samba - Mar 2002 - smbmount case sensitivity problem

Hi-

I've got a weird case sensitivity problem. I've looked through past
messages but haven't been able to find a solution. This is an
environment using samba to mount shares from a Solaris machine onto a
Red Hat machine (originally done because of 16-bit UID limitations in
Red Hat 6.x).

Now I've upgraded to Red Hat 7.2 (samba 2.2.1a) and the share from the
Solaris machine doesn't seem to recognize case. On the Solaris side
the share looks like this:

[homes-unix]
        comment = home directory (%H) for %u (UNIX semantics)
        path = %H
        writeable = Yes
        inherit permissions = Yes
        case sensitive = Yes
        short preserve case = Yes
        preserve case = Yes

When I use smbmount on the Linux side, even with "preserve case"
turned
on, I run into problems when case is a factor. For example:
> bash-2.05$ smbmount //spiro/homes-unix foo
> Password: 
> bash-2.05$ cd foo
> bash-2.05$ mkdir Abc
> bash-2.05$ mkdir abc
> mkdir: cannot create directory `abc': File exists
or I can see a directory "Abc" and "rmdir abc" and it will
remove "Abc".
And so on.

The weird thing is that the exact same share from Solaris does not
exhibit this problem when we do the identical thing from a Red Hat
7.1 machine using samba 2.0.7. I've searched in the Red Hat knowledge
base online as well, and not found anything related to this. Has anyone
seen this type of problem before? I've tried all sorts of combinations
of case sensitivity and preservation, without success.

I know just enough about samba to be dangerous, so it's quite possible
I'm missing something here and it could all be pilot error. Any pointers
would be appreciated.

I include the Linux smb.conf file below:

========================================================# Samba config file
created using SWAT
# from webcache-mpk-01.Eng.Sun.COM (129.146.1.171)
# Date: 2002/03/08 10:04:15

# Global parameters
[global]
        workgroup = SFBAY
        server string = Samba Server
        encrypt passwords = Yes
        username map = /etc/samba/smbusers
        log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log
        socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
        dns proxy = No
        printing = lprng
        case sensitive = Yes
        preserve case = Yes
        short preserve case = Yes

[homes]
        comment = Home Directories
        browseable = no
        writable = yes
        valid users = %S
        create mode = 0664
        directory mode = 0775
        browseable = No

[printers]
        comment = All Printers
        path = /var/spool/samba
        printable = Yes
        browseable = No
========================================================


Thanks!




	Jerry Drake
	jerry.drake@sun.com





"Stupidity is like nuclear power; it can be used for good or evil."
"And you don't want to get any on you."
        -Dilbert

On Fri, 8 Mar 2002, jerry drake wrote:
> When I use smbmount on the Linux side, even with "preserve case"
turned
> on, I run into problems when case is a factor. For example:
> 
> > bash-2.05$ smbmount //spiro/homes-unix foo
> > Password: 
> > bash-2.05$ cd foo
> > bash-2.05$ mkdir Abc
> > bash-2.05$ mkdir abc
> > mkdir: cannot create directory `abc': File exists
> 
> or I can see a directory "Abc" and "rmdir abc" and it
will remove "Abc".
> And so on.
Linux smbfs defaults to running in case-insensitive mode. When you create
Abc a "dentry" is created in the kernel with this name. When you try
to
create abc, the smbfs code is asked to look if there is a dentry with this
name and since it is case-insensitive it says "yes" (and mkdir
errors).

As I understand it this is also how a windows client would react, abc and
Abc are the same name. If you are using windows machines these names are
probably going to cause trouble, if you are not using windows clients you
may want to consider using nfs instead.

You could try adding -o case to your smbmount command. I don't expect that
to work too well as it is an almost untested setting.

> The weird thing is that the exact same share from Solaris does not
> exhibit this problem when we do the identical thing from a Red Hat
> 7.1 machine using samba 2.0.7. I've searched in the Red Hat knowledge
The difference for smbfs when using samba 2.0.7 and 2.2.1a is probably
something in how smbmount negotiates with the server.

Or it could be the different kernels used (different smbfs code).

Get a copy of the latest version of ethereal and get a trace of the
network traffic. See how the negotiation differs, what other requests
differ including the mkdir request.

/Urban