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2.7 Shared File Configuration

This section introduces the usage instructions for sharing tools in Ubuntu systems.

Samba​

Installation Command​

sudo apt install samba

Configuring Samba​

  1. Create a shared directory. Create a directory named shared under your home directory to serve as the shared folder by running the following command:
mkdir ~/shared
  1. Configure Samba sharing. Open Samba's main configuration file /etc/samba/smb.conf and append the following content at the end of the file to define the shared directory configuration:
[shared]
   comment = Shared Directory for Ubuntu 22.04
   path = /home/your_username/shared
   read only = no
   browsable = yes
   guest ok = no
   create mask = 0775
   directory mask = 0775

Syntax explanation:

[shared]: This is the name of the share. Clients will see this name when accessing shared resources; you can modify it as needed.
comment: A description of the shared directory to help users understand its purpose.
path: Specifies the actual path of the shared directory. Replace your_username with your actual username.
read only: Setting this to no allows clients to read from and write to the shared directory.
browsable: Setting this to yes makes the shared directory visible on the network.
guest ok: Setting this to no requires a username and password to access the shared directory, ensuring security.
create mask and directory mask: Set the default permissions for files and directories created within the shared directory, respectively.
  1. Set up a Samba user and password

To access the shared directory, you need to create a Samba user and set a password. You can use an existing system user as the Samba user. Run the following command to add the system user to the Samba user list:

sudo smbpasswd -a sunrise
  1. Restart the Samba service
sudo systemctl restart smbd

You can use the following command to check the status of the Samba service:

sudo systemctl status smbd
  1. Configure the firewall (optional step)

If your system has a firewall enabled (e.g., ufw), you need to open the ports used by Samba so other devices can access the shared directory. Run the following command to allow Samba through the firewall:

sudo ufw allow samba

NFS​

NFS (Network File System) is a network file system that uses the classic client-server (C/S) architecture. The server manages and stores shared files and directories, while clients access these resources over the network.

This section provides a tutorial using Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 as an NFS client.

Prerequisites: An NFS server must already be set up.

  1. Install the NFS client software
sudo apt install nfs-common
  1. Create a mount point

Create a local directory in the Ubuntu system as the mount point for mounting the Windows NFS shared directory, for example:

sudo mkdir -p /userdata/windows_nfs_share
  1. Mount the NFS shared directory

Use the following command to mount the Windows NFS shared directory to the Ubuntu mount point, assuming the Windows server IP address is 192.168.127.11 and the shared directory is D:\NFSShare:

sudo mount -v -t nfs -o vers=3,proto=tcp 192.168.127.11:/D/NFSShare /userdata/windows_nfs_share

Explanation:
-v       : verbose, displays detailed mount process
-t nfs   : specifies the file system type as NFS
-o       : specifies mount options
vers=3   : uses the NFSv3 protocol
proto=tcp: uses TCP transport
  1. Verify the mount

Run the following command to check whether the mount was successful:

mount | grep windows_nfs_share

If you see 192.168.127.11:/D:/NFSShare mounted on /mnt/windows_nfs_share in the output, the mount was successful.

  1. Set up automatic mounting at boot (optional)

To make Ubuntu automatically mount the NFS shared directory at each boot, execute the following commands:

  • Create the mount service

    cat > /etc/systemd/system/mount-windows-nfs.service << 'EOF'
    [Unit]
    Description=Mount Windows NFS Share
    After=network-online.target
    Wants=network-online.target

    [Service]
    Type=oneshot
    RemainAfterExit=yes
    ExecStartPre=/bin/sleep 10
    ExecStart=/bin/mount -t nfs -o vers=3,proto=tcp 192.168.127.11:/D/NFSShare /userdata/windows_nfs_share
    ExecStop=/bin/umount /userdata/windows_nfs_share

    [Install]
    WantedBy=multi-user.target
    EOF

  • Start the service

    // Reload the systemd configuration file
    systemctl daemon-reload

    // Enable automatic startup at boot
    systemctl enable mount-windows-nfs.service

    // Start the service immediately
    systemctl start mount-windows-nfs.service

  • Save and exit the editor.

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