samba - May 2010 - Spurious data in file retrieved from Windows share via Samba

Hello,

I am using Samba to read a file on a Windows share from Linux.
Linux version is Ubuntu 9.04 (I think). Not sure about the Samba
version (sorry, can't check it now); it's whatever was packaged with
Ubuntu. Windows version is Windows Server 2003 SP 2.

Sometimes the file contains obviously spurious data such as
random bytes, and excerpts of programs or log files.
I'm not sure if the spurious data which are interpolated into
the file originate from the Linux side or Windows;
the identifiable text comprise fragments of Python, PHP,
HTML, and what appears to be a log from MS SharedView
(I could be mistaken about that).

The file is updated every few minutes on the Windows side
(new lines are appended). When I read (via cp) any given version
of the file, the spurious parts remain the same. However,
each time the file is updated, some of the spurious stuff goes
away and some new stuff appears.

A co-worker on the Windows side reports that there are
no spurious data in the file when he looks at it.

I have no power to change anything on the Windows side and
probably no ability to ask for logs or other debugging info.

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this problem.

Robert Dodier

On Fri, May 21, 2010 at 02:48:16PM -0600, Robert Dodier
wrote:
> I have no power to change anything on the Windows side and
> probably no ability to ask for logs or other debugging info.
Then to be honest it's going to be really difficult to help
you. Getting logs is a basic requirement.

Jeremy.

On 21 May 2010 22:48, Robert Dodier <robert at infotility.com>
wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am using Samba to read a file on a Windows share from Linux.
> Linux version is Ubuntu 9.04 (I think). Not sure about the Samba
> version (sorry, can't check it now); it's whatever was packaged
with
> Ubuntu. Windows version is Windows Server 2003 SP 2.
Looks like version 3.3.2:
http://packages.ubuntu.com/jaunty/samba
> Sometimes the file contains obviously spurious data such as
> random bytes, and excerpts of programs or log files.
> I'm not sure if the spurious data which are interpolated into
> the file originate from the Linux side or Windows;
> the identifiable text comprise fragments of Python, PHP,
> HTML, and what appears to be a log from MS SharedView
> (I could be mistaken about that).
>
> The file is updated every few minutes on the Windows side
> (new lines are appended). When I read (via cp) any given version
Ah, so you're using smbmount or mount.cifs or something like that to
get access to the Windows share?

Then I think you want to talk to the cifs-utils developers:
https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-cifs-client
> of the file, the spurious parts remain the same. However,
> each time the file is updated, some of the spurious stuff goes
> away and some new stuff appears.
>
> A co-worker on the Windows side reports that there are
> no spurious data in the file when he looks at it.
>
> I have no power to change anything on the Windows side and
> probably no ability to ask for logs or other debugging info.
Presumably you can get logs on the Linux side if necessary?

Do things look better if you use smbclient to copy the file?
> Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this problem.
-- 
Michael Wood <esiotrot at gmail.com>

Hallo, Robert,

Du meintest am 21.05.10:
> I am using Samba to read a file on a Windows share from Linux.
> Linux version is Ubuntu 9.04 (I think). Not sure about the Samba
> version (sorry, can't check it now); it's whatever was packaged
with
> Ubuntu. Windows version is Windows Server 2003 SP 2.
> Sometimes the file contains obviously spurious data such as
> random bytes, and excerpts of programs or log files.
[...]
> The file is updated every few minutes on the Windows side
> (new lines are appended). When I read (via cp) any given version
> of the file, the spurious parts remain the same.
Please try

        tail -f /path/to/cifs-file

(stopping with ctrl-c)

just to see if the spurious data vanishes in this way.

Viele Gruesse!
Helmut