Samba Setup for GNU/Linux
Prelude
Samba is the tool to use if you want to allow access to your Linux files accessable from a Microsoft Windows PC or network.
Setting Samba via a GUI
On a Red Hat Linux system, you can use system-config-samba &
to setup a samba
share.
Setting Samba via the command-line
A simple example on a Red Hat server:
cat >>/etc/samba/smb.conf [oracle] path = /opt/oracle writeable = yes guest ok = yes
Then set up the encrypted passwords:
smbpasswd -a oracle
And set up the master samba password:
smbclient -L servername
Finally restart samba (via the services), or with this command:
/etc/rc.d/init.d/smb restart
A slightly more in-depth example (I did this on a Slackware server); Modify your /etc/samba/smb.conf
file to best reflect your environment, here is an example:
workgroup = MYNET Security = user server string = Slackware Server log file = /var/log/samba.%m max log size = 50 socket options = TCP_NODELAY dns proxy = No # Add a section like this if you want to provide access to a specific folder, # If user access has already been added (see above), then this step isn't necessary # for accessing your home directory... [roqetman] comment = Roqetman's share on Barsoom path = /usr/home/roqetman/ valid users = roqetman roqetgirl public = no writable = yes printable = no create mask = 0765
Next, you need to set up the encrypted password, type:
smbpasswd -a username
Finally, stop and start samba with these commands:
smbd stop nmbd stop smbd start nmbd start
Now check on your windows box under "Network Neighborhood", or browse to \\machinename\username
and you should now have a file server (which you can then map to).
Samba Browsing Tools
There is a handy tool called smbc (Text mode SMB network commander), and from nautillus
on the Gnome desktop, you can type smb://
to browse the network and display the shares (you can click the icons to access) or type smb://servername/sharename
for direct access.