Configure Samba for Windows File Sharing

After successfully installing samba as a file and printer sharing tools which is provided in Linux operating system distribution, it needs to be configured further so that it can provide a file sharing that can be accessed from another host even with different operating system such as Windows for example.

1. Create the folder which is going to be used for file sharing by using a command or any kind of utility. For an example :

mkdir folder_name
mkdir : it is a command which is used to create a new directory. 
folder_name : the name of the folder or directory which is going to be created by using the 'mkdir' command.

The sample output of the command shown below :

user@hostname:~$ mkdir share
user@hostname:~$

2. In order to be able to configure samba, it needs special or highest level privilege, so change to ‘root’ by executing this command to accomplish the purpose :

 sudo su -

Below is the execution of the command in a bash prompt :

user@hostname:~$ sudo su -
[sudo] password for user:
root@hostname:~#

3. Add an additional configuration to samba file configuration which exist in the following location : /etc/samba/smb.conf. But, first of all in order to be able to keep the original samba file configuration in case that the new configured samba file cannot be used, backup the original samba file configuration by executing the following command in the bash prompt :

root@hostname:~# cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.ori

4. This is the additional content which is needed to be added in order to define a new file sharing resource. Edit the file smb.conf located in the /etc/samba with a text-editor, in the case of this article, it is using vim :

vim /etc/samba/smb.conf

Add the following line accordingly to the Share Definitions section represent with the following line :

#======================= Share Definitions =======================

This is the entry of the new sharing definition which is going to be used :

[share]
path = /home/user/share
guest ok = yes
read only = no
create mask = 0700
[share] : it is the shared name definition of the file sharing 
path : variable used to define the value of the folder or directory which is going to be shared
/home/user/share : it is the value of path variable, in the above it acts as an example of folder or directory path which is going to be shared.
guest ok : variable used to define whether a guest user can access the file sharing
yes : it is the value of the guest ok variable, it means it allow guest to access the file sharing
create mask : it is the variable which is defining the permission to mask against the assigned permission for a newly created file from Windows operating system when it is created from Windows client.
0700 : it is the bit mask value which is the value of the create mask variable.

5. Test the file configuration which has already modified by executing the following command :

testparm

Below is the above command executed in the bash prompt :

root@hostname:~# testparm
Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf
rlimit_max: increasing rlimit_max (1024) to minimum Windows limit (16384)
WARNING: The "syslog" option is deprecated
Processing section "[printers]"
Processing section "[print$]"
Loaded services file OK.
Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE
Press enter to see a dump of your service definitions
# Global parameters
[global]
server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)
server role = standalone server
map to guest = Bad User
obey pam restrictions = Yes
pam password change = Yes
passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
unix password sync = Yes
syslog = 0
log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 1000
dns proxy = No
usershare allow guests = Yes
panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
idmap config * : backend = tdb
[share]
path = /home/user/share
read only = No
create mask = 0700
guest ok = Yes
[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
create mask = 0700
printable = Yes
browseable = No
[print$]
comment = Printer Drivers
path = /var/lib/samba/printers

6. Soon as the share definition is redisplayed in the ‘testparm’ command which means it has already been calculated as a new added file sharing definition, restart samba service by execute the following command :

service smbd restart

This is the output of the command executed in the bash prompt :

root@hostname:~# service smbd restart

7. Use samba client tools to explore the already configured file sharing by executing the following command :

smbclient -L //xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/share
smbclient : it is a command used to 
-L : additional parameter which is used to List the share folder exist within the host or server specified by the IP address. 
//xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/share : IP address of the host and also the share name which is going to be accessed for folder and files inside the sharing.

Below is the output of the command above which is executed in the bash prompt :

root@hostname:~# smbclient -L //xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/share 
WARNING: The "syslog" option is deprecated
Domain=[WORKGROUP] OS=[Windows 6.1] Server=[Samba 4.3.9-Ubuntu]
Sharename       Type      Comment 
---------       ----      ------- 
print$          Disk      Printer Drivers 
IPC$            IPC       IPC Service (primary server (Samba, Ubuntu)) 
Officejet-100-Mobile-L411 Printer   HP Officejet 100 Mobile L411 
HP_LaserJet_Professional_P1606dn Printer   HP LaserJet Professional P1606dn 
Domain=[WORKGROUP] OS=[Windows 6.1] Server=[Samba 4.3.9-Ubuntu]
Server               Comment 
---------            ------- 
MARK-DELL39       mark-Dell39 server (Samba, Linux Mint) 
PRIMARY           primary server (Samba, Ubuntu)
Workgroup            Master 
---------            ------- 
WORKGROUP            OFFICE 
user@hostname:~#