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A Cloud Guru

Implement SAMBA (CIFS) Fileshares for Servers and Clients

Implementing fileshares for Windows and Linux servers, plus clients is a key skill for any experienced system administrator. In this activity, we will be working to set up a Linux Samba fileshare that can then be used by a remote client to store files on. Once this activity is completed, we will see how Samba can be used to provision a fileshare for use via a Linux client.

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Path Info

Level

Intermediate

Duration

1h 0m

Published

Nov 12, 2018

Challenge

Install Samba Packages on the Samba Server
We will need several packages installed on our server to complete this activity. Install the packages needed via:
```
sudo yum install -y samba samba-client cifs-utils
```
Challenge

Install Samba Packages on the Samba Client Server
Similar to the server install, we will need to install some packages on the client in order to use the share we are making available from the server. We can execute the package installation with:
```
sudo yum install -y samba samba-client cifs-utils   
```
Challenge

Create the Server Fileshare and Set Universal Read/Write Permissions
On the server, we are tasked with creating the fileshare location for our development team's documentation. Easily accomplished with:
```
sudo mkdir /devdocs
```
We can meet the accessibility requirement with the following command:
```
sudo chmod 777 /devdocs
```
Challenge

Allow Network and Users to Access the Share
Our private network is on 10.0.1.0/24 and you have a test user that we will be configuring access to this fileshare via the Samba server configuration file located at /etc/samba/smb.conf — we will need to edit the following values in the [global] section of that file so they appear as follows:
```
security = user
hosts allow = 127. 10.0.1.
interfaces = lo eth0
passdb backend = smbpasswd:/etc/samba/sambapasswd.txt
```
Additionally, we will need to add a new section at the end of the configuration file for our share. We can accomplish this by adding the following values:
```
[devdocs]
        comment = Development documentation
        read only = no
        available = yes
        path = /devdocs
        public = yes
        valid users = devdocsuser
        write list = devdocsuser
        writable = yes
        browseable = yes
```
Optionally, once saved, we can perform a quick test with:
```
sudo testparm
```

Challenge

Start the Samba Service

Enable and start smb:

sudo systemctl enable smb
sudo systemctl start smb

Challenge

Make the Local Mount Directory on the Samba Client and Set Universal Permissions
Run the following to establish the mount directory:
```
sudo mkdir /mnt/devdocs
```
Set up permissions with:
```
sudo chmod 777 /mnt/devdocs/
```
Challenge

Test the Server Mount on the Client System via the Command Line
We will need to provide a string of options to the mount command to test our access:
```
sudo mount -t cifs -o user=devdocsuser,password=devdocs //10.0.1.100/devdocs /mnt/devdocs/
```
Once mounted, we can check via df -h to see it in the list of mounted filesystems and we should be able to write a file and read it on either client or server system

Author

A Cloud Guru

The Cloud Content team comprises subject matter experts hyper focused on services offered by the leading cloud vendors (AWS, GCP, and Azure), as well as cloud-related technologies such as Linux and DevOps. The team is thrilled to share their knowledge to help you build modern tech solutions from the ground up, secure and optimize your environments, and so much more!

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Implement SAMBA (CIFS) Fileshares for Servers and Clients

Path Info

Table of Contents

Install Samba Packages on the Samba Server

Install Samba Packages on the Samba Client Server

Create the Server Fileshare and Set Universal Read/Write Permissions

Allow Network and Users to Access the Share