Howto Configure Samba Usershares On A Soho Lan

I discovered samba Usershares by accident one day when I was investigating Nautilus. I asked what was the GUI feature that allowed a funny sort of file sharing by right-clicking a folder. No one really knew, or mentioned in that thread that a new form of Samba share was introduced in Samba v3.0.23 - and - since Samba v3.0.22 was the default in Suse 10.1 - we haven't had it long. It's called USERSHARES. Anyway, after stumbling around for about a month I've been able to piece together some basic information - and it's on this HowTo in the Wiki:

HowTo Configure Usershares on a SOHO LAN

It's clear to me from reading Forum posts that our knowledge is pretty early at this time - so if you spot that I'm wrong in places (an easy thing!) then please let me know. Or if I should include/alter anything - tell me.
Thanks
Swerdna

konqueror allows read/write to user shares (circled option).
see attached picture.

KDe is way more advanced than Gnome...



At this point I would really suggest to concentrate on more advanced/more stable/more secure KDE/samba sharing (introduced earlier than usershare in Gonome).

konqueror allows read/write to user shares (circled option).
see attached picture.

KDe is way more advanced than Gnome...

Don't rush with the howtos
At this point I would really suggest to concentrate on more advanced/more stable/more secure KDE/samba sharing (introduced earlier than usershare in Gonome).
[/b]

konqueror allows read/write to user shares (circled option).
see attached picture.[/b]

Thanks broch, but that's a picture of the making of a classical share requiring the root password, not a usershare. A usershare can be made by unprivileged users. You can configure KDE to style Konqueror for R-click usershares or to style Konqueror for R-click classical shares. I've obviously not made the distinction clear enough, but I will. I suppose there will be many who just will not be able easily to understand that there are now two quite different sorts of samba shares.

KDe is way more advanced than Gnome...[/b]

I really like KDE too BUT only because I use KDE habitually. Recently I've been investigating aspects of Gnome out of curiosity and I think it's a very very good Desktop Environment. I give no opinions on KDE -vs- Gnome in the HowTo because I don't think I'm sufficiently versed in Gnome to offer a comparison. However I note and understand your opinion.

Don't rush with the howtos[/b]

Thanks - don't really understand the comment - I'll keep the HowTo amended as our community knowledge expands, and maybe contribute a bit to that knowledge by doing so

At this point I would really suggest to concentrate on more advanced/more stable/more secure KDE/samba sharing (introduced earlier than usershare in Gonome).[/b]

I thought I made it clear in the first words of my HowTo that usershares were brand new to Suse. I'll emphasise that more.

Regarding Nautilus usershares - I gave my view on that in the Nautilus segment, where I warn about security and "banking passwords". I'm not sure how to be clearer.

In my final words I recommend against using usershares and recommend for using classical shares, what more can I do - the refugees from windowland have arrived and they WILL opt for one-click sharing despite what you or I might think about usershares. So I guess they need to be informed HowTo do it. I myself won't be using them, in line with my recommendation.

Now while I've got a bit of a drive-by audience here, I will say that I am puzzled that I can't create a KDE-usershare (in the sense of a share with a definition file in /var/lib/samba/usershares). I've now installed 10.2 four times on two different computers -- KDE-usershares won't work for me. I know they do for broch - but he does not have a standard KDE. Let me be clear - I'm talking about usershares, not classical Samba shares. Do usershares created in R-click Konqueror work for anyone in Suse 10.2 STANDARD install? Here's how you tell a usershare from a classical share: The usershare configuration appears in /var/lib/samba/usershares and the classical share configuration appears in /etc/samba/smb.conf.

Please let me know if you can make a KDE R-click usershare with a flat-standard-unenhanced install of Suse 10.2

Swerdna

Thanks broch, but that's a picture of the making of a classical share requiring the root password, not a usershare. A usershare can be made by unprivileged users. [/b]

don't you need root privilege to edit smb.conf to add info about usershare for gnome?
When kde samba share is configured first time you need to add users who have rights to make shares. Once this is done, users create shares without root password.

add users or group that has rights to create shares with read/write privileges (read/write picture in the previous post). Now changing if this is read only or read/write requires root privileges which is way better than nobody with no password. In fact this only option disqualifies gnome in anything that home use. Forget about soho, nobody will risk that much.

No, all my unprivileged users, without root access can create shares in kde. I don't need:
create special share as gnome requires
create nobody user without password
use cli for stable shares

I have no idea why this does not work for you: either this is suse bug, some glitch in your kde installation. I don't know

don't you need root privilege to edit smb.conf to add info about usershare for gnome?
When kde samba share is configured first time you need to add users who have rights to make shares. Once this is done, users create shares without root password.

add users or group that has rights to create shares with read/write privileges (read/write picture in the previous post). Now changing if this is read only or read/write requires root privileges which is way better than nobody with no password. In fact this only option disqualifies gnome in anything that home use. Forget about soho, nobody will risk that much.

No, all my unprivileged users, without root access can create shares in kde. I don't need:
create special share as gnome requires
create nobody user without password
use cli for stable shares

I have no idea why this does not work for you: either this is suse bug, some glitch in your kde installation. I don't know
[/b]

First-up broch -calm down- I'm not defending or emphasising or preferring Nautilus in any way. My HowTo points to three ways to create a usershare. One way is with KDE which you love - that's the third method in my HowTo - that's the way that you like of all the ways there are to make usershares, and it does get explained.

There's nothing special about Nautilus or Gnome. But Nautilus exists and Gnome exists - I can't change that AND they DO make usershares. And it would be quite strange of me to pretend that they don't exist.

Now moving to your specific advices for which I thank you:

don't you need root privilege to edit smb.conf to add info about usershare for gnome?[/b]

Yes of course, that's needed to set up nearly everything in Linux. Why is that relevant? Why do you ask?

When kde samba share is configured first time you need to add users who have rights to make shares. Once this is done, users create shares without root password.[/b]

That's right, I agree. I'll add more blue-ink words on the KDE pic in the HowTo to ensure people understand they have to click "allowed users" and check it says "all users".

add users or group that has rights to create shares with read/write privileges (read/write picture in the previous post). Now changing if this is read only or read/write requires root privileges which is way better than nobody with no password. In fact this only option disqualifies gnome in anything that home use. Forget about soho, nobody will risk that much.[/b]

The pictures you refer to here, i.e. the one/s in your first post are NOT for usershares, theyre for classical shares. They aren't relevant here. They are relevant in a discussion of the relative merits or usershares and classical shares. But this thread is not about whether classical shares or usershares are better. I know you think classical shares are better that usershares. You know I think classical shares are better than usershares. But our views are irrelevant because the HowTo is about usershares only.
I imagine that the Samba and KDE developers in their wisdom have invented and implemented usershares because there's a demand for them.

No, all my unprivileged users, without root access can create shares in kde. I don't need:
create special share as gnome requires
create nobody user without password
use cli for stable shares[/b]

I think I just spoke to this immediately above.

I have no idea why this does not work for you: either this is suse bug, some glitch in your kde installation. I don't know[/b]

I agree with you and in an attempt to find out why, I have asked in my last post for people who can make usershares [where configuration files are lodged in the folder /var/lib/samba/usershares] for these people to confirm that they can - or can't - do it with a stock standard Suse install. You have a non-standard Suse as you mentioned elsewhere. Also have you checked that config files are being lodged in /var/lib/samba/usershares?

Thanks again
swerdna

swerdna,
you are absolutely right. I did not read your howto carefully enough. Sorry.

swerdna,
you are absolutely right. I did not read your howto carefully enough. Sorry.
[/b]

No broblem broch. I'ts good to see you've zeroed into what I'm on about. I am not confident that Suse has implemented this new usershare technology properly. Could you (or anyone) please check something for me: In four Suse 10.2 installs

• I can get CLI usershares to work
• I can't get KDE usershares to work - and maybe you can
• I can get Gnome usershares to work

could you please make a right-click KDE usershare and confirm for me

• that the configuration file for a KDE usershare lodges in the directory var/lib/samba/usershares
• and that nothing relating to a KDE usershare gets written into smb.conf.

Thanks
Swerdna

could you please make a right-click KDE usershare and confirm for me

* that the configuration file for a KDE usershare lodges in the directory var/lib/samba/usershares
* and that nothing relating to a KDE usershare gets written into smb.conf.[/b]

* there is no extra confguration file for KDE. KDE does not use /var/lib/usershares
* changes made by non privileged user are written to smb.conf (KDE allows to add/delete share info to smb.conf by non privileged user)
* KDE shares are accessible by any user (not listed in smbpasswd = guest) on the network

* there is no extra confguration file for KDE. KDE does not use /var/lib/usershares
* changes made by non privileged user are written to smb.conf (KDE allows to add/delete share info to smb.conf by non privileged user)
* KDE shares are accessible by any user (not listed in smbpasswd = guest) on the network
[/b]

Thanks broch
That's what I approximately thought. I just needed someone else to say it too.
It's like this according to you and me
KDE makes on-the-fly shares -- these shares are classical shares --> smb.conf
Gnome makes on-the-fly shares -- these shares are usershares --> /var/lib/samba/usershares

So I think I change my HowTo - it gets more accurate.

Thanks broch
That's what I approximately thought. I just needed someone else to say it too.
It's like this according to you and me
KDE makes on-the-fly shares -- these shares are classical shares --> smb.conf
Gnome makes on-the-fly shares -- these shares are usershares --> /var/lib/samba/usershares

So I think I change my HowTo - it gets more accurate.
[/b]

@broch

Hello again:

I took alll this on board, plus the delightful experiment by deltaflyer and other posts. And chucked the HowTo out - relegated it to an academic musing on my site. I completely reformed my stance on sharing files - now the HowTo is:

HowTo Configure Shares on a Linux File Server in a SOHO LAN

A series of recipes to get things working right - much better approach

I'll gratefully take any more comments on board folks.

Thanks
Swerdna