Configuring CentOS Stream 9 to Connect to Samba Resources on Ubuntu 24.04

This guide focuses on connecting a CentOS Stream 9 server to a file resource shared via Samba on an Ubuntu 24.04 server. Whether you’re managing a multi-OS infrastructure or simply need to link these systems for a specific task, this step-by-step tutorial will help you set up and access shared folders effortlessly.

Configuring Samba on Ubuntu 24.04

First, update the package lists for the system’s package manager:

sudo apt update

Install Samba using the apt package manager:

sudo apt install samba

Check the Samba status to ensure it’s installed correctly:

systemctl status smbd

Configuring the Firewall

If your firewall is enabled, allow Samba traffic:

sudo ufw allow Samba

Check the UFW status:

sudo ufw status

The output list must contain a line corresponding to the permission rules for Samba.

Configuring Samba

Create the directory for the share:

sudo mkdir -p /var/shared_directory

Set appropriate permissions:

sudo chmod 777 /var/shared_directory

The main configuration file is located at /etc/samba/smb.conf. Open it with a text editor:

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

At the bottom of the file, define a new shared folder. For example:

[shared_directory]
path = /var/shared_directory
browseable = yes
public = no
read only = no
guest ok = no
create mask = 0700
directory mask = 0700

Here’s a breakdown of each line in the Samba configuration:

• [shared_directory] is the name of the share that the users should use for accessing the share, for example, \\X.X.X.X\shared_directory, where X.X.X.X is your Ubuntu server IP address.
• path = /var/shared_directory specifies the actual directory on the server’s file system that will be shared.
• browseable = yes allows the share to be visible in network browsing tools (e.g., Windows Network or file explorers). If set to no, users must know the exact share name to access it.
• public = no controls whether the share is accessible to unauthenticated users. The value no requires a valid username and password for access.
• read only = no controls whether users can only read files or can also write (edit, delete, or add new files). If the value is no, users can read and write.
• guest ok = no controls whether guest users can access the share. If the value is no, only authenticated users with valid Samba credentials can access.
• create mask = 0700 sets default permissions for new files created in the share.
• directory mask = 0700 sets default permissions for new directories created in the share.

Then restart Samba service:

sudo systemctl restart smbd

Next, add the user for accessing the shared directory. In our example, such a user would be centos-user:

sudo useradd centos-user

Set a password in Samba for the created user:

sudo smbpasswd -a centos-user

Check access to the shared directory. For example, in Windows, open File Explorer and enter the path to the shared directory, where replace X.X.X.X with your Ubuntu server IP address and shared_directory with the name of the share.

\\X.X.X.X\shared_directory

If you have provided valid Samba credentials, you will get access to the shared directory.

Connecting CentOS Stream 9 to Samba

When you finish configuring Samba on Ubuntu, go to the process of connecting CentOS Stream 9 to the shared directory.

As usual, update the package lists for the system’s package manager before installing new software:

sudo dnf update

Next, install the CIFS (Common Internet File System) utilities package:

sudo dnf install cifs-utils

Create an empty directory where the external file system will be mounted. This directory becomes the access point for the files and directories on the mounted resource. In our example, such a directory is /mnt/samba:

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/samba

Mount the Samba share to the created directory:

sudo mount -t cifs -o username=centos-user,password=centos-user-password //X.X.X.X/shared_directory /mnt/samba

In this case:

• centos-user is the name of the user created in Samba.
• centos-user-password is the password of the user created in Samba.
• X.X.X.X is the Ubuntu server IP address.
• shared_directory is the name of the shared directory.
• /mnt/samba is the mount point for the share.

Automatically mount the share on boot (optional)

If you need to automatically mount the share on boot, open /etc/fstab for editing:

sudo vi /etc/fstab

Add the following line:

//X.X.X.X/shared_directory /mnt/samba cifs username=centos-user,password=centos-user-password,iocharset=utf8 0 0

In this line:

• X.X.X.X is your Ubuntu server IP address.
• shared_directory is the name of the shared directory.
• /mnt/samba is the mount point for the share.
• cifs stands for Common Internet File System, a protocol used by Samba for sharing files over a network.
• centos-user is the name of the user created in Samba.
• centos-user-password is the password of the user created in Samba.
• iocharset=utf8 specifies the character encoding for file names.
• 0 0: the first 0 specifies whether to back up the file system using the dump utility; the second 0 specifies the order in which file systems are checked during boot by fsck.

Close the file and save the changes you have made, then reboot the system. After the system boots up, use the following command to display information about the disk space usage of file systems. It shows the amount of available and used disk space for each mounted file system on your system.

df -h

The output list must contain the line containing information about the mount point for the share.