Samba for sharing Linux folders with Windows and Mac
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad17kma8rNM]
If you’re new to Linux, as I am with Ubuntu, and are on a network that features multiple computers with different operating systems you’re going to want to find a way for them to talk to each other - copy files across machines, change directory structures, etcetera. Otherwise you’ll find yourself in a position where moving files from one machine to the next requires the use of a flash drive or USB memory stick, or worse still a blank CD or DVD.
In the world of Linux and Unix, this is the purpose of Samba. At a basic level, Samba let’s Linux and Windows talk to one another.
This YouTube clip (above) goes a long way to explaining how to set this up. It’s quite useful for new users because it’s easy to follow and minimises the tech speak.
In the context of applying this information to the beta of Hardy Heron however, which I’m currently using, I need to add to this because there are some changes. Unfortunately I wasn’t aware of these changes until a little while ago and it therefore took me a number of days of stumbling around before I realised what needed to be done.
As outlined in this forum thread on the Ubuntu Forums:
“It seems that “shares-admin” will be replaced with “nautilus-share”.
Please look at the following changelog:
https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ha…ch/009894.html“
Initially the Shared Folders option appeared in the location outlined in the video clip, however my experience with Ubuntu was such that at some point - presumably after an update - this option was moved to the nautilus (which is the Linux version of Windows’ Explorer, or Mac’s Finder). If I’d bothered to read the update details I probably would have known this, but unfortunately I didn’t. This just goes to show the importance of reading the fine print before you click OK when prompted to install updates.
There is some discussion and disagreement in the thread as to the most effective and proper way to implement Samba, as well as the overarching issue of moving the share option to the nautilus, however I found after installing nautilus-share I was able to complete the process successfully.
In a terminal type
sudo apt-get install nautilus-share
and this option will be installed for you.
As suggested by itsagas2, I also installed nfs-common, however further comments in the thread have argued this is uncessesary; so I’m not sure whether this step is needed or not. For the record though, to install nfs-common type the following in a Terminal window:
sudo apt-get install nfs-common
At this point providing you have completed the rest of the steps outlined in the video clip, to share a folder right-click it in the nautilus, select Sharing Options, and then configure the options in the pop-up window that follows.
When I completed these steps I found I was able to view and access the shared folders from my MacBook.
References:
- Samba - http://www.samba.org
- “How-to: File sharing with Ubuntu using Samba“, pcmedianet, YouTube
- “Lost File Sharing icon in Administration after I closed out application“, Ubuntu Forums
- Ubuntu Changelog: https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ha…ch/009894.html
