I'm running samba 3.0.14a-6 on Debian GNU/Linux 2.4. I believe that I should be using pdbedit to add or modify users and their passwords, but I want to double-check that. I'd also like to suggest the documentation could be clearer.
I had earlier versions installed, and the upgraded seems to have migrated me to the new password scheme. smb.conf has "passdb backend = tdbsam guest"; there is no smbpasswd file in the location designated in smb.conf or anywhere else according to locate; and there are various tdb files. First uncertainty: is the smbpasswd program a general front end, like pdbedit, or does it only work with the smbpasswd back end and file? The man page and other documentation (e.g., 10.3 of the How To) seem to provide evidence for both interpretations. Second uncertainty: the smb.conf man page, in the section "Note About Username/Password Validation" discusses authentication mechanisms. It doesn't look to me as if the samba backend figure in this discussion. The first item refers to "the UNIX system's password programs"; to me this means this means the usual Unix mechanisms for password verification and not SAMBA's special facilities. However, those may be programs, and they are on a UNIX system, so maybe that is intended. This is the only password matching mechanism discussed explicitly in the whole section. This section contains no hint of the issues with encrypted vs clear-text passwords. The simple fact that one needs to set up users and passwords, at least in some configurations (namely, the recommended ones for NT clients), was not something that was obvious to me from the man pages, the How To, and the cookbook. It was so unobvious that I began to doubt it was necessary, even though I had done it a few years ago (and since kind of forgotten). To summarize the question and the comment: Given "passdb backend = tdbsam guest", " encrypt passwords = true", and NT clients, does the smbpasswd command work on my system? Comment: the documentation on the use and setup of passwords was obscure to me. A few strategically placed sentences could help a lot to clarify things. -- To unsubscribe from this list go to the following URL and read the instructions: https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/samba
