How can I easily configure samba share in Debian Wheezy?

Question

I have just installed a new Debian Wheezy and I am trying to create a new share. I am using KDE 4, and there in the folder preferences menu I found option to share the folder with Samba - it doesn't seem to do anything though!

Is there a GUI or some web based configuration tool available in Debian?

Solution 1

I'm not familiar with a GUI to accomplish this but the steps to do this manually from a terminal aren't too bad. You just need to do the following:

Install Samba & required packages

sudo apt-get install smbfs samba

Edit the conf file /etc/samba/smb.conf

Make sure you have the following line in this file and that it's uncommented. It might be set to security = share be default.

security = user

Also in this file, in your "Share Definitions" section, set up a new share similar to the following:

[primary]
   comment = Guest access Share
   path = /mnt/primary
   writeable = yes
   valid users = @smb
   guest ok = no

This says that the share will be called "primary", the local path to the share directory is at /mnt/primary, authorized users can write, only users in the group smb are allowed, and anonymous guests cannot use this.

Testing setup with testparm

When you are done, save the file. Then run testparm to see if there are any problems.

example testparm run

$ testparm
Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf
rlimit_max: increasing rlimit_max (1024) to minimum Windows limit (16384)
Processing section "[homes]"
Processing section "[printers]"
Loaded services file OK.
Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE
Press enter to see a dump of your service definitions

[global]
    workgroup = MYGROUP
    server string = Samba Server Version %v
    log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
    max log size = 50
    cups options = raw

[homes]
    comment = Home Directories
    read only = No
    browseable = No

[printers]
    comment = All Printers
    path = /var/spool/samba
    printable = Yes
    browseable = No

Starting Samba

Lastly, restart the samba server:

/etc/init.d/samba restart

Client Setup (On Windows)

Choose map network drive from the "My Computer" screen. Then enter:

\\debian_box_ip_address\share_name  

For example:

\\192.168.0.200\primary

Then choose "login with different credentials" and enter your Linux username/password.

References

• HOWTO: Setting up an SMB share on Debian Squeeze

Solution 2

There is the SWAT (Samba Web Administration Tool), from which can administer your samba server.

It can do everything in the chosen answer - less the client configuration - and more. Just install it, sudo apt-get install swat, and navigate to your server at port 901 (192.168.x.x:901) from a Web browser.

You need to log in as root per samba reqs.