Samba Add a User

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? How can I add a users to Samba?

[donotprint]

Tutorial details
Difficulty level	Easy
Root privileges	Yes
Requirements	Samba
Est. reading time	5m

[/donotprint]The procedure is as follows to add a user to samba server: [a] First add Linux/UNIX user using useradd/adduser command. [b] Then use same user name to add to Samba share using smbpasswd command.

NOTE: Unlike Samba 3, Samba 4 does not require a local Unix user for each Samba user that is created. Please see this note for more info.

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
OR
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 Samba 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
OR
# /etc/init.d/smb reload

A note about adding users on Samba version 4.x

Unlike Samba version 3.x and earlier, Samba version 4.x does not require a local Unix/Linux user for each Samba user that is created. The command is as follows for adding users into Samba Active Directory:
# /usr/local/samba/bin/samba-tool user add USERNAME-HERE
OR
# samba-tool user add USERNAME-HERE
Please see Samba AD DC howto for more info.

See also:

• Configure a system to automount a Samba share with /etc/fstab

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