The objective of this tutorial is to configure a basic Samba server on Ubuntu 20.04 to share user home directories as well as provide read-write anonymous access to selected directory.

There are myriads of possible other Samba configurations, however the aim of this guide is to get you started with some basics which can be later expanded to implement more features to suit your needs.

In this tutorial you will learn:

• How to install Samba server
• How to configure basic Samba share
• How to share user home directories and public anonymous directory
• How to mount Samba share on MS Windows 10

Software Requirements and Conventions Used

How to configure Samba Server share on Ubuntu 20.04 step by step instructions

1. Let’s begin by installation of the Samba server. This is a rather trivial task. First, install the tasksel command if it is not available yet on your Ubuntu 20.04 system. Once ready use tasksel to install the Samba server.

   $ sudo apt install tasksel
   $ sudo tasksel install samba-server
   

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2. We will be starting with a fresh clean configuration file, while we also keep the default config file as a backup for reference purposes. Execute the following linux commands to make a copy of an existing configuration file and create a new /etc/samba/smb.conf configuration file:

   $ sudo cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf_backup
   $ sudo bash -c 'grep -v -E "^#|^;" /etc/samba/smb.conf_backup | grep . > /etc/samba/smb.conf'
   

3. Samba has its own user management system. However, any user existing on the samba user list must also exist within /etc/passwd file. If your system user does not exist yet, hence cannot be located within /etc/passwd file, first create a new user using the useradd command before creating any new Samba user.Once your new system user eg. linuxconfig exits, use the smbpasswd command to create a new Samba user:

   $ sudo smbpasswd -a linuxconfig
   New SMB password:
   Retype new SMB password:
   Added user linuxconfig.
   

4. Next step is to add the home directory share. Use your favourite text editor, ex. atom, sublime, to edit our new /etc/samba/smb.conf samba configuration file and add the following lines to the end of the file:

   [homes]
    comment = Home Directories
    browseable = yes
    read only = no
    create mask = 0700
    directory mask = 0700
    valid users = %S
   

5. Optionally, add a new publicly available read-write Samba share accessible by anonymous/guest users. First, create a directory you wish to share and change its access permission:

   $ sudo mkdir /var/samba
   $ sudo chmod 777 /var/samba/
   

   Once ready, once again open the /etc/samba/smb.conf samba configuration file and add the following lines to the end of the file:

   [public]
    comment = public anonymous access
    path = /var/samba/
    browsable =yes
    create mask = 0660
    directory mask = 0771
    writable = yes
    guest ok = yes
   

6. Check your current configuration. Your /etc/samba/smb.conf samba configuration file should at this stage look similar to the one below:

   [global]
    workgroup = WORKGROUP
    server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu)
    log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
    max log size = 1000
    logging = file
    panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
    server role = standalone server
    obey pam restrictions = yes
    unix password sync = yes
    passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
    passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
    pam password change = yes
    map to guest = bad user
    usershare allow guests = yes
   [printers]
    comment = All Printers
    browseable = no
    path = /var/spool/samba
    printable = yes
    guest ok = no
    read only = yes
    create mask = 0700
   [print$]
    comment = Printer Drivers
    path = /var/lib/samba/printers
    browseable = yes
    read only = yes
    guest ok = no
   [homes]
    comment = Home Directories
    browseable = yes
    read only = no
    create mask = 0700
    directory mask = 0700
    valid users = %S
   [public]
    comment = public anonymous access
    path = /var/samba/
    browsable =yes
    create mask = 0660
    directory mask = 0771
    writable = yes
    guest ok = yes
   

7. Our basic Samba server configuration is done. Remember to always restart your samba server, after any change has been done to /etc/samba/smb.conf configuration file:

   $ sudo systemctl restart smbd
   

8. (optional) Let’s create some test files. Once we successfully mount our Samba shares, the below files should be available to our disposal:

   $ touch /var/samba/public-share 
   $ touch /home/linuxconfig/home-share 
   

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9. At this stage we are ready to turn our attention to MS Windows. Mounting network drive directories might be slightly different for each MS Windows version. This guide uses MS Windows 10 in a role of a Samba client.
   👁 Mount user Home Directory
   

   To start, open up you Windows Explorer then right-click on Network and click on Map network drive... tab.
10. 👁 Connect using different credentials
    

    Select drive letter and type Samba share location which is your Samba server IP address or hostname followed by the name of the user’s home directory. Make sure you tick Connect using different credentials if your username and password is different from the one created previously in .
11. 👁 Enter user password
    

    Enter user’s password as created in the .
12. 👁 Browse user's home samba directory
    

    Browse user’s home directory. You should be able to see the previously created test file. As well as you should be able to create new directories and files.

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13. 👁 Repeat the mounting steps also for the publicly anonymous samba directory share
    

    Repeat the mounting steps also for the publicly anonymous samba directory share.
14. 👁 Confirm that you can access the Public samba share directory
    

    Confirm that you can access the Public samba share directory.

All done. Now feel free to add more features to your Samba share server configuration.