[KLUG Members] Win XP showing up as Master and Server in smbclient command

[Adam Tauno Williams]

> In a mixed Linux / MS network with a Samba server, I found a Win XP box
> listed also as server and something called a Master.

By default Samba has domain master set to off,  you can enable it in
smb.conf

By default Samba has a low "os level", so that it doesn't interfere when
brought up on a corporate LAN/WAN.

You can increase Samba's "os level" in smb.conf.

Periodically WinXX boxes perform an "election",  a formula involving the
"os level" value, uptime, and the "domain master = [ yes | no ]", to
select a Master.  The master maintains the browse list you see in
network neighborhood.  As you can imagine without thinking very hard
this whole scheme can result in a real mess.  Hence the constant din of
"Install a WINS server".

> This command shows the info about the other Linux box (samba server) but
> also unexpectedly shows the XP box under the Server category (along with
> the samba server) and under Master (all by itself).

The XP box is a server if you are sharing ANY resources.  It is Master
because it won the election (which it rigged via it's high "os level").

> Why is the XP box showing up in the Samba server's info?

It should,  CIFS hosts discover each other and cache the naming info.

> The other unexpected thing is at the same time, other Win computers no
> longer show up in the Network Neighborhood of each other's Win boxes.  I
> can find them manually, but why do they stop showing up in Network
> Neighborhood?

Because browsing is fundamentally unstable.

> Are these two issues related?

Yes, it is a bad design, and the symptoms are manifest of that bad
design.

Imagine ~300 hosts on 15 LANS....  one haughty client can result in
megabytes of log files filled with servers bitching between each other
about who should control this friggin' useless browse list.