Install and Configure Samba Share on Centos 7

This guide intends to teach you to Install and Configure Samba Share on Centos 7.

Samba is a collection of different applications that let a Linux server perform network actions like file serving, authentication/authorization, name resolution, and print services.

Samba implements the SMB protocol, which allows Windows clients to transparently access Linux directories, printers, and files on a Samba server (just as if they were talking to a Windows server).

Crucially, Samba allows a Linux server to act as a Domain Controller. By doing so, user credentials on the Windows domain can be used instead of needing to be recreated and then manually kept in sync on the Linux server.

Step To Install and Configure Samba Share on Centos 7

To complete this guide, you must log in to your server as a non-root user with sudo privileges. To do this, you can follow our guide on Initial Server Setup with Centos 7.

Also, you need to disable the SELinux. For this purpose, you can follow this guide on How To Disable SELinux on Centos.

Install Samba on Centos 7

Samba packages are available in the default Centos repository. First, update your local package index with the command below:

sudo yum update -y

Then, use the following command to install Samba:

sudo yum install samba samba-common samba-client 

This will install the dependencies and required packages.

Then, use the commands below to start and enable the Samba service on Centos 7:

# sudo systemctl start smb.service
# sudo systemctl enable smb.service

Verify your Samba service is active and running:

sudo systemctl status smb.service

Output
● smb.service - Samba SMB Daemon
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/smb.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Tue 2023-02-07 05:32:21 EST; 15s ago
     Docs: man:smbd(8)
           man:samba(7)
           man:smb.conf(5)
 Main PID: 8929 (smbd)
   Status: "smbd: ready to serve connections..."
...

Configure Samba on Centos 7

You need to make some changes to the Samba config file and create share samba directories. To do these, follow the steps below.

Set Samba Global Settings

At this point, you need to open the Samba configuration file with your favorite text editor, here we use vi editor:

sudo vi /etc/samba/smb.conf

Under the Global section, find the line below and make sure it is like this:

workgroup = WORKGROUP

When you are done, save and close the file.

Create Samba Share Directories on Centos 7

At this point, you can share both public and private directories. So you can create the two directories by using the following commands:

# sudo mkdir /public 
# sudo mkdir /private

Now you need to open the Samba config file again and add the shares and authentication methods to the end of the file.

sudo vi /etc/samba/smb.conf

[public]
   comment = Public Folder
   path = /public
   writable = yes
   guest ok = yes
   guest only = yes
   force create mode = 775
   force directory mode = 775
[private]
   comment = Private Folder
   path = /private
   writable = yes
   guest ok = no
   valid users = @smbshare
   force create mode = 770
   force directory mode = 770
   inherit permissions = yes

When you are done, save and close the file.

Create Samba Share User Group

At this point, you need the Samba share user group to access the Private share as specified in the config file above. 

Create the group by using the command below:

sudo groupadd smbshare

Set the correct permissions for the private share by using the commands below:

# sudo chgrp -R smbshare /private/
# sudo chgrp -R smbshare /public

Next, set the correct permissions for the directories:

# sudo chmod 2770 /private/ 
# sudo chmod 2775 /public

Note: The value 2 at the beginning of the above commands, stands for the SGID bit. This allows newly created files to inherit the parent group.

Create a no-login Local User

Now you should create a no-login local user to access the private share by using the command below:

sudo useradd -M -s /sbin/nologin sambauser

Then, add the user to the Samba share group on Centos 7 with the following command:

sudo usermod -aG smbshare sambauser

Finally, set a password for your Samba user:

sudo smbpasswd -a sambauser

Output
New SMB password:
Retype new SMB password:
Added user sambauser.

Enable the created account by using the following command:

sudo smbpasswd -e sambauser

Output
Enabled user sambauser.

Verify Samba Configuration

When you are done with the above steps, you can test your Samba configuration on Centos 7 that is working correctly or not with the following command:

sudo testparm

Output
Load smb config files from /etc/samba/smb.conf
Loaded services file OK.
Server role: ROLE_STANDALONE

Press enter to see a dump of your service definitions

# Global parameters
[global]
        printcap name = cups
        security = USER
        idmap config * : backend = tdb
        cups options = raw


[homes]
        browseable = No
        comment = Home Directories
        inherit acls = Yes
        read only = No
        valid users = %S %D%w%S


[printers]
        browseable = No
        comment = All Printers
        create mask = 0600
        path = /var/tmp
        printable = Yes


[print$]
        comment = Printer Drivers
        create mask = 0664
        directory mask = 0775
        force group = @printadmin
        path = /var/lib/samba/drivers
        write list = @printadmin root


[public]
        comment = Public Folder
        force create mode = 0775
        force directory mode = 0775
        guest ok = Yes
        guest only = Yes
        path = /public
        read only = No


[private]
        comment = Private Folder
        force create mode = 0770
        force directory mode = 0770
        inherit permissions = Yes
        path = /private
        read only = No
        valid users = @smbshare

This means that everything is configured appropriately. 

Create Demo Files in Samba Share

At this point, you can create demo files in the Samba shares. To do this. you can run the following commands:

# sudo mkdir /private/demo-private /public/demo-public
# sudo touch /private/demo1.txt /public/demo2.txt

To apply the changes, restart the Samba service on Centos 7:

sudo systemctl restart nmb

Access Share Files From Local Machine

Before you set up Samba clients, you can try accessing your share files with the command below on Centos 7:

smbclient '\\localhost\private' -U sambauser

Output
Enter WORKGROUP\sambauser's password:
Try "help" to get a list of possible commands.
smb: \> ls
  .                                   D        0  Tue Feb  7 05:40:59 2023
  ..                                  D        0  Tue Feb  7 05:45:28 2023
  demo1.txt                           N        0  Tue Feb  7 05:40:59 2023
  demo-private                        D        0  Tue Feb  7 05:40:52 2023

                51057152 blocks of size 1024. 46640276 blocks available
smb: \>

Set up Samba Share Windows Client

At this point, we want to show you access to the share from Windows. First, open a run box using Win+R and enter your Centos 7 IP address in the box and click Ok:

You will see the following screen, you should enter your Samba user credentials and click Ok.

Then, the Samba shared folders on Centos 7 should appear as below:

You can open one of the files, and create a new file there. You should see the file on your server machine too.

Mount Network Drive

At this point, you can mount the Samba share permanently on your Windows system. Right-Click on This PC->Map Network Drive. This will open a window for you, provide the Path details and click Finish.

Then, enter the Samba user credentials and click ok.

You will have the share available on your This PC.

Set up Samba Linux Client

At this point, you can access the share folders from a Linux client. To do this, you need to have Samba packages installed on your server. Here our Linux client is Centos 7:

sudo yum install samba samba-common samba-client 

Then, navigate to File manager->Other locations and add your share using the syntax below.

smb://server-name/Share_name

Enter the credentials for the samba user. That is it! You have your Samba share on your Linux client machine.

Conclusion

At this point, you have learned to Install and Configure Samba Share on Centos 7.

Hope you enjoy it. You may be like these articles:

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