I have OpenSUSE Leap 15.2 installed on 3 computers and I am trying to use Samba to transfer files. I have been doing this for years, but I have a problem with 15.2. I think I have narrowed it down to the firewall settings.
As set up, when I click Network, then Shared Folders(SMB), each computer sees only itself. By disabling Firewald on one computer, it can access all three, but I do have to type in the name in order to see the folders. If I then restart the firewall, I can still access shared folders on all three computers by typing in the names, but Dolphin shows only the one I am on and one other.
Here are the services set for the home zone of the Firewall on all three: dhcp dhcpv6 dhcpv-client dns ftp ipp ipp-client kdeconnect-kde kerberos mdns nfs samba samba-client ssh.
In my description of the problem that you quoted, I stated:
"Here are the services set for the home zone of the Firewall on all three: dhcp dhcpv6 dhcpv-client dns ftp ipp ipp-client kdeconnect-kde kerberos mdns nfs samba samba-client ssh.
‘ws-discovery’ is not available in Firewald on my three computers. All three machines are OpenSUSE Leap 15.2. With regard to KDE, I need to solve the connection problem (that appears to be a firewall problem), then I’ll worry about the secondary issue of the browsing. Dolphin woks fine once I type in the computer names.
You’d need to have ‘wsdd2’ installed for that. It also provides the wsdd2.service unit to provide the necessary support (for advertising samba servers to windows hosts).
All three machines are OpenSUSE Leap 15.2. With regard to KDE, I need to solve the connection problem (that appears to be a firewall problem), then I’ll worry about the secondary issue of the browsing. Dolphin woks fine once I type in the computer names.
I think I recall similar smb discovery behaviour when using the Dolphin version provided by default (openSUSE Leap 15.2), but I’ve been later versions (supplied by KDE repos) for quite some time.
I have already looked at that thread, and you say:
You should also know that if using KDE Plasma 5.18.x with Dolphin 20.04.0+ , the WS-Discovery protocol is now used to enumerate Windows hosts on the LAN (along with Avahi for Linux samba hosts)…
I don’t have any Windows machines, so if you’re correct, I don’t need wsdd2.
Here is the result of an avahi check (Firewall on)
@localhost:~> avahi-browse --all
+ wlan0 IPv6 ENVY_2021 _device-info._tcp local
+ wlan0 IPv6 linux SSH Remote Terminal local
+ wlan0 IPv6 linux SFTP File Transfer local
+ wlan0 IPv6 ENVY_2021 Microsoft Windows Network local
+ wlan0 IPv4 ENVY_2021 _device-info._tcp local
+ wlan0 IPv4 linux SSH Remote Terminal local
+ wlan0 IPv4 linux SFTP File Transfer local
+ wlan0 IPv4 ENVY_2021 Microsoft Windows Network local
and with Firewall off:
@localhost:~> avahi-browse --all
+ wlan0 IPv6 linux SFTP File Transfer local
+ wlan0 IPv4 linux SFTP File Transfer local
+ wlan0 IPv6 ENVY_2021 Microsoft Windows Network local
+ wlan0 IPv4 ENVY_2021 Microsoft Windows Network local
+ wlan0 IPv6 ENVY_2021 _device-info._tcp local
+ wlan0 IPv4 ENVY_2021 _device-info._tcp local
+ wlan0 IPv6 linux SSH Remote Terminal local
+ wlan0 IPv4 linux SSH Remote Terminal local
With firewall off, in Dolphin: Network/Shared Folders(SMB), when I type the name, e.g. Elite, I go directly to the shared folders on whichever of the three machines i choose. When I turn the Firewall back on, I can still access the folders on all three machines by typing their names.
Correct (although if it present, Dolphin will report such hosts as well as it now supports WS-Discovery).
Here is the result of an avahi check (Firewall on)
@localhost:~> avahi-browse --all
+ wlan0 IPv6 ENVY_2021 _device-info._tcp local
+ wlan0 IPv6 linux SSH Remote Terminal local
+ wlan0 IPv6 linux SFTP File Transfer local
+ wlan0 IPv6 ENVY_2021 Microsoft Windows Network local
+ wlan0 IPv4 ENVY_2021 _device-info._tcp local
+ wlan0 IPv4 linux SSH Remote Terminal local
+ wlan0 IPv4 linux SFTP File Transfer local
+ wlan0 IPv4 ENVY_2021 Microsoft Windows Network local
and with Firewall off:
@localhost:~> avahi-browse --all
+ wlan0 IPv6 linux SFTP File Transfer local
+ wlan0 IPv4 linux SFTP File Transfer local
+ wlan0 IPv6 ENVY_2021 Microsoft Windows Network local
+ wlan0 IPv4 ENVY_2021 Microsoft Windows Network local
+ wlan0 IPv6 ENVY_2021 _device-info._tcp local
+ wlan0 IPv4 ENVY_2021 _device-info._tcp local
+ wlan0 IPv6 linux SSH Remote Terminal local
+ wlan0 IPv4 linux SSH Remote Terminal local
With firewall off, in Dolphin: Network/Shared Folders(SMB), when I type the name, e.g. Elite, I go directly to the shared folders on whichever of the three machines i choose. When I turn the Firewall back on, I can still access the folders on all three machines by typing their names.
Yes, which tells me that it is not a firewall issue as such.
This stopped the NetBIOS-based discovery/browsing. However, KDE Dolphin should be able to find Linux samba servers via Avahi. I just can’t remember if it was working for me prior to upgrading via subscribing to the KDE repos.
Yes, I was surprised that the OP didn’t get this. However, they did say that they can access the server when explicitly entering the (DNS?) hostname, so I assume that there are no issues here. Using Avahi hostnames should also work without issue, but looking back through this thread I think that this may be about expectation based on the former NetBIOS functionality associated with SMB1 (now deprecated and only enabled if explicitly enabled with its associated risks).
I don’t mind typing the name of the computer I want to access (and, by the way, it doesn’t require the IP address), if that’s the best we can do after so many “improvements” in the OS.
Why do I have to stop the firewall on one computer in order to access the shared files on the others? Can this be fixed? It seems like it just needs another permitted service.
If you want to debug this you have to go from the basics (resolve with IP) to the more advanced options, otherwise you can not identify where the problem arises from. Mostly it’s misconfigurations…
And why smb1 has been turned off is your homework until next week… :-p