Accessing files on a linux box, using a UNC path in windows explorer

Question

The title says it all; I want to figure out a way to access files on a linux machine, by entering

\\<ServerHostname>\<something>

Into windows explorer, in the same way that I can do at work to access windows servers (which is a windows network).

So my question falls into two parts:

• What protocols are used in this operation? What order are they used?
• What daemons/services can you recommend which can do this?

Thanks in advance,

Twitchy

Solution

The product you're looking for is samba, which is the Microsoft protocol stack for Linux, is available on pretty much every Linux distribution out there due the commonality of the problem. Once it is set up right, UNC access methods will work.

Comments

[mdpc]

HINT: Look at Samba.