[luau] samba spanking

[R. Scott Belford]

I am introducing a new samba server to our network.  It is running on rhat 7.2.  It is version 2.2.1a.  I have a second samba server that I am adding.  It is also running redhat 7.2, but I have upgraded it to version 2.2.5.  My intent is to replace an older samba server on the network.  It is running redhat 6.2 and samba version 2.06.

Every client on our LAN and through our WAN is able to connect to the 6.2 based server.  Only Windows2k clients are able to connect to the two 7.2 based servers.  No win98 clients on our lan, and no clients through our WAN are able to connect to the 7.2 servers.  The WIN2K clients are only able to connect by mapping a network drive and using the samba server's ip address.  No client can connect by browsing the network neigborhood here on our LAN.  

The W2K boxes yield this error when attempting to connect though the network neigborhood:

\\SERVER is not accessible.  The network path was not found

The win98 clients yield this error when attempting to connect though the network neigborhood or as a network drive with the ip address:

The computer or sharename could not be found.  Make sure you typed it correctly, and try again.

My WAN win98 clients yield this error when attempting to connect as a network drive with the ip address:

The computer or sharename could not be found.  Make sure you typed it correctly, and try again


So, it seems that something is happening with the name resolution of the samba servers.  Something is also happening with the routing of my samba server's ip address.  I thought that perhaps there was some mapping table that I should comply with, so, I shut down the 6.2 server and imported its smb.conf into one of the 7.2 boxes.  Eliminating all variables but the os and samba version, I got the same errors.  Research led me to consider the MACHINE.SID in my samba directory.  Copying it from the 6.2 to the 7.2 server left me with the same results.  So, I could not trick my clients into thinking that the new server was the old server.

I can change the netbios name and server string on the old 6.2 server, and every client is able to connect to it.  I can change the server string and netbios name on the 7.2 servers, and while every client can see the changes by browsing the network neighborhood, all get the aforementioned errors.

I have made sure that only one samba server is a WINS server.  I have allowed only one of the servers to be master browser.  I have changed all of these variables an insane number of times.  I changed the os preference to 0 which should force my master browser to win the election against other master browsers on the network (win2k boxes).  Reading /var/log/nmbd has revealed all the struggles in the network as different servers become master browser.  In spite of all this, the original 6.2 samba server has performed flawlessly.  I have added the samba server's ip address to each of the linux boxes' /etc/hosts file, and I have added the sambaserver addresses to my win2k boxes' lmhosts files.  Same aforementioned errors.

What is frustrating is that I have had rhat 7.2 samba servers on my network the last half year that did not cause me ANY of this trouble.  Perhaps they had a different stable version of samba at that time.  I am getting desperate for logic.  I am starting to believe that one of win2k boxes has a service pack or patch which has "broken" my samba server.  In my paranoid logic, I am explaining the continued performance of my 6.2 box on the fact that it is such an early version that Microsoft did not write a break for it.  I said that I was getting desperate for logic.

Basically, I cannot resolve any names at the network neigborhood level.  No one can connect to the 7.2 samba servers by \\servername\sharename.  Only win2k boxes can connect by mapping a network drive to \\serveripaddress\sharename.  I have change the ip address of the 6.2 sambaserver, but, as long as it has its old netbios name, everyone can connect to it by \\servername\sharename.  NO matter how many times I change the ip address.  If I shut down the 6.2 sambaserver and give one of the 7.2's its netbios name, I still get the same errors as above.  Even with its machine.sid.

If any of you have any insights, I would adore them.  I am doing something wrong, but, I just can't figure it out.  I have become used to getting "incorrect password for user X" due to smbpasswd or encryption type settings.  I have never been so spanked at this most perplexing network level.  Please let me know if my smb.conf files or anything else would be of use.  

graciously,

scott

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