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I have a CIFS client w/a regular user. I have a SAMBA server where the only user is root. I want the user on the client system to be able to access the files on the remote server as root. So far I can't, even though I've used options like "uid", "setuid", etc. The client just sees the remote files as belonging to "root" and "permission denied" is all I get.

The server, which runs OpenELEC, shared with guest permissions, so the solution is unlikely to involve profound changes to the server. The client is running Ubuntu 14.04.02.

This is the samba.conf file, which I think overrides the smb.conf. I took it from a template and added only the last share:

###############################################################################
#      This file is part of OpenELEC - ...
#      Copyright (C) 2009-2014 Stephan Raue ([email protected])
#
#  OpenELEC is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
#  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
#  the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
#  (at your option) any later version.
#
#  OpenELEC is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
#  GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
#  along with OpenELEC.  If not, see <.../licenses/>.
################################################################################
# samba.conf

# This configuration file allows you to customize the samba shares
# available from your machine

[global]
  server string = OpenELEC
  workgroup = WORKGROUP
  netbios name = %h
  security = share
  guest account = root
  socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_RCVBUF=65536 SO_SNDBUF=65536
  smb ports = 445
  max protocol = SMB2
  min receivefile size = 16384
  deadtime = 30
  os level = 20
  mangled names = no
  syslog only = yes
  syslog = 2
  name resolve order = lmhosts wins bcast host
  preferred master = auto
  domain master = auto
  local master = yes
  printcap name = /dev/null
  load printers = no
  browseable = yes
  writeable = yes
  printable = no
  encrypt passwords = true
  enable core files = no
  passdb backend = smbpasswd
  smb encrypt = disabled
  use sendfile = yes


# Using the following configurations as a template allows you to add
# writable shares of disks and paths under /storage

[Update]
  path = /storage/.update
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/.update

[Videos]
  path = /storage/videos
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/videos

[Music]
  path = /storage/music
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/music

[TV Shows]
  path = /storage/tvshows
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/tvshows

[Recordings]
  path = /storage/recordings
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/recordings

[Downloads]
  path = /storage/downloads
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/downloads

[Pictures]
  path = /storage/pictures
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/pictures

[Emulators]
  path = /storage/emulators
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/emulators

[Configfiles]
  path = /storage/.config
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/.config

[Userdata]
  path = /storage/.kodi/userdata
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/.kodi/userdata

[Screenshots]
  path = /storage/screenshots
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/screenshots

[Logfiles]
  path = /storage/logfiles
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/logfiles
  root preexec = createlog

[Backup]
  path = /storage/backup
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/backup

[HDD]
  path = /var/media/sda1-ata-ST9320325AS_5VEA
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writeable = yes
  force user = root
  force group = root

And this is the smb.conf that appears on a read-only file system. Again, I think it's completely overridden:

################################################################################
#      This file is part of OpenELEC - ...
#      Copyright (C) 2009-2014 Stephan Raue ([email protected])
#
#  OpenELEC is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
#  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
#  the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or
#  (at your option) any later version.
#
#  OpenELEC is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
#  GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
#  along with OpenELEC.  If not, see <...>.
################################################################################
# samba.conf

# This configuration file allows you to customize the samba shares
# available from your machine

[global]
  server string = OpenELEC
  workgroup = WORKGROUP
  netbios name = %h
  security = share
  guest account = root
  socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_RCVBUF=65536 SO_SNDBUF=65536
  smb ports = 445
  max protocol = SMB2
  min receivefile size = 16384
  deadtime = 30
  os level = 20
  mangled names = no
  syslog only = yes
  syslog = 2
  name resolve order = lmhosts wins bcast host
  preferred master = auto
  domain master = auto
  local master = yes
  printcap name = /dev/null
  load printers = no
  browseable = yes
  writeable = yes
  printable = no
  encrypt passwords = true
  enable core files = no
  passdb backend = smbpasswd
  smb encrypt = disabled
  use sendfile = yes


# Using the following configurations as a template allows you to add
# writable shares of disks and paths under /storage

[Update]
  path = /storage/.update
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/.update

[Videos]
  path = /storage/videos
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/videos

[Music]
  path = /storage/music
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/music

[TV Shows]
  path = /storage/tvshows
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/tvshows

[Recordings]
  path = /storage/recordings
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/recordings

[Downloads]
  path = /storage/downloads
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/downloads

[Pictures]
  path = /storage/pictures
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/pictures

[Emulators]
  path = /storage/emulators
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/emulators

[Configfiles]
  path = /storage/.config
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/.config

[Userdata]
  path = /storage/.kodi/userdata
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/.kodi/userdata

[Screenshots]
  path = /storage/screenshots
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/screenshots

[Logfiles]
  path = /storage/logfiles
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/logfiles
  root preexec = createlog

[Backup]
  path = /storage/backup
  available = yes
  browsable = yes
  public = yes
  writable = yes
  root preexec = mkdir -p /storage/backup

The log file is all but non-existent:

[2015/05/21 09:52:27, 0] /home/stephan/projects/openelec-5.0/build.OpenELEC-RPi.arm-5.0.8/samba-3.6.25/source3/smbd/server.c:1074(smbd_main) smbd version 3.6.25 started. Copyright Andrew Tridgell and the Samba Team 1992-2011

6
  • In other words, you want the client to have full control of the files on the server, right? Could you post your smb.conf file and some samba log file. In your case, another possibility is to use NFS, allowing to mount file system from the server on the client. May 21, 2015 at 12:29
  • @MarcVanhoomissen Done. Switching to NFS is one of those fundamental changes to the server that is not feasible.
    – Opux
    May 21, 2015 at 18:06
  • Normally, the smb.conf file is the one you should use and where you have to add your share. To add log files, edit the smb.conf and add in the Globalsection: log file = /var/log/samba/log.machines. Afterwards, restart samba: sudo service smbd restart Try to connect to your share and examine afterwards the log file as defined above. Put it in your question as well. May 26, 2015 at 11:33
  • @MarcVanhoomissen OpenELEC isn't a normal, general purpose OS, and changing the samba.conf is what is prescribed, and it worked, because the HDD share appears. /var is a tmpfs so /var/log/samba disappears after every reboot, which I had to do, because OpenELEC doesn't do service smbd restart and I can't find the start up script. So I did /var/log/samba.log, but that file remains 0-length after I mount HDD.
    – Opux
    May 26, 2015 at 16:08
  • I would then recommend to ask the question to a forum dedicated to OpenELEC. This here is dedicated to Ubuntu. May 27, 2015 at 14:45

1 Answer 1

1

I have found a somewhat dirty solution:

  1. Start PCManFM
  2. Navigate to the smb share, opening it
  3. When I use another app that doesn't know smb, I find that the share is available in the file browser. Likely, this is because it is in /run/user/1000/gvfs/

Terrible, but it gets the job done. There's probably a cleaner solution involving gvfs, which would probably get best answer.

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