Installing Samba
Samba is not installed by default. Open a terminal and type the following command: Alternatively, you can install Samba via the Ubuntu Software Center.
Configuring Samba
To get Samba to work the way we want it to work, we have to make some changes to its configuration file. In the terminal, This will open the config file in Gedit. Scroll down the page until you see the line: This is the identifier of your PC. You can keep it as the default, but it is best to change it to something more meaningful, like “HOME-DESKTOP”.
Next, scroll down further till you reach the “Authentication” section. You should see the line: Remove the “#” at the front of the line.
Continue to scroll down further until you reach the “Share Definitions” section. This is where you configure the files/folders that you want to share with others.
If you want the Home folder to be accessible, you should uncomment (remove the “;” at the front of the line) the following lines:
Don’t forget to change the browseable value to “yes”. You can also uncomment the read only = no line if you allow others to write to your Home folder.
The last line valid users = %S means that only you, or anyone with your login account, can connect to your own Home folder via Samba.
To add additional file sharing path, add the following lines to the end of the file:
Change the name of this share configuration and change the path to the folder you want to share.
You can change the “guest ok=yes” line to “guest ok=no” if you want the share path only available for logged in users.
Lastly, save and exit the file.
Setting Samba user password
To add yourself to the Samba user list, you just have to type the following command:
Replace
More Samba Tips
If you are looking for an easier way to configure the Samba settings, you can install “Samba Server Configuration” GUI.
On your Nautilus File Manager, you can also right-click on any folder and select the Sharing Options to enable sharing.
Enjoy!
