Samba server allows files and printers to be shared between Linux/Unix and Windows machines. It uses the SMB protocol. To set up a Samba server, install the samba packages on the Linux server and samba client packages if testing from another Linux machine. Then configure a shared folder and set up credentials. The shared drive can then be mapped and accessed from Windows by entering the address and credentials, allowing files to be easily shared between operating systems on the network.

1. Samba Server
LECTURER: AYESHA ARSHAD

2. What is Samba Server?
Samba server is used to share files with Windows system. We can also share printer
services with it.
Samba enables Linux / Unix machines to communicate with Windows machines in a
network. Samba is open source software.
Originally, Samba was developed in 1991 for fast and secure file and print share for all
clients using the SMB protocol. Since then it has evolved and added more capabilities.

3. Setup
Let’s now setup a scenario for testing our server

4. Installation
We need to install following packages to install Samba on our
server
yum install samba samba-client samba-common
If we are using a Windows machine as client, we don’t need any
special packages installed on windows machine but if using
Centos/RHEL for testing, we need to install following packages
yum install samba samba-client samba-common cifs-utils
Now, our installation is done. We will now configure our shared
folder.

5. Configuration

6. Configuration

7. Configuration

8. Testing

9. Testing

10. Testing on Windows Machine
On windows machine, open you “My Computer” & on top bar there
should a option to map your drive (refer to screenshot below).
Click on that option , then enter your drive address &
credentials.
Upon successful verification of credentials, drive will show up
with other local drives of your system.
Test it by creating a file. It should work fine.

11. Testing on Windows Machine