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203 Setup SMB Quick and easy

PostedDecember 8, 2022
UpdatedJanuary 4, 2023
ByBill Debevc

Quick and easy = not secure!

First of all, what is SMB? SMB or Samba is the file-sharing protocol that Windows uses by default and is also supported by Macs. 

Why do I need it? You only need to install Samba if you want to connect to your Pi from your Windows or Mac computer.

Update your Raspberry Pi OS. 

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Install Samba

sudo apt-get install samba samba-common-bin

Clean up your config file. This command will remove all the comments from the smb.conf file. (optional)

sudo sed -i -n '/^[^#]/ p' /etc/samba/smb.conf

Edit your config file

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

Because I am still in testing and behind my firewall, I am going to open up root for my user. Once this thing is out in the wild, that will change.

Here are the contents of my smb.conf file for reference.

[global]
   workgroup = WORKGROUP
   log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
   max log size = 1000
   logging = file
   panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d
   server role = standalone server
   obey pam restrictions = yes
   unix password sync = yes
   passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
   passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* .
   pam password change = yes
   map to guest = bad user

[root]
   comment = Home Directories
   browseable = yes
   read only = no
   create mask = 0777
   directory mask = 0777
   path = /

Once your config file is ready, it’s time to add your user.  Replace USERNAME with the user name you want to use. You will also need to enter a password you wish to use for your SMB connection.

sudo smbpasswd -a USERNAME

Finally, restart the SMB service.

sudo systemctl restart smbd

 

To connect to your PI from your windows box, you will need to know the IP address of your Raspberry Pi. Once you know that, you can press the start button and type \\172.16.40.84 or your IP address.  You will then be given a screen to enter your username and password.   Enter .\USERNAME (replacing with your username from above) and the password you set.  You should see the root folder now and can copy files to and from your Pi.