Install Samba file server for Windows

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7 May 2019: Slight adjustments. "gksudo gedit" changed to "sudo gedit" as Ubuntu 18.04 dropped "gksudo".

25 Dec 2014: First created.

Note

Samba file server enables specified directories to be accessible by Windows computers on the same network.

Install

Install the package​:​

$ sudo apt-get update 
$ sudo apt-get install samba

Define a workgroup

Edit the config file:

$ sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf

​​​​​Define workgroup name as "kctcl" in the "[global]" section:

workgroup = kctcl

Uncomment to restrict access to server users only:

security = user

Add the following if OpenVPN used (added 7 May 2019):

hosts allow = 192.168.0. 10.8.0. 127.0.0.

Define directories to be shared

Add a section at the end to share directories:

[<sub-directory name or other short name>] 
pth = /<directory name>/<sub-directory name> 
browseable = yes 
guest ok = yes 
read only = no 
create mask = 0775 
directory mask = 0775 
# do not include the next two lines if access is restricted to the owning user (added 7 May 2019)
force user = nobody 
force group = nogroup

Create the directory to be shared, if not already existing:

$ sudo mkdir -p /<directory name>/<sub-directory name>

Change ownership of the directory:

$ sudo chown nobody:nogroup /<directory name>/<sub-directory name>

Start service

Start or restart Samba service whenever the config file is changed:

$ sudo systemctl restart smbd nmbd

or, if ".service" is not automatically appended when executing the above command:

$ sudo systemctl restart smbd.service nmbd.service

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