How to setup a samba file system

first make sure that samba is installed on your machine

rpm -qa | grep samba

failing to return anything

urpmq --fuzzy samba

it will return samba-client and samba-server

now type 

urpmi samba-client
urpmi samba-server 

(really only client is necessary to have windows view linux, but you need both 
to have two way communication)

With that done we have to go on to edit /etc/samba/smb.conf

cat /etc/samba/smb.conf

#       Global Parameters

workgroup = mhd_fluid_systems # name of the network to be found from windows
netbios name = MHD2           # some name, can be blank for all it matters
encrypt passwords = yes       # in the world today encryption is necessary
printcap name = cups          # allow printer access via this network
printing = cups		      # more allowing access to a printer
security = user		      # users must login to use the system

[printers]		      # all of these allow printer access
browseable = yes
printable = yes
public = yes
create mode = 0700
guest only = yes
use client driver = yes
guest account = smbprint      # this is a user on mhd2
path = /home/smbprint	      # the home address for smbprint on mhd2

[homes]
read only = no		      # a user once logged on can view home directories
browseable = no		      # otherwise outsiders see nothing 

[music]
path = /home/user/music       # a particular directory to share
browseable = yes	      # users can view contents 
write list = user, user1      # this is the list of allowed users to view

NOTE: the shared files must have at a minimum wrx permissions for the "user" 
      and "others" and rx permissions for "group" 

Now the config file is ready to use, we need to setup samba users and something
else I cannot think of right now

To add a samba user:

For an non-existant user you must add the user to your linux box (usual 
useradd...)

for the existing user

type 'smbpasswd -a user'
and create a password for 'user'

repeat this for all users that require access to the windows box.

With these users added we need to restart samba

service smb restart

Now your machine is accessible from a windows box.

You can setup your machine as a primary domain controler (ie windows accesses 
the internet via your linux box) but I have not done that yet, so I will leave 
this here.

Further, to allow linux to view your windows directories, first you must change
the permissions on your windows files to allow sharing (including the directory
in which these files are located) and set all passwords etc... (Vista is a huge
pain in the ass here, so damn secure this small project was painful)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is not essential, and is a prelude to Primary Domain Controling
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With that done, we can add a computer to the smb server

useradd -s /bin/false -d /dev/null windows_box\$

this adds a machine (which is why it must end in \$) as a user in your linux box.

with this added 

smbpasswd -a -m windows_box

The -m indicates to samba that this is a machine not a user so it will take the
windows password.

now restart samba

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To permanently add a windows networked device open /etc/fstab and add the line

//kdl2/Public /d/kdl2/vista smbfs ro,credentials=/home/linux_user/.smbpasswd,uid=linux_user,gid=users 0 0

the first is a way of pointing to a windows machine called kdl2 and we want to 
share the Public directory (actually called that on windows)
the second is the mount point in linux (this mount point must be empty and exist)
the third is the filesystem (short for samba file system)

the rest is options for fstab (read-only and then the password file, user to 
logon as, and in windows the group id is always users) then 0 o (read man fstab
for specifics)

with this done perform a 'service netfs restart'

in principle the windows machine (well Public directory anyways) is mounted as 
read only in linux. The user is allows to make the windows mount a rw but this 
can cause trouble if a critical system file is erased.

NOTE: the file /home/linux_user/.smbpasswd must contain 

username=windows_user
password='actual user password on windows'

Note: yes, your windows password is in plain text and is exposed to the world 
if it is seen. If you are clever, you will hide this file somewhere nobody 
expects (unless they read your /etc/fstab in which case they know where it is...)

Note: This file must have have permissions set to 600

chmod 600 .smbpasswd