Samba File Share Settings
- Samba is named after the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol. SMB is a Microsoft protocol for file and printer sharing
across a network
- For more details on any of these commands, be sure to read the man pages from the command line for each command,
e.g. man smbpasswd, man pdbedit, etc...
- Samba log files are saved at /var/log/samba. These might be useful to review if you are having any problems
- Samba uses port 445. Be sure to enable this port in your firewall
Sequence:
1. Install samba
sudo apt install samba -y
This will install the SAMBA file server to your server
2. Create new config file
cd /etc/samba
sudo mv smb.conf smb.conf.ORIGINAL
sudo nano smb.conf
Samba comes with a lengthy default configuration file (smb.conf), which lists all of its options. Rather than trying to edit
this, it is easier to back it up and make a new one. Here we move into the /etc/samba directory and rename the config
file to smb.conf.ORIGINAL. We then use the nano text editor to create and open a new file.
You will need to use sudo when creating the new config file. The config lines to be added are listed on page 2 below
3. Restart samba
sudo service smbd restart
To have Samba use the new config file you must restart it
4. Add system user to smbpasswd
sudo smbpasswd –a jupiter
To use the Samba file share, a Samba account needs to be created for the Linux system users. You also have the option
of adding a password when adding the user. To set up an open file share (no password required), do not enter any
password when asked to do so.
To see which users have been added to smbpasswd, run sudo pdbedit –L -v
5. Give system user ownership over /srv
sudo chown –R jupiter:jupiter /srv
In this video, we use /srv as the folder for the file share. By default, this is owned by the root user. To allow the jupiter
user to create and delete files on it, use chmod to give jupiter ownership over the whole folder
6. Connect to the file share from your laptop, desktop or phone
From a Windows 10 laptop:
1. Open File Explorer and click This PC
2. Click Map Network Drive
3. Enter the Drive Letter you want to use and the folder. Be sure to add the \\ before the server IP address
4. Tick the option to reconnect at sign in. This remembers this file share for when you shut down and start up your
laptop again
5. Click Finish. The network file share should open straight away for you.
/etc/samba/smb.conf format
[sharename]
path = /srv
read only = no
force user = jupiter
force group = jupiter
vfs object = recycle
recycle:repository = /srv/RecycleBin
recycle:keeptree = yes
recycle:versions = yes
recycle:exclude = *.tmp, *.temp
recycle:exclude_dir = RecycleBin
Share specific options control the behaviour of the file shares you configure. You can have more than
one file share, pointing to different paths for example.
[sharename]
You connect to the file share by browsing to \\server_ip_address\sharename, i.e.
192.168.178.150\files
path The location of the folder on the server being used as the file share.
read only This sets whether the user is able to write to the share
force user Set the user account to be used when working (reading/writing) with files on the file share
force group Set the group to be used when working (reading/writing) with files on the file share
vfs object Enable the Recycle Bin module
recycle:repository Set the path/folder for where deleted items will go
If a deleted item is within a folder, that folder will be recreated within the Recycle Bin. This keeps the
recycle:keeptree
folder structure, making it easier for you to see where deleted files were stored before deletion
recycle:versions If two files with the same name are deleted, two versions will be created in the Recycle Bin
recycle:exclude File types to be excluded. These will not go to the Recycle Bin and will be permanently deleted
recycle:exclude_dir Folders to be excluded from the Recycle Bin. You need to include your Recycle Bin folder here
