Rite and Ritual

How to set up SAMBA in Ubuntu Intrepid – the Easy and Easier way

Posted on December 28th, 2008 in future reference, how-to computers, future reference, linux, networking, sharing, ubuntu

There are two ways to get Samba working on Ubuntu Intrepid. Both are simple, and one is easier than the other. As examples, I’m going to be sharing the “Documents” directory, that you see under the Places menu in Ubuntu.

Easy way:

1. On your desktop, open Applications>Accessories>Terminal.
2. Download  and install samba by typing:

   sudo apt-get install samba samba-tools system-config-samba

3. Add yourself as user to samba with:

   sudo smbpasswd -a whateveryourusernameis

4. Make a backup of your samba configuration with:

   cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /home/whateveryourusernameis/

5. Then you add the configuration file for samba like this (I use gedit, but you can use your favorite text editor, nano or w/e):

   sudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf

6. Go to the very end of the file, and type in (example is the “Documents” folder):

   [Documents]
   path = /home/whateveryourusernameis/Documents

7. Save and close, and restart samba:

   sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart

8. Done!

Easypeasy way:

1. On your desktop, go to System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager. Find and make sure these items are/will be installed:
   1. samba
   2. system-config-samba
   3. nautilus-share.
2. Once they are installed, (remember to hit “apply” at the top, once you selected all you want to install), there are two ways to start sharing:
   1. go to Places>Home Folder. Once it opens, right-click on the “Documents” folder and select “Sharing Options” from the click-menu. From the dialogue it opens, check “Share this folder”. And Bob, as they say, is your uncle.
   2. go to System>Administration>Samba. From there, click the plus button “Add Share” and browse for the folder you want to share on your network. (If you find yourself in a weird directory and can’t find your way back home (ha!), you can navigate on the left hand side to Filesystem>Home>[whateveryourusernameis] and that will be your home directory.) It will remind you to allow atleast one user, in case you forget, and you can also determine write access, just like in the previous method.

Now, to find your shares on a Windows computer – in this example my wife’s Vista – there’s a few ways to do it.

A simple way is from the Start menu, open Computer. In that window, go to File>Add a Network Location. Follow the easy setup dialog, choosing a custom network location and browsing your network share.

Another way to do it is to first want to go on your router and find out what your linux machine’s IP address is. Its generally 192.168.x.x- for me it is 192.168.1.4.  At the address bar, delete what’s there and type \\ and your linux ip address – like for me, I type \\192.168.1.4 press enter and that’s it.

To find your shares on a linux computer on your network, type in smb://192.168.x.x .