new one. I'm better off using Win2k. I shouldn't have to type in a bunch of crap to get Linux to be seen by Windows on the network. With Windows, once the workgroup and computer name is entered, all ya have to do is hook it up and it's on the network. Hell, I had my XP machines sharing files and internet once I plugged the wires together. I'm sorry guys to bug ya like this. It's just way to complicated for me. I'm working on getting A+ Certified. I'm only good at putting the computer together and running Windows. I don't wanna have to do all that stuff to get a machine running on the network. I'm a windows person. I admit, Red Hat's the best distro I've tried. Mandrake and Elx all sucked and always crashed. Red Hat is a bit faster but still slower than XP on a Pentium system. I appreciate you guys trying to help. But I just don't get it. I'm just gonna have to use Win2k on my server system. I'll run it with Minimal shit on it and it should do great. It'll be running 24/7 and will auto dial to the internet whenever it disconnects. Thanks for your help guys. I gotta better understanding, but still can't get the mofo to work. Win2k's just gonna have to be what I use. Install it, remove the extra shit it's got through the Add/Remove program, make sure no extra programs start up in the background, and set it up on the network and internet with a click of a mouse.

 

[Bill Slack]

Sorry to hear that. It can be quite fun to get it up and running, but if you're not experienced in Unix, at all, it can be very difficult. Even worse if you're not used to any cli interface. Once you get used to it, it's generally easier to deal with than Windows. Linux doesn't tend to do much for you, you have to tell it what to do. Windows just tries to do everything, which is great, if you want something relatively generic (which you do, and that's fine!)

Mandrake is very bad for a server, by most accounts. A lot of folks use RH on servers, I have never liked Redhat. Debian (unstable) is just fantastic, but a little weird to get up an running.

And btw, what you need to do to get Samba up and running isn't much more than Windows. It really took me less than five minutes, and I've never set it up before. I have been fooling around with Linux since 1997 though and try to be a unix weenie whenever I can though. I was frustrated the same way you were for sometime, but kept reading through howto's and bugging people in #linuxhelp on irc.openprojects.net when the shit really hit the fan.

Hope the 2k box works well for ya...

 

[John_Berger]

Unfortunately, the command line, while the most powerful and capable function of any *NIX, is always what confuses the hell out of the GUI Generation. Times like this make me wish that DOS was still prevalent since there would at least be a command-line commonality.
** sigh ** Oh, well. :frowning:

 

[Jonathan Smith]

Since you guys are talking about Linux anyway, can anyone recommend a good book to get me started learning about it? I have some very basic unix experience (pico, working with files/directories/permissions, and that sort of thing), but not much beyond that at the unix command line. I'm headed up to grad school at MIT in a couple of weeks, and they use a linux-based system up there. I'm thinking about setting up a dual boot with XP Pro and their version of Linux.

I know there are a million books on the subject, just wondering if anyone has one that they found particularly helpful.

Thanks.

 

[DonRoeber]

Jonathan,
Always start by first looking at O'Reilly books, they're always the best for just about anything unix related (including scripting and basic programming). I often find the Linux Network Administrator's Guide to be very helpful. But to read it, you don't necessarily have to buy the book. The text has been written by the user community, and is under the GPL. O'Reilly just provides it in dead-tree form. It's available online here: http://www.tldp.org/LDP/nag2/