[KLUG Members] smb says wins has died

[Adam Williams]

>The quick answer is that nmbd is/starts wins.
>>From the samba rpm original smb.conf file:
>;   wins support = yes

If you have no PDC on your network you want this set to yes (and
obviously uncommented).   WINS is a huge improvement over previous
browse list methods.
 
> # WINS Server - Tells the NMBD components of Samba to be a WINS Client
> #       Note: Samba can be either a WINS Server, or a WINS Client, but
> NOT both
> ;   wins server = w.x.y.z

Right, only set this if you have a PDC,  then set it to the IP of the
PDC.


># WINS Proxy - Tells Samba to answer name resolution queries on
># behalf of a non WINS capable client, for this to work there must be
># at least one  WINS Server on the network. The default is NO.
>;   wins proxy = yes

You only need this if you have OS/2 or WfWg clients,  or I suppose, if
you have WinXX clients you haven't setup to use WINS.

It is also important to understand NetBIOS "node types"
B (or 1)- Only broadcast on the local network
P (or 2)- Will only contact the configured WINS server
H (or 8)- Hybrid,  attempt to be P but fall back to B if we think there
is a problem or the WINs server doesn't respond quickly enough.

I'm not certain how you select node type when you setup the IP info on
the client,  but if you use the ISC DHCP server that comes with RH it is
as easy as adding two option clauses to you subnet stanza.

option netbios-name-servers 192.168.1.9;
option netbios-node-type 2;

By making everything go through the WINS server you both a) reduce
broadcast traffic which is universally bad and 2) have an authoritative
central source of information,  making it much easier to identify
name-space related issues.

The default node type is 8.

Samba also lets one use WINS updates coming from the clients (WinXX
machines register their own names when they boot up) to update DNS, 
which is very handy on a large network.  In addition to that Samba can
convert client WIN queries (where is host fred) to DNS QUERIES.  If you
do this WINS clients will get their answer on the first name-space query
and not have to fall back and issue a separate DNS query.  (WINS clients
always try WINS first and if that fails they try DNS).  If you put a
replicant of your DNS database on your Samba box this can be a big boon
for reducing background chatter on the network.