How to Set Up Samba for Seamless Windows‑Linux File Sharing on CentOS

1. Why Use Samba

When sharing files between Windows and Linux virtual machines, Samba provides a convenient solution that avoids the time‑consuming copy‑and‑paste process and allows direct compilation in the shared directory, despite the differing file systems.

2. Install and Start Samba Service

1) Install Samba using yum yum -y install samba* 2) Start and verify the service

service smb start

service nmb start

Check open ports (137, 138 UDP; 139, 445 TCP) with ss -tnl.

3) Create a shared user

smbpasswd -a alren

setfacl -m u:alren:rw /home/alren

4) Access the share from Windows by browsing the network and logging in with the created credentials.

3. Create a Shared Filesystem

1) Create the shared folder mkdir /share/test 2) Edit Samba configuration ( /etc/samba/smb.conf ) and add a share

[myshared]

comment = shared files

path = /share/test

write list = chen

3) Set ACL permissions setfacl -m u:chen:rwx /share/test 4) Test access from Windows by entering the server IP address.

5) List shares on the server smbclient -L server -U username 6) Connect interactively to a share

smbclient //server/shared -U username

4. Common Samba Configuration Options

1) /etc/samba/smb.conf parameters

[shared]

comment = # comment

path = # directory to share

read only = # yes/no

writeable = # yes/no

public = # allow guest access

guest ok = # allow guest login

write list = # users or groups with write permission

Users example: hadoop, centos; groups: @groupname, +groupname.

2) Test configuration syntax testparm 3) Mount a CIFS filesystem

mount -t cifs //server/shared /path/to/mount_point -o username=smbuser

5. Configure Samba via GUI

1) Install the GUI package yum -y install samba-swat 2) Enable the GUI by configuring the samba‑swat package.

3) Verify the GUI port (901) is open

4) Access the GUI via a web browser using http://<i>server_ip</i>:901