Have you ever wanted to create a wide-open file share on your LAN to enable your users to quickly and easily share files? In this video, the viewer is shown the process of setting up a custom Samba implementation on Debian/Ubuntu that makes sharing files on your LAN easy.

Install Samba

sudo apt update
sudo apt install samba

Stop Samba daemon

Check if it’s running:

sudo systemctl status smbd

If it is, stop the daemon:

sudo systemctl stop smbd

Back up Samba config file

sudo mv /etc/samba/smb.conf

Create new Samba config file

sudo vim /etc/samba/smb.conf

New file (change the items in bold accordingly):

[global]
server string = File Server
workgroup = LLTV
security = user
map to guest = Bad User
name resolve order = bcast host
include = /etc/samba/shares.conf

Create Samba shares config file

sudo vim /etc/samba/shares.conf

New file (change the items in bold accordingly):

[Public Files]
path = /share/public_files
force user = smbuser
force group = smbgroup
create mask = 0664
force create mode = 0664
directory mask = 0775
force directory mode = 0775
public = yes
writable = yes
 
[Protected Files]
path = /share/private_files
force user = smbuser
force group = smbgroup
create mask = 0664
force create mode = 0664
directory mask = 0775
force directory mode = 0775
public = yes
writable = no

Create samba user and group

Create group:

sudo groupadd --system smbgroup

Create user:

sudo useradd --system --no-create-home --group smbgroup -s /bin/false smbuser

Create shared directories

Create directories:

sudo mkdir -p /share/public_files
sudo mkdir /share/private_files

Change ownership/permissions:

sudo chown -R smbuser:smbgroup /share
sudo chmod -R g+w /share