Adding a user to a Samba (SMB) share

Posted by Vivek Gite [Last updated: June 23, 2006]

Q. I am using Fedora Linux and I would like to add a user called joe to Samba. How do I add a user SMB share?

A. The procedure is as follows:
First add Linux/UNIX user using useradd/adduser command.
Then use same user name to add to Samba share using smbpasswd command.

Step # 1: Add a user joe to UNIX/Linux system
adduser command adds user to the system according to command line options and configuration information in /etc/adduser.conf. They are friendlier front ends to the low level tools like useradd.

Type any one of the following command:

# useradd joe
# passwd joe

# adduser joe

Step # 2: Add a user to samba
Now user joe has account on Linux/UNIX box. Use smbpasswd command to specifies that the username following should be added to the local smbpasswd file:

# smbpasswd -a joe

Step # 3: Add a user to a Samab share
By default user gets access to /home/joe from windows system. Let us say you want to give joe access to /data/accounts (make sure directory /data/accounts exists) directory. Open /etc/samba/smb.conf file and add/modify share called [accounts]:

[accounts]
comment = Accounts data directory
path = /data/accounts
valid users = vivek raj joe
public = no
writable = yes

Save the file

Step #4: Restart the samba

# service smb restart

# /etc/init.d/smb reload