Blog

The SerNet Samba team has published SAMBA+ 4.23 packages for a wide range of SUSE and Red Hat platforms as well as for Debian GNU/Linux and Ubuntu. SAMBA+ 4.23 comes with major improvements for secure file sharing, monitoring, and interoperability. As always, we strongly recommend checking the release notes before upgrading.

New in Samba 4.23

One of the most important milestones is full support for SMB over QUIC, completed as part of the STA-funded development project. QUIC enables encrypted, low-latency access to Samba servers over the Internet – effectively turning Samba into a secure “SMB VPN” for mobile users and remote work scenarios, without the need for a traditional VPN infrastructure.

Another brand-new feature is the smb_prometheus_endpoint, which was developed by Volker Lendecke and Ralph Böhme from the SerNet Samba Team. This optional service exports Samba performance metrics in a Prometheus-compatible format, enabling seamless integration with Prometheus and Grafana dashboards. Administrators can now monitor Samba health and performance in real time, with standard tooling.

Additional enhancements in Samba 4.23 include:

• SMB3 UNIX Extensions enabled by default for better POSIX interoperability.
• Modernized write timestamp handling, consistent with current Windows servers.
• Improved samba-tool domain backup --no-secrets to reliably exclude confidential attributes.
• Per-share profiling stats for detailed performance analysis in complex setups.
• CTDB tunables in directories, giving more flexibility in clustered environments.

Upgrading

Instructions for package access and upgrading are available in the SAMBA+ How-to collection. If you are upgrading from a SAMBA+ version older than 4.21 and use your own or third-party scripts that rely on Samba’s Python modules, you must install the sernet-samba-python3 package after upgrading to SAMBA+ 4.23 on Debian or Ubuntu systems. RHEL and SUSE-based systems are not affected.

For details on SAMBA+ pricing:

• USD Pricing: US SAMBA+ Shop
• EUR Pricing: World SAMBA+ Shop

With this new release, Samba 4.22 enters maintenance mode. Samba 4.21 is now in security fixes only mode. With SAMBA+ 4.23, we are also discontinuing SAMBA+ 4.20. The 4.20 release series was the last one we built for Debian buster (10) and Ubuntu bionic (18.04). On request, however, we can still provide current SAMBA+ packages for these outdated platforms. The effort required will be assessed individually, depending on the specific requirements.

For further questions, contact the SAMBA+ Team.

SAMBA+ 4.21.8 has been released by SerNet, now available for immediate download. This update provides enhanced stability and improved support for a wide range of platforms, including SUSE, Red Hat, Debian GNU/Linux, Ubuntu, and AIX.

The latest release addresses multiple issues and includes important fixes for system reliability and performance. You can review all updates in the official release notes.

SAMBA+ packages are offered through a flexible software subscription model and are available for purchase directly in the SAMBA+ shop. Pricing information can be found here:

• USD Pricing:US SAMBA+ Shop
• EUR Pricing:World SAMBA+ Shop

Existing subscribers automatically have access to the new SAMBA+ 4.21.8 packages. Active subscriptions provide download links in the SAMBA+ HowTo guides.

For questions, support, or to request a quote, our SAMBA+ Team is ready to help.