samba share setup on Linux

· 2 minute read

imagine opening your Linux server’s files on your phone or laptop as easily as opening a local folder. that’s exactly what Samba lets you do, and this guide will show you how to set it up.

  1. install samba first 
     sudo apt install samba
  2. configure samba conf file located at /etc/samba/smb.conf
  3. add the entry of the directory that you want to share at the end of the file
    1. start with [<name of the share>]
    2. path - path of the directory you want to share (required)
    3. comment - a little description of what you are sharing (optional)
    4. guest ok - default is no - can be accessed by guest or not(optional)
    5. browsable - allows share to be visible in network discovery (optional)
    6. read only - set it to no - to ensure writeable share (required)
    7. volume - defines a volume name to the share. otherwise defaults to the name of the share. (optional)

example:

[myshare]
  path = /mnt/ship/media
  comment = Media files
  guest ok = no
  browsable = yes
  read only = no

note: samba users are different from linux users. to create a samba user, run smbpasswd -a <username> as root and input a password. use this username and password to login when asked.

that’s it. now you can access your shared folder from other machines.

on macOS,

  1. open finder
  2. click on ‘Go’ > ‘Connect to Server’ from menubar. or you can press Cmd + K.
  3. type in your machine’s IP address (smb://) and click on 'Connect'
  4. type in the samba username and password when asked if you are a registered user. or click on ‘Guest’ if you have enable guest share in the smb.conf
  5. select the shares that you want to mount
  6. you can see the mounted directories in the finder

on iOS,

  1. open Files
  2. click on the three dots seen on the top right of the screen
  3. click on ‘Connect to Server’
  4. type in your machine’s IP address (smb://) and proceed
  5. type in the samba username and password when asked if you are a registered user. or click on ‘Guest’ if you have enable guest share in the smb.conf
  6. you can see the mounted shares under ‘Shared’ in the ‘Browse’ tab

on Windows,

  1. open Explorer
  2. type in your machine’s IP address (\\) and press Enter
  3. type in the samba username and password when asked
  4. you can see the shares now