Configuration of a read-only data server that everyone can access is very simple. By default, all shares are read-only, unless set otherwise in the smb.conf file. The example - Reference Documentation Server is the smb.conf file that will do this. Assume that all the reference documents are stored in the directory /export, and the documents are owned by a user other than nobody. No home directories are shared, and there are no users in the /etc/passwd UNIX system database. This is a simple system to administer.

In this example, the machine name is set to GANDALF, and the workgroup is set to the name of the local workgroup (MIDEARTH) so the machine will appear together with systems with which users are familiar. The only password backend required is the “guest” backend to allow default unprivileged account names to be used. As there is a WINS server on this network, we of course make use of it.

A US Air Force Colonel was renowned for saying: “Better is the enemy of good enough!” There are often sound reasons for avoiding complexity as well as for avoiding a technically perfect solution. Unfortunately, many network administrators still need to learn the art of doing just enough to keep out of trouble.