Posted by lloyd on Tue 29 Nov 2005 at 13:22
I've studied the books, read the websites, posted for help -- followed the various recipes slavishly, but still, despite generous hints from forum responders, can't get simple peer-to-peer print and file sharing to work.
As a business owner if I can't get a handle on what should be a simple configuration issue I may have to abandon my plan of moving my business from MS to Debian Linux. I've been using Debian for over a year personally and love it. But I can't run a business when it takes days to install a simple mixed network and configure it.
Part of the problem is that nowhere have I found a source that gives me a simple overview, a clear step-by-step procedure, and diagnostics to zero in on the problems. Every source seems to say something different.
Here's what I'm trying to do:
Network
windowsA running MS 2000 Server
linuxA running Debian 2.6.8-2-k7 -- network printer HP PhotoSmart P1100
>
linuxB running Debian 2.6.8-2-k7
Users
Lloyd
Others once I get the hang of it
Goal
1. Access files from any machine on the LAN from any other
2. Copy files from any machine on the LAN to any other
3. Print to the network printer from any machine on the LAN
Diagnosis
In many different configurations I've met one or another of my goals but never all three at the same time. I simply can't tell which configuration step result in success, so I get one thing working, change config to get something else working, break the first thing that I got working without understanding how to fix it again.
Overview
My understanding of the process -- and some of my uncertainties
1) Install hpijs drivers on linuxA (And ghostscript? foomatic? ...)
1) Configure cupsd.conf
2) Configure smb.conf
3) Create Linux users using adduser
4) Create smb users using smbpasswd (Same names as Linux users? Same or different passwords?)
5) Let CUPS know about smb users with cupsaddsmb (Same entries as step 4?)
6) Transfer Windows driver for PhotoSmart to linuxA (Some recommend using driver for Postscript printer such as Apple Laserwriter???)
7) Restart CUPS and Samba
My CUPS configuration
ServerName linuxA
AccessLog /var/log/cups/access_log
ErrorLog /var/log/cups/error_log
PrintCap /var/run/cups/printcap
User lp
Group lpadmin
Port 631
Browsing On
BrowseProtocols = cups
BrowseAddress = @LOCAL
BrowseAllow = @LOCAL
I'm not quite sure how location /, location /jobs, and location /admin should be configured for best security.
my smb.conf configuration
[global]
load printers = yes
printing = cups
printcap name = cups
[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
browsable = no
public = yes
guest ok = yes
writable = no
printable = yes
printer admin = root
[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /etc/samba/drivers
browsable = yes
guest ok = no
read only = yes
write list = root
Also, all sources mention security, but give very little information on how I can evaluate my configuration for security risks and plug them.
What am I missing? What controls what? How does anybody master this stuff without six-months of study and experimentation? Why does it have to be this way?
Many thanks,
Lloyd
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This article is copyright 2005 lloyd - please ask for permission to republish or translate.