Hi all,

just for info, version 0.4 of Samba/iX is available for
testing. Find it at ftp://ftp.3k.com/POSIX/ and look for
either samba04.htm or samba04.txt, whatever filetype you
prefer for reading.

To quote the above file(s):

> In version 0.3 (an intermediate one) I fixed a problem with
> browsing that caused "NET VIEW \\server" to fail because the
> smbd process received an invalid pointer trap. The reason for
> this is that getpwnam() of POSIX/iX does not return an initialized
> pw_passwd field (pointer) as there are no encrypted passwords
> on MPE (by default). I faked a "*" entry to fix.

> The current 0.4 version uses AIF (Architected Interface Facility)
> calls and PM (privileged mode) to lookup passwords for user
> validation and (priv mode) setuid() to switch the server process
> to the appropriate logon identity. This removes the previous
> restriction that only "guest" logins are accepted by the smbd
> server.

> The user identification and passwords are passed like with FTP/iX
> i.e. as "user.account" and "userpass,acctpass". Both can be entered
> uppercase or lowercase (but mixed case should be avoided).

See the .htm or .txt files for further details.

Please notice the warnings concerning AIF and Priv Mode in those
files. Especially since this is still only marginally tested code
(I prefer to say "I tried it" instead of "I tested it").

Stan pointed out to me that the installation instructions are/were
quite terse, especially for those of us who are not extraordinarily
familiar with Posix or walking on water ;-) or PC networking.

I have tried to add some details but it still seems somewhat terse,
especially for people with mainly 3000-related background (which I
still consider myself, too). Maybe some the Samba and PC networking
gurus out there (are you still listening to me?) might collect and
donate some "samba tutorial for mpe-niks" or "FAQ for 3k dummies"
that we can add to the distribution? Any volunteers !?

A final note regarding AIF and Priv Mode...

Please do not start testing this on your most critical production
system because unnoticed bugs in this best-effort-best-guess port
might give the word "critical" an unexpected or undesired flavour!

I am also somewhat unsure if I really like the SMBD server process
to switch back and forth bewteen each and every user ID the PC user
is able to supply valid passwords for. Maybe I'd feel a little more
comfortable when this is restricted to users of the server account
i.e. @.SAMBA or alike. This could also provide a means to get rid
of the unusal "user.account" and "userpass,acctpass". Any opinions?

So long, Lars/iX

([log in to unmask] - speaking for lappel, not for grc.hp.com here)