How to Set Up a Samba File Share on Ubuntu 16.04 – Step‑by‑Step Guide

What Is Samba?

Samba allows a Linux system to share directories that can be accessed directly from Windows machines.

Installing Samba on Ubuntu 16.04

sudo apt-get install samba samba-common

After installation, a screenshot of the terminal output is shown.

Creating the Shared Directory on Ubuntu

1. Make a directory and set permissions

peng@ubuntu:~$ mkdir work
peng@ubuntu:~$ sudo chmod 777 work
peng@ubuntu:~$ cd work/
peng@ubuntu:~/work$ pwd
/home/peng/work

2. Create a Samba user

sudo smbpasswd -a yikou

The user yikou is created with password 1. If the command fails with Failed to add entry for user phinecos, add the corresponding system account:

sudo groupadd yikou -g 6000
sudo useradd yikou -u 6000 -g 6000 -s /sbin/nologin -d /dev/null

3. Edit the Samba configuration

sudo vim /etc/samba/smb.conf

Append the following section to the end of the file:

[yikou]
    path = /home/peng/work    # shared folder path
    available = yes
    browseable = yes
    writable = yes

4. Restart the Samba service

/etc/init.d/smbd restart

Mapping the Share on Windows

Ensure the Windows machine can reach the Ubuntu host (e.g., ping the Ubuntu IP address). ping 192.168.0.115 Open Computer → Map network drive and enter the share path: \\192.168.0.115\yikou When prompted, use the Samba username yikou and password 1. After confirming, the network drive (e.g., Z:) appears, showing the same contents as the Ubuntu shared directory.

The Ubuntu Samba server root directory now mirrors the Windows mapped drive.