Ubuntu Samba Setup: A Step-by-Step Guide

Samba is a free and open-source SMB/CIFS networking protocol implementation that allows for file sharing between Unix and Windows machines in a local area network. In this tutorial, we will learn how to install and set up Samba share on an Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance with Ubuntu 16.04.

Warning Message

During the installation process, you may encounter a warning message that states: 'Insserv: warning: current start runlevel(s) (empty) of script `nmbd' overrides LSB defaults (2 3 4 5). Service is not a native service, redirecting to systemd-sysv-install. Executing /lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install disable nmbd.' This message can be ignored, and the installation process will continue.

Installing Samba

To install Samba on your Ubuntu ECS instance, use the following command: `sudo apt-get install samba`. This command will install both Samba server smbd and the Samba NetBIOS server nmbd.

Disabling nmbd

We do not need nmdb as of now, so it's recommended to stop and disable it for security purposes. You can do so using the following commands: `sudo service nmbd stop` and `sudo update-rc.d nmbd disable`.

Configuring Samba Server

To configure the Samba server, you will need to create a new file in the `/etc/samba/smb.conf` directory called `smb.conf`. This file contains the configuration settings for your Samba server.

Adding Users and Sharing Directories

Once you have configured the Samba server, you can add users to access the share by creating a new user account on your ECS instance. You can then create a shared directory and set permissions to allow the user to access it.

NetBIOS over TCP/IP

NetBIOS over TCP/IP requires some method for mapping NetBIOS computer names to the IP addresses of a TCP/IP network. This is achieved through `nmbd`, which provides the NetBIOS-to-IP-address name service, and `smbd`, which provides the file and printer sharing services.

In this tutorial, we have learned how to install and set up Samba share on an Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance with Ubuntu 16.04. We have also seen how to disable nmbd for security purposes and configure the Samba server. With these steps, you can now access your shared directories from other machines in your local area network.

About the Author

This tutorial was written by Sajid Qureshi, Alibaba Cloud Tech Share Author. For more technical knowledge and best practices within the cloud community, visit our Tech Share page.

Ubuntu samba setup