I recently needed to setup a way to backup files from a linux workstation to a windows server. I found that the utility, from the Samba project, smbclient was able to be scripted to provide such services. Smbclient acts much like a command line ftp program.

NOTE: If you will be using a Windows 2003 server, please upgrade your Samba package to 3.0.x. Windows 2003 uses SMB keys to authenticate SMB requests. Prior versions of smbclient will give an error such as:
"tree connect failed: NT_STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED"

A work around for this error can be to disable the security feature on the Windows 2003 server:
Key: HKLM\SYSTEM\CCS\Service\lanmanserver\parameters\
Value: RequireSecuritySignature
Content: 0 to disable, 1 to enable

I simply used: "rpm -Uvh http://us1.samba.org/samba/ftp/Binary_Packages/RedHat/RPMS/i386/9.0/samba-3.0.7-1_rh9.i386.rpm" to upgrade my local Samba RPMs.

Samba: http://www.samba.org
RedHat: http://www.redhat.com
Crontab Tutorial: http://weather.ou.edu/~billston/crontab/

Outline :

• Create Password File
• Test Command
• Create Script
• Add Script to be run by Cron

• Create Password File
  • Use your favorite text editor to create a file called ".smbclient". (I use the "." (period) before the file to somewhat hide the file.)
  • In the file add the following components, in this format:
    username=joetest
    password=12345678
    domain=WINDMN
  • Obviously you need to change the components to fit your environment. If you do not have a Windows Domain to authenticate against, you can remove the line completely.
  • At the command prompt, make sure to make the .smbclient file readable ONLY by you!
    • chmod 500 .smbclient
• Test Command
  • Now we can test the connection to the server using the ".smbclient" file.
  • At the prompt type:
    smbclient //servername/share -A .smbclient
  • You should get a response similar to:
    added interface ip=10.1.2.10 bcast=10.1.2.255 nmask=255.255.255.0
    Domain=[WINDMN] OS=[Windows 5.0] Server=[Windows 2000 LAN Manager]
    smb: \>
  • If you experience errors, please check the note above.
    
• Create Script
  • Now you want to use your favorite editor to create a shell script for automating this backup.
  • You can pass to a command prompt anything you normally would type at the smbclient prompt.
  • I personally want...
    • To change directories on the remote server (cd backup)
    • Set the local directory to be working from on the workstation (lcd /home/username/files)
    • Not prompt for permission for each file when putting multiple files (prompt)
    • Recursively copy folders (recurse)
    • And finally exit
    • The command would look something like:
      • smbclient //servername/share -A .smbclient -c "cd backup; lcd /home/username/files; prompt; recurse; mput *; exit;"
  • If you aren't sure what options you want, or are available, you can simply type "help" at the command prompt for smbclient... then type "help <command>" to learn more about what it does.
  • At this point the shell script would look something like:
    • #!/bin/sh
      /usr/local/bin/smbclient //servername/share -A /home/username/.smbclient -c "cd backup; lcd /home/username/files; prompt; recurse; mput *; exit;"
  • You will notice I have explicitly defined the path to the "smbclient" binary, and the ".smbclient" password file.
  • At prompt you should be able to run something like:
    • sh backupscript.sh
• Add Script to be run by Cron
  • To better understand how to add files to a crontab ( to be run on a scheduled basis), I recommend reading: "Crontab Tutorial".