Samba implements the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. SMB is used to access server resources such as file shares and printers. Samba also implements Distributed Computing Environment Remote Procedure Call (DCE RPC) used by Microsoft Windows.

For more information refer to the:

• smb.conf(5) man page on your system
• /usr/share/docs/samba-version/ directory that contains general documentation, example scripts, and LDAP schema files, provided by the Samba project

You can run Samba as:

• An Active Directory (AD) or NT4 domain member
• A standalone server
• An NT4 Primary Domain Controller (PDC) or Backup Domain Controller (BDC) Note

  Red Hat supports the PDC and BDC modes only in existing installations with Windows versions which support NT4 domains. Avoid setting up a new Samba NT4 domain. Microsoft operating systems later than Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 do not support NT4 domains.

  Red Hat does not support running Samba as an AD domain controller (DC).

Independently of the installation mode, you can optionally share directories and printers. This enables Samba to act as a file and print server.