Hi, I was wondering if anyone can let me know how i can get red-hat linux 7.2 to talk to my windows network. I am able to plug in my linux box and browse the internet so that tells me that my dhcp server is giving it an ip address, but my linux box cannot see any of my other computers on my network. I guess my question is how do i add linux to my windows network? Thanks in advance

sanba is your best bet. you might have it installed already http://www.samba.org or try http://www.google.com for a search on more info good luck

I agree that Samba (smb) would be a good solution for you, however it can be a challenge to set up the configuration file (/etc/smb.conf or /etc/samba/smb.conf). Samba-swat (if available for Redhat 7.2) is a good utility for setting up Samba. FTP is another way of moving files around. Set up the FTP server on the Linux box and then FTP to it from the Windows machines. Good luck.

Personally I have always found editing smb.conf very easy, providided that it is well commented to start with. Here is an example for you to refer to: # This is the main Samba configuration file. You should read the # smb.conf(5) manual page in order to understand the options listed # here. Samba has a huge number of configurable options (perhaps too # many!) most of which are not shown in this example # # Any line which starts with a ; (semi-colon) or a # (hash) # is a comment and is ignored. In this example we will use a # # for commentry and a ; for parts of the config file that you # may wish to enable # # NOTE: Whenever you modify this file you should run the command "testparm" # to check that you have not made any basic syntactic errors. # #======================= Global Settings ===================================== [global] # 1. Server Naming Options: # workgroup = NT-Domain-Name or Workgroup-Name workgroup = COMMS2000GROUP # netbios name is the name you will see in "Network Neighbourhood", # but defaults to your hostname ; netbios name = # server string is the equivalent of the NT Description field server string = Daves Boxen %v # Message command is run by samba when a "popup" message is sent to it. # The example below is for use with LinPopUp: ; message command = /usr/bin/linpopup "%f" "%m" %s; rm %s # 2. Printing Options: # CHANGES TO ENABLE PRINTING ON ALL CUPS PRINTERS IN THE NETWORK # (as cups is now used in linux-mandrake 7.2 by default) # if you want to automatically load your printer list rather # than setting them up individually then you'll need this printcap name = lpstat load printers = yes # It should not be necessary to spell out the print system type unless # yours is non-standard. Currently supported print systems include: # bsd, sysv, plp, lprng, aix, hpux, qnx, cups printing = cups # Samba 2.2 supports the Windows NT-style point-and-print feature. To # use this, you need to be able to upload print drivers to the samba # server. The printer admins (or root) may install drivers onto samba. # Note that this feature uses the print$ share, so you will need to # enable it below. # This parameter works like domain admin group: # printer admin = @ ; printer admin = @adm # This should work well for winbind: ; printer admin = @"Domain Admins" # 3. Logging Options: # this tells Samba to use a separate log file for each machine # that connects log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m # Put a capping on the size of the log files (in Kb). max log size = 50 # Set the log (verbosity) level (0 /docs/Samba-HOWTO-Collection.pdf [print$] path = /var/lib/samba/printers browseable = yes read only = yes write list = @adm root # A useful application of samba is to make a PDF-generation service # To streamline this, install windows postscript drivers (preferably colour) # on the samba server, so that clients can automatically install them. [pdf-generator] path = /var/tmp guest ok = yes printable = Yes comment = PDF Generator #print command = /usr/share/samba/scripts/print-pdf file path win_path recipient IP & print command = /usr/share/samba/scripts/print-pdf %s ~%u \\\\\\\\%L\\\\%u %m %I & # This one is useful for people to share files [tmp] comment = Temporary file space path = /tmp read only = no public = yes # A publicly accessible directory, but read only, except for people in # the "staff" group ;[public] ; comment = Public Stuff ; path = /home/samba/public ; public = yes ; writable = no ; write list = @staff # Audited directory through experimental VFS audit.so module: # Uncomment next line. ; vfs object = /usr/lib/samba/vfs/audit.so # Other examples. # # A private printer, usable only by Fred. Spool data will be placed in Fred's # home directory. Note that fred must have write access to the spool directory, # wherever it is. [root] ; comment = Fred's Printer ; valid users = fred ## path = / ; printer = freds_printer ## public = yes ## writable = no # valid users = root ; printable = yes # A private directory, usable only by Fred. Note that Fred requires write # access to the directory. ;[fredsdir] ; comment = Fred's Service ; path = /usr/somewhere/private ; valid users = fred ; public = no ; writable = yes ; printable = no # a service which has a different directory for each machine that connects # this allows you to tailor configurations to incoming machines. You could # also use the %u option to tailor it by user name. # The %m gets replaced with the machine name that is connecting. ;[pchome] ; comment = PC Directories ; path = /usr/pc/%m ; public = no ; writable = yes # A publicly accessible directory, read/write to all users. Note that all files # created in the directory by users will be owned by the default user, so # any user with access can delete any other user's files. Obviously this # directory must be writable by the default user. Another user could of course # be specified, in which case all files would be owned by that user instead. ;[public] ; path = /usr/somewhere/else/public ; public = yes ; only guest = yes ; writable = yes ; printable = no # The following two entries demonstrate how to share a directory so that two # users can place files there that will be owned by the specific users. In this # setup, the directory should be writable by both users and should have the # sticky bit set on it to prevent abuse. Obviously this could be extended to # as many users as required. ;[myshare] ; comment = Mary's and Fred's stuff ; path = /usr/somewhere/shared ; valid users = mary fred ; public = no ; writable = yes ; printable = no ; create mask = 0765 [Public] path = /Public writable = yes valid users = @comms2000group public = yes create mode = 777 directory mode = 777 revalidate = yes

3Dave, just look at how much you just entered into your post, and tell me again how easy it is, especially for a newbie. Thanks for help showing my point, by the way. Samba-swat creates only the entries necessary, such as: # Samba config file created using SWAT # from localhost.localdomain (127.0.0.1) # Date: 2003/07/05 21:41:39 # Global parameters [global] workgroup = MYGROUP server string = Samba Server security = SHARE encrypt passwords = Yes obey pam restrictions = Yes pam password change = Yes passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u passwd chat = *New*password* %n\n *Retype*new*password* %n\n *passwd:*all*authentication*tokens*updated*successfully* unix password sync = Yes log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log max log size = 0 socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192 dns proxy = No printing = lprng [printers] comment = All Printers path = /var/spool/samba printable = Yes browseable = No [newshare] path = /etc/samba/share read only = No guest ok = Yes I used to do it your way, but found it to be unreliable as to it working with Windows 9x, some stupid password or share problem here or there. Good luck, Joe.

It's only long because of the comments and examples. I've found editing SWAT generated conf files more difficult as there is no explaination as to what the settings do. I do get your point, but I prefer well commented config files....they are easier to follow and it's just a good habit to get into.