1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> 2<!DOCTYPE preface PUBLIC "-//Samba-Team//DTD DocBook V4.2-Based Variant V1.0//EN" "http://www.samba.org/samba/DTD/samba-doc"> 3<preface id="IntroSMB"> 4<prefaceinfo> 5 &author.jht; 6 <pubdate>June 29, 2003</pubdate> 7</prefaceinfo> 8 9<title>Introduction</title> 10 11<para><quote> 12A man's gift makes room for him before great men. Gifts are like hooks that can catch 13hold of the mind taking it beyond the reach of forces that otherwise might constrain it. 14</quote> --- Anon. 15</para> 16 17 18<para> 19This is a book about Samba. It is a tool, a derived work of the labors 20of many and of the diligence and goodwill of more than a few. 21This book contains material that has been contributed in a persistent belief 22that each of us can add value to our neighbors as well as to those who will 23follow us. 24</para> 25 26<para> 27This book is designed to meet the needs of the Microsoft network administrator. 28UNIX administrators will benefit from this book also, though they may complain 29that it is hard to find the information they think they need. So if you are a 30Microsoft certified specialist, this book should meet your needs rather well. 31If you are a UNIX or Linux administrator, there is no need to feel badly &smbmdash; you 32should have no difficulty finding answers to your current concerns also. 33</para> 34 35<sect1> 36<title>What Is Samba?</title> 37 38 <para> 39 Samba is a big, complex project. The Samba project is ambitious and exciting. 40 The team behind Samba is a group of some thirty individuals who are spread 41 the world over and come from an interesting range of backgrounds. This team 42 includes scientists, engineers, programmers, business people, and students. 43 </para> 44 45 <para> 46 Team members were drawn into active participation through the desire to help 47 deliver an exciting level of transparent interoperability between Microsoft 48 Windows and the non-Microsoft information 49 technology world. 50 </para> 51 52 <para> 53 The slogan that unites the efforts behind the Samba project says: 54 <emphasis>Samba, Opening Windows to a Wider World!</emphasis> The goal 55 behind the project is one of removing barriers to interoperability. 56 </para> 57 58 <para> 59 Samba provides file and print services for Microsoft Windows clients. These 60 services may be hosted off any TCP/IP-enabled platform. The original deployment 61 platforms were UNIX and Linux, though today it is in common use across 62 a broad variety of systems. 63 </para> 64 65 <para> 66 The Samba project includes not only an impressive feature set in file and print 67 serving capabilities, but has been extended to include client functionality, 68 utilities to ease migration to Samba, tools to aid interoperability with 69 Microsoft Windows, and administration tools. 70 </para> 71 72 <para> 73 The real people behind Samba are users like you. You have inspired the 74 developers (the Samba Team) to do more than any of them imagined could or should 75 be done. User feedback drives Samba development. Samba-3 in particular incorporates 76 a huge amount of work done as a result of user requests, suggestions and direct 77 code contributions. 78 </para> 79 80</sect1> 81 82<sect1> 83<title>Why This Book?</title> 84 85 <para> 86 There is admittedly a large number of Samba books on the market today and 87 each book has its place. Despite the apparent plethora of books, Samba 88 as a project continues to receive much criticism for failing to provide 89 sufficient documentation. Samba is also criticized for being too complex 90 and too difficult to configure. In many ways this is evidence of the 91 success of Samba as there would be no complaints if it was not successful. 92 </para> 93 94 <para> 95 The Samba Team members work predominantly with UNIX and Linux, so 96 it is hardly surprising that existing Samba documentation should reflect 97 that orientation. The original HOWTO text documents were intended to provide 98 some tips, a few golden nuggets, and if they helped anyone then that was 99 just wonderful. But the HOWTO documents lacked structure and context. They were 100 isolated snapshots of information that were written to pass information 101 on to someone else who might benefit. They reflected a need to transmit 102 more information that could be conveniently put into manual pages. 103 </para> 104 105 <para> 106 The original HOWTO documents were written by different authors. Most HOWTO 107 documents are the result of feedback and contributions from numerous 108 authors. In this book we took care to preserve as much original content as 109 possible. As you read this book you will note that chapters were written by 110 multiple authors, each of whom has his own style. This demonstrates 111 the nature of the Open Source software development process. 112 </para> 113 114 <para> 115 Out of the original HOWTO documents sprang a collection of unofficial 116 HOWTO documents that are spread over the Internet. It is sincerely intended 117 that this work will <emphasis>not</emphasis> replace the valuable unofficial 118 HOWTO work that continues to flourish. If you are involved in unofficial 119 HOWTO production then please continue your work! 120 </para> 121 122 <para> 123 Those of you who have dedicated your labors to the production of unofficial 124 HOWTOs, to Web page information regarding Samba, or to answering questions 125 on the mailing lists or elsewhere, may be aware that this is a labor 126 of love. We would like to know about your contribution and willingly receive 127 the precious pearls of wisdom you have collected. Please email your contribution to 128 <ulink noescape="1" url="mailto:jht@samba.org">John H. Terpstra (jht@samba.org)</ulink>. 129 As a service to other users we will gladly adopt material that is technically accurate. 130 </para> 131 132 <para> 133 Existing Samba books are largely addressed to the UNIX administrator. 134 From the perspective of this target group the existing books serve 135 an adequate purpose, with one exception &smbmdash; now that Samba-3 is out 136 they need to be updated! 137 </para> 138 139 <para> 140 This book, the <emphasis>Official Samba-3 HOWTO and Reference Guide</emphasis>, 141 includes the Samba-HOWTO-Collection.pdf that ships with Samba. 142 These documents have been written with a new design intent and purpose. 143 </para> 144 145 <para> 146 Over the past two years many Microsoft network administrators have adopted 147 Samba and have become interested in its deployment. Their information needs 148 are very different from that of the UNIX administrator. This book has been 149 arranged and the information presented from the perspective of someone with previous 150 Microsoft Windows network administrative training and experience. 151 </para> 152 153</sect1> 154 155<sect1> 156<title>Book Structure and Layout</title> 157 158 <para> 159 This book is presented in six parts: 160 </para> 161 162 <variablelist> 163 <varlistentry><term>General Installation</term> 164 <listitem><para> 165 Designed to help you get Samba-3 running quickly. 166 The Fast Start chapter is a direct response to requests from 167 Microsoft network administrators for some sample configurations 168 that <emphasis>just work</emphasis>. 169 </para></listitem> 170 </varlistentry> 171 172 <varlistentry><term>Server Configuration Basics</term> 173 <listitem><para> 174 The purpose of this section is to aid the transition from existing 175 Microsoft Windows network knowledge to Samba terminology and norms. 176 The chapters in this part each cover the installation of one type of 177 Samba server. 178 </para></listitem> 179 </varlistentry> 180 181 <varlistentry><term>Advanced Configuration</term> 182 <listitem><para> 183 The mechanics of network browsing have long been the Achilles heel of 184 all Microsoft Windows users. Samba-3 introduces new user and machine 185 account management facilities, a new way to map UNIX groups and Windows 186 groups, Interdomain trusts, new loadable file system drivers (VFS), and 187 more. New with this document is expanded printing documentation, as well 188 as a wealth of information regarding desktop and user policy handling, 189 use of desktop profiles, and techniques for enhanced network integration. 190 This section makes up the core of the book. Read and enjoy. 191 </para></listitem> 192 </varlistentry> 193 194 <varlistentry><term>Migration and Updating</term> 195 <listitem><para> 196 A much requested addition to the book is information on how to migrate 197 from Microsoft Windows NT4 to Samba-3, as well as an overview of what the 198 issues are when moving from Samba-2.x to Samba-3. 199 </para></listitem> 200 </varlistentry> 201 202 <varlistentry><term>Troubleshooting</term> 203 <listitem><para> 204 This short section should help you when all else fails. 205 </para></listitem> 206 </varlistentry> 207 208 <varlistentry><term>Reference Section</term> 209 <listitem><para> 210 Here you will find a collection of things that are either too peripheral 211 for most users, or are a little left of field to be included in the 212 main body of information. 213 </para></listitem> 214 </varlistentry> 215 </variablelist> 216 217<para> 218Welcome to Samba-3 and the first published document to help you and your users to enjoy a whole 219new world of interoperability between Microsoft Windows and the rest of the world. 220</para> 221 222</sect1> 223 224</preface> 225