How to Install Samba

What is Samba?

Samba is the standard Windows interoperability suite of programs for Linux and Unix. It allows you to share files and printers across a network with Windows, macOS, and other Linux machines using the SMB/CIFS protocol.

1 Install Samba

sudo apt update
sudo apt install samba -y

Verify the installation:

whereis samba

2 Create a Share Directory

sudo mkdir -p /samba/share
sudo chmod 777 /samba/share

3 Configure Samba

Edit the Samba configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

Add this section at the bottom of the file:

[Share]
   path = /samba/share
   browseable = yes
   read only = no
   guest ok = yes
   create mask = 0777
   directory mask = 0777

4 Restart Samba

sudo systemctl restart smbd

Check the status:

sudo systemctl status smbd

5 Set Up a Samba User

Create a Samba password for your user (separate from system password):

sudo smbpasswd -a tom

Enable the user:

sudo smbpasswd -e tom

6 Configure Firewall

sudo ufw allow samba

7 Access from Windows

On Windows, open File Explorer and type:

\\\\192.168.1.100\\\\Share

Replace the IP with your server's IP address.

8 Access from macOS

smb://192.168.1.100/Share

Open Finder → Go → Connect to Server, then enter the address above.