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Samba Quick Reference

Config file: /etc/samba/smb.conf

Commands

# Validate config for errors
testparm

# Show active connections and shares
smbstatus

# Restart after config changes
sudo systemctl restart smbd

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status smbd

User Management

Samba users are separate from Linux users. A Linux account must exist first.

# Add samba password for existing Linux user
sudo smbpasswd -a username

# Change samba password
sudo smbpasswd username

# Disable a samba user
sudo smbpasswd -d username

# Enable a disabled user
sudo smbpasswd -e username

# Delete a samba user
sudo smbpasswd -x username

# List all samba users
sudo pdbedit -L

# List with details (SID, full name, etc.)
sudo pdbedit -Lv

Share Configuration

Shares are defined in /etc/samba/smb.conf. Each share is a block:

[sharename]
    path = /path/to/folder
    read only = No
    valid users = username
    browseable = Yes
    create mask = 0644
    directory mask = 0755

Common options:

Option Purpose
path Directory to share
read only No = writable, Yes = read only
valid users Users allowed access (space separated)
browseable Show in network browse lists
guest ok Allow anonymous access (avoid this)
create mask Permissions for new files
directory mask Permissions for new directories
force user All access treated as this Linux user
force group All access treated as this Linux group
write list Users with write access (when read only = Yes)

Adding a New Share

  1. Create the directory:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/storage/newshare
sudo chown username:username /mnt/storage/newshare
  1. Add to /etc/samba/smb.conf:
[newshare]
    path = /mnt/storage/newshare
    read only = No
    valid users = username
  1. Validate and restart:
testparm
sudo systemctl restart smbd

Mounting from a Client

Full walkthrough for a desktop (fstab, credentials file, Dolphin, robustness options): Mounting NAS shares on a desktop.

# Install cifs-utils (Debian/Ubuntu)
sudo apt install cifs-utils

# Create mount point
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/sharename

# Create credentials file
sudo bash -c 'cat > /etc/samba/creds << EOF
username=username
password=yourpassword
EOF'
sudo chmod 600 /etc/samba/creds

# Add to /etc/fstab
//server.<YOUR_LOCAL_DOMAIN>/sharename /mnt/sharename cifs credentials=/etc/samba/creds,uid=1000,gid=1000,iocharset=utf8,_netdev 0 0

# Mount now without reboot
sudo mount -a

Testing

# Test access from another machine
smbclient -L //server.<YOUR_LOCAL_DOMAIN> -U username

# Connect to a specific share
smbclient //server.<YOUR_LOCAL_DOMAIN>/sharename -U username

# Verify mount from client side
mount | grep cifs
df -h /mnt/sharename

Troubleshooting

# Check logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/samba/log.smbd

# Permission denied on mount: verify samba password is set (smbpasswd -a)
# NT_STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED: check valid users in smb.conf
# Mount hangs: check firewall allows ports 139/445
# Stale mount after server reboot: sudo umount -f /mnt/sharename && sudo mount -a
# Mount hangs only while a desktop VPN is connected: the VPN is routing the NAS's subnet (see below)

Samba uses TCP ports 139 and 445. Both must be reachable from the client.

See also Network mounts that fail at boot and Desktop VPN tunnelling your LAN.

Sources & further reading