Protecting samba shares with ubuntu 10.04

Question

I'm using a linux distribution based on Ubuntu 10.04 (Backtrack 5 R1). I successfully managed to create a samba share that is read/write accessible to everyone in my network. I want to protect this share with a username / password combo. Any host in my network that can provide this combo can access the share and edit its contents.

Is this technically feasible? If yes, how can I do so?

Answer 1

There are many things you can do to secure samba from passwords to kerberos.

First, to access the share, you will be using a user name and password configured on the samba server.

I assume you already have a (login) user.

You then assign a samba password to the user

sudo smbpasswd -a username
sudo smbpasswd -e username

You then define your shares in /etc/samba/smb.conf

sudo -e /etc/samba/smb.conf

gksu gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf

In the section where you define your shared directory

[private]
comment = private share
path = /path/to/share/point
browseable = no
read only = no
guest ok = no

After making those edits, restart the samba server.

sudo service samba restart

There are a number of security features for samba, see also

Ubuntu Server Guide Securing Samba

Ubuntu Community Wiki Samba Server Guide