Samba (SMB/CIFS)¶

Samba lets your Linux based server share files and folders on a Windows File Sharing Workgroup using the same protocol (SMB/CIFS), this is pretty useful when you need to share files between computers on your network. This also help to allow your files to be accessed through the Internet (although it should only be done through a VPN for security purposes).

Installation¶

To install Samba:

sudo apt-get install samba

Configuring¶

We'll make a folder on our home directory, this will serve as the share folder which will be accessible through SMB.

cd ~ && mkdir sambashare

We now need to add this folder entry to the configuration. Open up Samba's config file.

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

Now we'll add the folder we created alongside other directories to the Samba share (note that you should replace these directories corresponding to your needs). You can add as many entries as you need as long as they're well formatted.

[sambashare]
    comment = Samba shared folder
    path = /home/$USER/sambashare
    read only = no
    browsable = yes
    writeable = yes

[home-users]
    comment = Home users folder
    path = /home
    read only = no
    browsable = yes
    writeable = yes

Now we restart the Samba service to apply the changes:

sudo service smbd restart

Before trying to access the share with another computer, we'll need to add a password to the Samba user. Use the next command and replace $USER with your username.

sudo smbpasswd -a $USER

Now, as a final step, add the firewall rule to allow SMB connections.

sudo ufw allow 445/tcp

Issues with Permissions on Windows¶

In case you try to access a shared folder that doesn't have the corresponding permissions to allow the Windows user to manage said folder, you can add the following directives to each shared folder block in the config file:

create umask = 0777
directory umask = 0777

Shared Folders that Contain Symlinks¶

If one of your shared folders has symlinks in them and you need to share them too, add the following directives to the shared folder block in the config file:

follow symlinks = yes
wide links = yes

Browsing a Shared Folder as a Specified User¶

If you want your shared folder to be accessed as a certain user, add the following directive to the shared folder block in the config file:

force user = $USER