Hour 9: GUI Administration Tools: Summary

Sams Teach Yourself Samba in 24 Hours

Hour 9: GUI Administration Tools

Sections in this Chapter:
SWAT		smb-mode.el
Webmin		Summary
smbconftool		Q&A

Summary

Configuring your smb.conf file can be one of the most difficult aspects of getting Samba to function correctly on your system. The tools that you have explored in this hour make it easier to manage your smb.conf file.

Many of these tools, however, are in the early stages of their development, and all of them have problems of one sort or another (for example, many of them remove your comments, some don't like include sections, and so on). For experienced administrators, the main use of a tool such as SWAT or Webmin is to make quick changes to the smb.conf file via a browser when they are not logged into the server.

Caution - I would also like to stress that the Web-based tools available today for administering Samba do not include SSL support. This means that you submit usernames and passwords in the clear over the network. This causes most security-conscious people a real problem. At the least, you should not allow anyone to administer your Samba servers via the Internet!

In the next hour you will explore the topic of server-side automation, which enables you to use macros and other advanced techniques in your smb.conf file.

Sams Teach Yourself Samba in 24 Hours

Contents Index

Hour 9: GUI Administration Tools

Previous Hour Next Hour

Sections in this Chapter:
SWAT		smb-mode.el
Webmin		Summary
smbconftool		Q&A