Cannot mark for share all Public folders on a machine with 4 user accounts (only one)

[aria]

Hello,

In Kubuntu 12.04, I created 4 user accounts: 1 administrative, and 3 non-administrative (not all mines). I tried to mark for share the Public folders and was asked to install Samba. So, I went in the administrative account, right-clicked the Public folder, and chose properties. Went to the Share tab, and clicked the Install Samba button. Once Samba installed, I went back to the Public folder - Properties - Share tab and chose Share with Samba, than Full Control mode, and finally I allowed Guests access too. The little globe showed up, and it stayed there after closing and reopening Dolphin, and even after reboot.

Now, tried to do the same thing with the other accounts, but the share settings disappeared each time I closed and reopened Dolphin.

Run from the administrative account "kdesudo dolphin" (found this on the forum), and learned that I couldn't share more than 1 public folder at a time, no matter the user account it belonged to. Checked this without "kdesudo dolphin", and got the same result: couldn't share more than 1 public folder at a time, no matter the user account.

Well, this is odd, so could somebody help me? I would like to be able to mark for share all Public folders (from all 4 user accounts on this machine). Have no Windows on my LAN, only another Ubuntu (11.04 with Gnome), and two smart-TV boxes.

Edited #1: On the 11.04-G, I can share all files I want, including the Public ones (it had a bug, but was fixed - it was related to the Public folder share through Personal Files Sharing, which is an app. for Gnome, so I suppose I cannot apply this fix to KDE). The fix for Gnome can be find here:
ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1441368
Neither of "apache2.2-bin" and "libapache2-mod-dnssd" are installed on my system. Do you think they would work with KDE too, the way they did with Gnome?

Edited #2: Tried the two apaches here above (in fact there were 6 packages with dependencies), but gave nothing, not even after reboot. Uninstalled them.

Edited #3: Also tried Smb4K (4 packages with dependencies) but in vain. Uninstalled it. But, with this occasion I could see that whatever app. manages the shares on my computer, it allows only 1 Public folder for the whole machine, not 1 Public folder for each user! Instead of showing "User's name Public files on Computer name", it shows only "Public on Computer name" (as if it was a single Public folder for the whole machine, despite the fact I created 4 user accounts). And this Public folder is the single one I could mark for share, and is on a non-administrative account, but shows on the network no matter the account I am logged in. I believe this issue comes from either the "kdenetwork-filesharing" or the WebDav service "libneon27-gnutls", both coming with the default OS. Each of these packages conflicts with-itself (if looking at their dependencies in Muon Package Manager). Odd. Anybody could help here?

Edited #4: Also tried to trick this issue, and, in the single Public folder shared on this machine, I created shortcuts to the Public folders of the other 3 user accounts. Didn't work: Samba doesn't seams to see the shortcuts (checked from another computer).

Thanks,

[aria]

Hello guys,
Is there anybody out-there? Newbie needs your help!

[vinnywright]

I dont really now samba well ....but instead of making links to the users public folders inside the one good public folder try making the users public folders links to the good public folder so that every one is using it .

the real fix would be in the correct editing of the samba .config ,,,,but I have no experience in that

that sead if all your boxes are linux check out "NFS",, works real well as shares are treated as part of the local file system......hears a good how to.. NFSHowTo « Little Girl's Mostly Linux Blog

VINNY

[Frank616]

Aria:

I've used Samba somewhat, but I've not come across the issue that you are facing. Let's see if I understand this correctly:

You have several accounts on the same machine. Each user account has a folder called "Public" that you want to share, using Samba, on your LAN. You were able to do this successfully with 11.04 and Gnome. You are NOT able to do this with 12.04 and KDE.

Do I have that right?

Is it possible that we have a naming problem with several folders all called "Public" on the same machine?

Do you have SWAT installed (Samba Web Administration Tool)?

Frank.

[aria]

Thanks Vinny,

My router is set to dynamic IP, or to use NFS it seams I need to change this to static IP. Don't want to do this, because it would be a pain to connect family and friends visiting me. Think I'll stay with Samba.

On the other hand, I still don't understand why the Gnome trick with Apache didn't work on KDE too: KDE has its own Public folder sharing GUI (like the Personal File Sharing for Gnome), but KDE's GUI didn't connected with Apache. The Gnome's bug was that these apache packages were forgotten dependencies of the Personal File Sharing GUI. Thought they would do the same thing for KDE, with KDE's GUI, but they don't.

Will look forward to Samba.
Thanks,

[aria]

Frank, indeed you understood correctly. As for the different user's Public folders, their name are the same (default names), but paths are different, of course. Don't understand why samba (it's samba for sure, because it says: share with samba), ignores the user within the path. Does samba works with trays? I mean does it make a copy of the shared public folder somewhere within the system and calls it simply Public (as it appears on my other computer)? If so, it's normal to avoid to overwrite it when I try to mark another Public folder for share. I could test this trying to share another folder, like Music. Let see... Oh, yes, it does accept to share another folder if it has another name. It's a tray bug. I'll see what I can do and will be back later.

No, I don't have installed SWAT. I'll do it if necessary. Will try first to find Samba's tray.

Will be back soon, but if you have an idea how to fix this tray/path bug, please let me know.

Edited #1: Couldn't find any tray where only one Public folder would be allowed. Also compared /usr/share/samba/smb.conf between my two computers (11.04-G and 12.04-K) and found no differences (checked all uncommented lines, one by one). Think that I have to install SWAT.

Edited #2: Compared Samba installed packages in 11.04-G and in 12.04-K, and found that 11.04-G also had Winbind and system-config-samba. Tried them both in 12.04-K without success: Winbind did nothing, and system-config-samba doesn't work with KDE. Uninstalled them both. Also tried SWAT, but didn't run, so uninstalled it too.

Thanks,

[aria]

Tricked the issue (following Frank's suggestion).

Renamed all "Public" folders as "Public (user-name)", and even if these are default folders, they kept the modified names after reboot. Marked them all for share, and worked (now they have different names). Will have to do the same thing with other folders I might want to share in the future (Music, Pictures, Videos, Downloads). Not elegant, but works. Hope somebody will find the real solution to this path-related share issue, so I won't mark yet the thread as solved.

Thanks,

[aria]

Found the fix (a manual one).

Fact is, I don't need to rename the default folders (like I did with the Public ones - see post with the trick here above). It is enough if, in the folder's properties, under the Share tab, when marked for sharing, I add the user-name (or anything else that differentiates it) to the folder's name. I did it in brackets. So, only the name given to the folder when shared with Samba is altered, not the folder name in Dolphin. Two names for the same folder? Was a surprise for me, but it is so. Discovered this by chance.

Interested in an explanation why things worked in 11.04-G and didn't in 12.04-K? Because of different server apps. Gnome uses a fronted GUI called Personal File Sharing, that calls for apache for sharing. There was a bug related to the apache dependencies that were not automatically installed, but once fixed, it works. Apache keeps the path of the shared folders (computer's name and user-name), and that's why, same named folders for different users can be shared without doing anything else. Now, here in KDE (12.04-K), the share server for the Public folders is samba. And samba does not keep the path of the folders (only the computer's name, but not the user-name). This is why the name of the folder as it is shared with samba has to be altered. And I chose to add the path (user-name) within brackets, to look closer to what apache does automatically.

As for compatibility between apache and samba, couldn't find any issues. On 11.04-G I even use both, apache and samba, but for different folders (apache for Public ones, and samba for a second hard disc I use as LAN-cloud), and all works. Now I can also see over the LAN the Public folders on 12.04-K.

Edited #1: Differences between apache and samba? Found one: apache shows on the LAN only the Public folder of the user logged-in, while samba shows all shared folders on the computer, no matter if the user is logged-in or not.

Edited #2: And a second difference between apache and samba, especially useful for laptops: to block guest access to the shared folders while on a public WiFi, apache allows setting a password, and samba has a guest-access option that can be unchecked. In both cases shared folders are still broadcast over the network, but access to their content is denied.

Thread marked solved.
Bests,

[vinnywright]

great work and thanks for posting the results

I do have a win7 box at the house but don't share files from my Kubuntu box ....so never had the need to try samba out in this way.

however I can access the win7 shares in dolphins network places with no problem and no working out issues and that was good enough for me .

VINNY

[aria]

Thanks Vinny.

For me apache and samba become a must since:
1) I bought two smart-TV (LG) boxes, both for the price of 3x10ft (3x3m) HDMI cables...
2) and also, my LAN-cloud hard disc is on one of the computers, not an USB box.
With these, local WiFi transfers became a must. And fortunately, the LG boxes are running on a sort of Linux too, so I'm 100% Linux, and all is compatible with each other.

Bests,

PS: I added some new info. in my previous post.

[Frank616]

Aria:

You don't 'run' SWAT. It is a browser app that you get by putting localhost:901 in the address bar of your browser. It is quite powerful, and writes your samba config for you. I have used it many times, but it has now been so long since the last time that I've forgotton. I'm traveling at the moment, and only have my netbook and my phone, so I can't go into SWAT myself at the moment.

SWAT is a great tool if you are using Samba.

Anyway, it seems that you have resolved your issue, so I'm glad for that.

Frank

[aria]

Thanks Frank,

Actually, after all these experiments, I might go "simple", because the broadcast of the shared folders on public networks, even with guest access denied, really bothers me. Thus, I believe I'll share folders on my notebook only when needed, not permanently. Which means more likely I won't need to rename them in samba. These being said, the issue and fix discussed here seam to better apply to desktops than laptops.

Didn't know how to run SWAT, but is god it pops up at 901, and not at 911 . Will keep SWAT in mind, for later use if needed.

Thank you very much,

[Frank616]

Aria:

because the broadcast of the shared folders on public networks, even with guest access denied, really bothers me.

Which is the main reason I stopped using it as well. I remember going to a LUG (Linux User Group) meeting here in Calgary, and leaving sharing turned on while using their local wifi LAN. In most places that would not be an issue, but it is a bit dumb and 'newbie' to do that at a LUG meeting. What is worse is that at home, I shared my whole /data directory with Samba, simply for convenience. Forgetting to turn it off in public was a very dumb mistake....

NFS does require fixed IP addresses, but if your router allows you to do so, it can reserve an IP address for specific machines. This works well on a local LAN for sharing files.

One other advantage of Samba, however, is that you don't have to bother with file ownerships. Samba translates all of that for you, the same as transferring files on a FAT32 USB stick removes any need to play around with file permissions.

Most of the reason for my use of Samba in the past was to get at files on other machines on my LAN. Now I synchronize everything regularly between my 5 Linux machines with rsync. I haven't used Samba in years.

Frank.

[aria]

Synchronization was my next step for this OS. But good idea to do it right now. Looked at rsync (Grsync), and seams to be for Gnome, so didn't tried it (even if was installing only 2 packages, so easy to uninstall). I found instead Komparator4, and I like it very much. It does things like finding newer versions of files, new or missing files, deleted ones, empty folders, etc. And does not things automatically, just marks operations and ask for confirmation to proceed (style Muon or Synaptic Package Managers). Only thing I changed was to uncheck the system-try-icon option.

Edited: Installed Grsync on my other computer running Gnome, and I like this too (very similar apps.).

Thanks for this sync. idea, and for the other inspiring ones (renaming samba-shared folders, etc.),

[Frank616]

Aria:

Glad you found something that worked. Komparator is, according to one source, a font-end for rsync. Now that I know what it is, I'll have to try it myself. There are MANY command line parameters for rsync, and using it is not always straightforward, so a well designed GUI could be a great help.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

Frank.