Samba (SMB/CIFS)

Networking 2026-08-28

Samba provides file and print sharing using the SMB/CIFS protocol, making your Shani OS machine appear as a Windows-compatible network share. It is pre-installed, and its runtime state (locks, caches, tdbsam database) is bind-mounted from /data/varlib/samba, ensuring it persists across OS updates.

Prefer NFS for Linux-to-Linux sharing. Use Samba when you need Windows or macOS compatibility.

Server Setup

1. Enable Services

Samba consists of smbd (file sharing) and nmbd (NetBIOS name resolution for Windows discovery):

sudo systemctl enable --now smb nmb

2. Configuration

File: /etc/samba/smb.conf

[global]
    workgroup = WORKGROUP
    server role = standalone server
    passdb backend = tdbsam
    security = user
    guest account = nobody

    ; Enforce SMB2+ — SMB1 is disabled for security
    client min protocol = SMB2
    server min protocol = SMB2

    ; Sync Samba password changes back to the Linux account
    unix password sync = yes
    passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
    pam password change = yes
    obey pam restrictions = yes

    ; Logging
    log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log
    max log size = 1000

    ; User share support (GUI-created shares via Dolphin/Nautilus)
    usershare path = /var/lib/samba/usershare
    usershare max shares = 100
    usershare owner only = yes
    usershare allow guests = yes

[homes]
    comment = Home Directories
    browseable = no
    read only = yes
    create mask = 0700
    directory mask = 0700
    valid users = %S

[printers]
    comment = All Printers
    browseable = no
    path = /var/spool/samba
    printable = yes
    guest ok = no
    read only = yes
    create mask = 0700

[print$]
    comment = Printer Drivers
    path = /var/lib/samba/printers
    browseable = yes
    read only = yes
    guest ok = no

💡 Validate your config: Run testparm after editing to catch syntax errors before restarting.

3. User Authentication

Samba maintains its own password database. Even with unix password sync = yes, you must create the Samba password entry initially:

# Add a Samba password for an existing Linux user
sudo smbpasswd -a youruser

# Enable an existing Samba user (if previously disabled)
sudo smbpasswd -e youruser

This grants access to the automatic [homes] share at \\server-ip\youruser.

Append to the bottom of /etc/samba/smb.conf:

[SharedFiles]
    comment = Shared Files
    path = /home/user/shared
    browseable = yes
    read only = no
    valid users = youruser
    create mask = 0644
    directory mask = 0755

Then restart Samba to apply:

sudo systemctl restart smb nmb

5. Firewall

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=samba --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

6. SELinux Contexts

Shani OS enforces SELinux. Custom shares need the samba_share_t context:

sudo semanage fcontext -a -t samba_share_t "/srv/share(/.*)?"
sudo restorecon -Rv /srv/share

For the [homes] share, enable the boolean instead:

sudo setsebool -P samba_enable_home_dirs on

Client Usage

Linux

The mount.cifs helper used below comes from cifs-utils (pre-installed).

Temporary mount:

sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.1.100/SharedFiles /mnt/samba \
  -o username=youruser,uid=$(id -u),gid=$(id -g),vers=3.0

Persistent mount via /etc/fstab — first create ~/.smbcredentials (mode 600):

username=youruser
password=yourpass

Then add to /etc/fstab:

//192.168.1.100/SharedFiles  /mnt/samba  cifs  credentials=/home/user/.smbcredentials,uid=1000,gid=1000,_netdev,vers=3.0  0 0

Windows

In File Explorer address bar or Run dialog: \\192.168.1.100\SharedFiles or \\192.168.1.100\youruser

macOS

Finder → Go → Connect to Server: smb://192.168.1.100/SharedFiles

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Share not appearing in Windows network browser	Ensure `nmb` is running; Windows uses NetBIOS/WSD for discovery — connecting directly by IP (`\\192.168.1.100`) always works
`Permission denied` when accessing share	Check Linux filesystem permissions on the shared path — Samba permissions are layered on top; both must allow access
`NT_STATUS_LOGON_FAILURE`	Wrong Samba password — reset with `sudo smbpasswd youruser`
`mount error(13): Permission denied` on Linux	Add `sec=ntlmssp` to mount options; verify credentials in `.smbcredentials`
Config changes not taking effect	Run `testparm` to validate, then `sudo systemctl restart smb nmb`
View logs	`journalctl -u smb` or `/var/log/samba/log.smbd`