[NTLUG:Discuss] Can I convert a vfat partition to ext2?

[Paul Ingendorf]

Just for giggles try using the following in your smb.conf file after your def for the share.

force user = root
force group = root


-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-admin at ntlug.org [mailto:discuss-admin at ntlug.org]On Behalf
Of Courtney Grimland
Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2001 10:57 PM
To: discuss at ntlug.org
Subject: Re: [NTLUG:Discuss] Can I convert a vfat partition to ext2?


> I'll ask the dumb questions as long as we're on the subject - we could
> all stand to learn - All of this assuming the samba server:

I'm trying to learn the ins and outs of Samba, and moving this drive over
seemed like a good introductory project.  So far, I have had the computers
simply sharing my cable modem through another Linux router, and transferring
files was accomplished either via floppy or scp.


> (1) Cannot Linux see vfat file systems?

Absolutely.  I have no problem sharing the drive as it stands.  However, SMB
clients (Windows or Linux) are only able to read from the drive.  The share
is set to 'writeable = yes', and the partition is mounted with defaults in
fstab (which includes read-write access).  I can write to the drive directly
when logged into that computer, but not as a share via Samba.


> (2) Would there be any need to convert the vfat drive to ext2?

It seems that SMB clients are not priveleged enough because there is no
write permission that I can set on the files in this partition.  Running
'chmod 777 -R *' on the shared directory does not give the desired effect.
I see in the smd.conf man page that I can map the DOS read-only, hidden, and
archive attributes to the "corresponding" ext2 file permissions, but that
seems a little too kludgy for me.  This is why I wanted to convert this
drive to ext2 (or perhaps another filesystem, but that would be another
learning project, for another day, since I've never played with anything but
ext2), so I can properly control the file permissions.


> (3) If there isn't any need, is there an advantage.

I'm not really concerned about speed advantages, journaling, etc.  right
now.  This isn't that big of an undertaking, and there's really only three
clients on this network of mine (one of them being the Linux box where the
Samba server lives, and the other two being my Win98 box and my roommate's
Win98 box), in addition to my NATing router.  Someday I do plan on
familiarizing myself with some of the alternative filesystems out there, but
I really only get around to working on one project per weekend, so that will
have to wait.  I'll be a Linux guru one of these days, but until then it's
one weekend at a time for me.


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