[Pkg-samba-maint] Bug#629406: Bug#629406: Bug#629406: samba-common: create empty /etc/samba/dhcp.conf even if samba-common/dhcp=false

[Luca Capello]

Hi there!

NB, I tried to answer all emails at once, thus re-ordering the quoting,
    I hope I did not miss anything...

On Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:20:48 +0200, Steve Langasek wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 06, 2011 at 02:17:04PM +0200, Luca Capello wrote:
>> The following question is asked at samba-common installation:
>>
>>   Samba Server
>>
>>   If your computer gets IP address information from a DHCP server on the
>>   network, the DHCP server may also provide information about WINS
>>   servers ("NetBIOS name servers") present on the network.  This
>>   requires a change to your smb.conf file so that DHCP-provided WINS
>>   settings will automatically be read from /etc/samba/dhcp.conf.
>>
>>   The dhcp3-client package must be installed to take advantage of this feature.
         ^^^^^^^^^^^^
BTW, I completely missed this, which is a bug, this should be changed to
     isc-dhcp-client (I could clone this bug or submit a new one, but
     IMHO is a waste of time, given that dhcp3-client is still in sid).

>>   Modify smb.conf to use WINS settings from DHCP?
>>
>> Even if I chose "No", every time the machine is rebooted (or a DHCP
>> connection is renewed) an empty /etc/samba/dhcp.conf file is created.
>> This is particular annoying given that etckeeper always complains:
>>
>>   ** etckeeper detected uncommitted changes in /etc prior to apt run
>>   ** Aborting apt run. Manually commit and restart.
>
> The debconf question has never been intended to govern whether the dhcp hook
> script runs, only whether samba makes use of the information.  We could
> possibly move this file into /run, if that would help.

We must, otherwise there is no possibility to have a read-only root.
Given that, I added it to the corresponding wiki page:

  <https://wiki.debian.org/ReadonlyRoot?action=diff&rev1=32&rev2=33>

> Doesn't etckeeper have an 'ignore' facility?

Yes, but I do not think this should be added there, cc:ing Joey.

As far as I read the FHS, /etc should contain *static* configuration
files, which is not the case for /etc/samba/dhcp.conf:

  <http://www.pathname.com/fhs/pub/fhs-2.3.html#ETCHOSTSPECIFICSYSTEMCONFIGURATION>

  /etc : Host-specific system configuration

  Purpose

  The /etc hierarchy contains configuration files. A "configuration
  file" is a local file used to control the operation of a program; it
  must be static and cannot be an executable binary. [4]

  [4] The setup of command scripts invoked at boot time may resemble
      System V, BSD or other models. Further specification in this area
      may be added to a future version of this standard.

On Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:14:42 +0200, Christian PERRIER wrote:
> On Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:16:39 +0200, Steve Langasek wrote:
>> On Mon, Jun 06, 2011 at 07:54:49PM +0200, Christian PERRIER wrote:
>>> On Mon, Jun 06, 2011 at 02:17:04PM +0200, Luca Capello wrote:
>>>>
>>>>   Modify smb.conf to use WINS settings from DHCP?
>>>>
>>>> Even if I chose "No", every time the machine is rebooted (or a DHCP
>>>> connection is renewed) an empty /etc/samba/dhcp.conf file is created.
[...]
>>> Hmmm, indeed. The /etc/dhcp3/dhclient-enter-hooks.d/samba hook is a
>>> little bit naive here...
>>>
>>> The attached (untested) patch should fix this by testing if the file
>>> to be created is non empty before putting it in place. Could you check
>>> this?

Christian, given that there is no consensus yet, I have not tested your
patch.  Feel free to ask for it and I will gladly do.

>> Nack.  The hook script *should* be naive; we don't want to add more
>> complexity here.
>>
>> We can move the include file to /run instead.
>
> And update smb.conf accordingly?  Even if smb.conf has been modified
> by the local admin?

Please note that neither `man smb.conf` nor the samba-doc package
contain any reference to dhcp.conf.  I thus went to the Samba upstream
website, but neither "Using Samba, 2nd Edition, chapter 6, 'The Samba
Configuration File'" nor the daily docs build contain dhcp.conf:

  <http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/using_samba/ch06.html>
  <http://www.samba.org/~samba-bugs/docs/>

To me it seems that /etc/samba/dhcp.conf is Debian-specific, i.e. not an
upstream configuration file.  Given that this file is intended to be
created when using DHCP through the isc-dhcp-client package, I think the
only proper location is /run/samba/dhcp.conf.

I do not think there is any problem in having it included or not in
/etc/samba/smb.conf: if we continue to manage this through debconf,
installing the samba-common package or reconfiguring it suppose that (at
least) /etc is writable.

Thx, bye,
Gismo / Luca
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 835 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/pkg-samba-maint/attachments/20110609/92881fff/attachment.pgp>