File Sharing Between Linux and Windows

Jan 27, 2019
linux windows samba smbfs share
2 min read

Edit /etc/samba/smb.conf adding a stanza at the bottom something like this ([slow] is the name the share will have). Notice the valid users.

[slow]
	path = /home/phil/slow
	available = yes
	valid users = phil
	read only = no
	browsable = yes
	public = yes
	writable = yes

Then do sudo smbpasswd -a USER and enter a Samba password for the user, then restart Samba sudo service smbd restart. The share should now be mappable in Windows as \\plato\slow, use a username of phil (no prefixes such as plato\phil) and the relevant password.

You might have to adjust Security Policy on Windows 10 to be able to map the share. Do run secpol and navigate to Local Policies → Security Options -> Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level. I set it to Send NTMLv2 response only, but that was while trying to connect to an improperly setup share. It might not actually be necessary.

See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MountWindowsSharesPermanently. I added these lines to /etc/fstab:

//192.168.0.202/data /home/phil/win-data cifs credentials=/home/phil/.smbcredentials,uid=1000,gid=1000,iocharset=utf8,sec=ntlm,vers=1.0,rw 0 0
//192.168.0.202/backup /home/phil/win-backup cifs credentials=/home/phil/.smbcredentials,uid=1000,gid=1000,iocharset=utf8,sec=ntlm,vers=1.0,rw 0 0

And ~/.smbcredentials just contained:

username=phil
password=the usual

In Nemo, do File → Connect to server then enter

Server = NAMMEOFWINDOWSMACHINE
  Share = r
  Folder = /
  Domain Name = blank usually works (or maybe WORKGROUP)
  User = phil
  Password = THE USUAL

You may also need to edit /etc/nsswitch.conf to add this line (the wins is the important bit):

hosts: files wins dns

Creating a Samba Share on Linux

Permanently Mount a Windows Share in Linux Mint

Temporarily Access a Windows Share from Linux