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Setting up Samba

Install samba⚓︎

First install Samba package. From Terminal enter:

sudo apt install samba

Configure Samba File Server⚓︎

Append the samba configuration file located in /etc/samba/smb.conf with below lines.

Restricted share⚓︎

What is Restricted share⚓︎

  • Share only for specific group
  • Only accessible if correct username and password is provided
/etc/samba/smb.conf
[SHARE-NAME]
    comment = ANY-COMMENT
    # allows only users from that group to access this path
    valid users = @GROUPNAME
    path = /PATH/TO/SHARE/DIR/
    read only = no
    browseable = yes

Make sure to update values to your server directory to be used.

Breakdown of values to be updated..
Value Description
SHARE-NAME Share name that is visible to the Network. Use something that describes the share
ANY-COMMENT Comments for better understanding. Can be anything
@GROUPNAME Used to restrict the share to specific group in linux.
/PATH/TO/SHARE/DIR/ Absolete Path to directory that should be shared

Guest Share⚓︎

What is Guest Share⚓︎

  • Anyone can access this share.
  • This share will be visible without username or password.
  • If the user enters wrong username and password this share will be visible.
/etc/samba/smb.conf
[guest]
comment = Guest File Share
path = /PATH/TO/SHARE/DIR/ # change the path to match your guest FS
read only = no
browseable = yes
guest ok = yes
guest only = yes
writeable = yes

Create the directory⚓︎

Samba is now configured, the directory needs to be created and the permissions changed.

sudo mkdir -p /PATH/TO/SHARE/DIR/
sudo chown nobody:nogroup /PATH/TO/SHARE/DIR/

The -p switch tells mkdir to create the entire directory tree if it doesn’t already exist.

Enable the new configuration⚓︎

Restart the Samba services to enable the new configuration by running the following command:

sudo systemctl restart smbd.service nmbd.service

Advanced Setup⚓︎

This will get you a basic samba setup to share files for more advanced setup refer