Samba file sharing (SMB)¶

Share a folder over SMB so macOS, Linux, and Windows can read/write it over the LAN. Typical use: expose a mounted data disk (see the Mount disks section in Setup Data Server) from a headless box.

1. Install¶

sudo apt install samba

2. Define a share¶

Append a share block to /etc/samba/smb.conf:

[colan_storage]
   comment = Edge appliance storage
   path = /colan_storage
   browseable = yes
   read only = no
   guest ok = no
   valid users = anandas
   create mask = 0664
   directory mask = 0775

Validate the config (prints the effective settings, flags syntax errors):

sudo testparm -s

3. Set an SMB password¶

Samba keeps its own password database — the SMB password is separate from the Linux login password, even for the same username. Add the user (interactive; run it where you can type):

sudo smbpasswd -a anandas      # prompts for a new SMB password, twice

The user must already be a Linux user, and must be listed under valid users.

4. Start the service¶

sudo systemctl enable --now smbd
sudo systemctl restart smbd
systemctl is-active smbd                 # -> active
sudo ss -tlnp | grep ':445'              # smbd listening on 445

sudo systemctl disable --now samba-ad-dc

5. Access it¶

6. Mount on a Linux client¶

This is the client side — a Linux box mounting a share the server above exposes.

sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y cifs-utils smbclient

First, confirm the server is reachable and SMB is up (445 is the SMB port):

ping -c2 192.168.0.105
timeout 3 bash -c '</dev/tcp/192.168.0.105/445' && echo "445 open"

List the shares the server offers (so you know the exact share name to mount):

smbclient -L 192.168.0.105 -U anandas      # -N instead of -U for guest/anonymous

Mount it — uid/gid make the files owned by you, so you can read/write without sudo; vers=3.0 pins a modern SMB protocol:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/colan
sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.0.105/colan_storage /mnt/colan \
    -o username=anandas,uid=$(id -u),gid=$(id -g),vers=3.0

It prompts for the SMB password (the one set with smbpasswd -a, not the login one).

Persist across reboots (fstab + credentials file)¶

Keep the password out of /etc/fstab by putting it in a root-only credentials file:

sudo tee /etc/cifs-colan.cred >/dev/null <<'EOF'
username=anandas
password=your-smb-password
EOF
sudo chmod 600 /etc/cifs-colan.cred

Add one line to /etc/fstab:

//192.168.0.105/colan_storage  /mnt/colan  cifs  credentials=/etc/cifs-colan.cred,uid=1000,gid=1000,vers=3.0,_netdev,nofail  0  0

Then test without rebooting:

sudo mount -a

Gotchas¶

• SMB password ≠ login password — set it explicitly with smbpasswd -a.
• valid users must list the account, or login is refused even with the right password.
• Permissions still apply: the Linux user needs real read/write on path. Sharing a disk owned by another UID means fixing ownership (chown) or using force user.
• Firewall: Raspberry Pi OS ships with no firewall enabled, so SMB (139/445) is reachable as-is. On a box with ufw/nftables, open those ports to the LAN.
• Discovery: file browsers find the share via nmbd/mDNS; if it doesn't appear, connect straight to smb://<ip>/<share>.
• Client needs cifs-utils — mount -t cifs on a bare Ubuntu fails until it's installed; the error ("wrong fs type") doesn't mention the missing package.
• vers= mismatch: very old servers need vers=2.0/1.0; new ones reject 1.0. If a mount hangs or is refused, try pinning vers=3.0 explicitly.