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bgmCoder
Asked: 2012-05-21 19:01:42 +0800 CST

How to Make Windows Network Visible to Linux Server Box?

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Salvete! I have a machine running CentOS 6.2. In the GUI, if I click on "Network", I get a messagebox saying: "Unable to mount location - Failed to retrieve share list from server"

I can ping the machine from my windows computer on the network, and I can also ping the windows computer from the linux server. My Windows computers on the network all have their file sharing turned on and are able to see each other.

Samba is configured and running, nmb is running, and I can connect just fine to the box from my windows computer using Putty. In samba, I have specified the workgroup name.

How do I make the Windows Network visible to the Linux machine? I don't want to mount a share, I only want the Linux machine to see that there other computers on the network.

windows samba centos6

3 Answers

  1. Well, after fiddling around with the samba configuration, it began to work. We have three workgroups here, and now I can see all of the computers in each workgroup from within the "Network" of the Linux machine's Places. I am even able to see the Macs on the network, too. I have retraced all of my steps but can't figure out now how to get it to not work!

    If I figure out what I did, I will edit my answer.

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  2. Best Answer

    It is not clear what you are trying to achieve exactly: Do you want to mount a "share" from the windows box on the Linux machine?

    For that you do only need the samba client, not a samba daemon.

    To mount the share try mount -t cifs -o <username>,<password> //<servername>/<sharename> /mnt/point/ or any of the other methods described at Connecting to a Samba Share.

    Nautilus and Konqueror provide options to browse a Windows network.

    In Konqueror, Go -> Network folders -> Samba Shares

    In Nautilus, Places -> Network -> Windows Network

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  3. I can't speak for CentOS or other flavors of Linux. But in order for other Windows machines to be able to see each other in "Network Neighborhood", "My Network Places" etc, file and/or printer sharing has to be enabled. If the server service isn't running on the windows box, the services will not respond to network browsing requests (this is a high level explanation). Can your windows boxes see each other?

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