Editing Samba (software) (section)

==Features==
Samba allows file and print sharing between computers running Microsoft Windows and computers running Unix. It is an implementation of dozens of [[Service (systems architecture)|services]] and a dozen protocols, including:
* [[NetBIOS]] over [[TCP/IP]] ([[NetBIOS over TCP/IP|NBT]])
* [[Server Message Block|SMB]] (known as CIFS in some versions)
** Samba supports POSIX extensions for CIFS/SMB. The initial extension was CIFS VFS (CAP_UNIX) from 2004, which has been somewhat superseded by SMB3.<ref>{{cite web |title=UNIX Extensions |url=https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/UNIX_Extensions |website=SambaWiki}}</ref>
* [[DCE/RPC]] or more specifically, [[Microsoft RPC|MSRPC]], the Network Neighborhood suite of protocols
* A [[Windows Internet Name Service|WINS]] server also known as a NetBIOS Name Server (NBNS)
* The NT Domain suite of protocols which includes NT Domain Logons
* [[Security Account Manager]] (SAM) database
* [[Local Security Authority Subsystem Service|Local Security Authority]] (LSA) service
* NT-style printing service (SPOOLSS)
* [[NT LAN Manager|NTLM]]
* Active Directory Logon using modified versions of [[Kerberos (protocol)|Kerberos]] and [[Lightweight Directory Access Protocol|LDAP]]
* [[Distributed File System (Microsoft)|DFS]] server

All these services and protocols are frequently incorrectly referred to as just NetBIOS or SMB. The NBT (NetBIOS over TCP/IP) and WINS protocols, and their underlying SMB version 1 protocol, are deprecated on Windows. Since [[Windows Vista]] the [[WS-Discovery]] protocol has been included along with SMB2 and its successors, which supersede these. (WS-Discovery is implemented on [[Unix-like]] platforms by third party [[Daemon (computing)|daemon]]s which allow Samba shares to be discovered when the deprecated protocols are disabled).

Samba sets up [[network share]]s for chosen Unix [[directory (file systems)|directories]] (including all contained subdirectories). These appear to Microsoft Windows users as normal Windows folders accessible via the network. Unix users can either [[Mount (computing)|mount]] the shares directly as part of their file structure using the mount.cifs command or, alternatively, can use a utility, smbclient (libsmb) installed with Samba to read the shares with a similar interface to a standard command line [[File Transfer Protocol|FTP]] program. Each directory can have different access privileges overlaid on top of the normal Unix file protections. For example: home directories would have read/write access for all known users, allowing each to access their own files. However they would still not have access to the files of others unless that [[File system permissions|permission]] would normally exist. Note that the netlogon share, typically distributed as a read only share from <code>/etc/samba/netlogon</code>, is the logon directory for user logon scripts.

Samba services are implemented as two [[Daemon (computing)|daemons]]:
* smbd, which provides the file and printer sharing services, and
* nmbd, which provides the NetBIOS-to-IP-address name service. NetBIOS over TCP/IP requires some method for mapping NetBIOS computer names to the IP addresses of a TCP/IP network.

Samba configuration is achieved by editing a single file (typically installed as <code>/etc/smb.conf</code> or <code>/etc/samba/smb.conf</code>). Samba can also provide [[user logon scripts]] and group policy implementation through <code>poledit</code>.

Samba is included in most Linux distributions and is started during the boot process. On Red Hat, for instance, the <code>/etc/rc.d/init.d/smb</code> script runs at boot time, and starts both daemons. Samba is not included in Solaris 8, but a Solaris 8-compatible version is available from the Samba website. The [[OS/2]]-based [[ArcaOS]] includes Samba to replace the old [[IBM LAN Server]] software.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=2020-09-11|website=arcanoae.com|url=https://www.arcanoae.com/wiki/arcamapper/|title=ArcaMapper}}</ref>

Samba includes a web administration tool called ''Samba Web Administration Tool'' (SWAT).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://us3.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-HOWTO-Collection/SWAT.html|title=Chapter 37. SWAT: The Samba Web Administration Tool|access-date=21 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.linux.com/news/swat-your-samba-problems/|title=SWAT your Samba problems|date=31 January 2008|publisher=linux.com}}</ref>
SWAT was removed starting with version 4.1.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Samba_4.1_Features_added/changed|title=Samba 4.1 Features added/changed|access-date=21 September 2015}}</ref>