Sharing Files In Linux And Windows

4 minute read

Description:

Although I have these steps in a couple places, I wanted to make a single post with the different combinations of sharing folders between Windows/Linux. Updating to include scp commands for one off transfers as you wouldn’t mount a drive just to copy a file one time :)

To Resolve:

CIFS/SMB

  • Stateful protocol that executes each command in the context of the user that you connect as; most common in Windows environments

  1. Using CIFS from from Windows Server => Windows client (most common):

    • Create the share using the steps above
    • Run => \\WindowsComputerName\ShareName
    • Enter the username and password from above
  2. Using CIFS from Windows Server => Linux Client (most common)
    • Networking and Sharing => File/Print sharing
    • Share the folder, set permissions for everyone
    • Under the security settings either add a specific user or add everyone and set permissions to what you need access for.
    • From Linux, install the cif-utils package: sudo apt-get install cifs-utils
    • Now create a new folder on your desktop and mount the Windows share to that folder: mount –t cifs –o username=gerry,password=pa55word //WindowsComputerNameName/ShareName /home/username/path

  3. Using CIFS from from Linux Server => Windows Client - also see here :

    • Install Samba
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    sudo apt-get install samba
# Configure username/password that will be used in Windows to access the share:
smbpasswd -a smb
# Create a folder to share:
mkdir ~/Desktop/Share
    • Edit Samba config file - sudo vi /etc/samba/smb.conf and edit:
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    []
path = /home/username/Desktop/Share;
available = yes
valid users = smb;
read only = no
browsable = yes
public = yes
writable = yes

# Save and close the file
    • Restart the SMB service for changes to take effect:
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    sudo service smbd restart

# Note: I like to do a "chmod 770 -R" on the shared directory

# Note: I like to do a "chown user:group -R" on the shared directory

  4. Using CIFS from Linux Server => Linux client using (uncommon unless Linux server is serving Windows clients/Servers):

    • From terminal on the linux client:
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    # Install Samba Client:
sudo apt-get install smbclient

# To list all shares:
smbclient -L //LinuxServerComputerName/sharedFolderName -U user

# To connect:
smbclient //LinuxServerComputerName/sharedFolderName -U user

#  To mount:
mount –t cifs –o username=gerry,password=pa55word //LinuxServerComputerName/sharedFolderName /home/username/path

#  To access via File Browser GUI:
smb:///LinuxServerComputerName/sharedFolderName

# to make permanent
vi /etc/fstab

# add the following
//LinuxServerComputerName/sharedFolderName /home/username/path  cifs vers=3.0,username=user,password=Pa55word,rw,uid=1000,gid=1000 0  0
   
# save and exit, then mount
mount -a

NFS

  • Stateless protocol that allows clients access based on their IP address and linux permissions; most common in Linux environments with higher speeds than CIFS/SMB is most cases

  1. Using NFS from Linux Server => Linux client (most common):

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    yum install nfs-utils
   
# See mount points of Linux Server by IP address (most common)
showmount -e 192.168.0.100

# Create local directory and mount the share
mkdir -p /mnt/nfs-home

# try mounting with any of these, I think the last is most common
mount -t nfs 192.168.0.100:/home /mnt/nfs-home
  
# or try the following
# mount -t nfs4 192.168.0.100:/home /mnt/nfs-home
# mount 192.168.0.100:/home /mnt/nfs-home
# mount.nfs4 -v 192.168.0.100:/home /mnt/nfs-home

# check the mount if successful, if it is not, check the /etc/exports on the server side and make sure your client is in the correct IP range
df -h

# to make permanent
vi /etc/fstab

# add the following
192.168.0.100:/home /mnt/nfs-home/  nfs      defaults    0       0
# or try the following (look up which ever options are best for your environment)
# 192.168.0.100:/home /mnt/nfs-home/  nfs      nosuid,rw,sync,hard,intr    0       0
# 192.168.0.100:/home /mnt/nfs-home/  nfs      rw,async,all_squash,anonuid=1000,anongid=1000    0       0
   
# save and exit, then mount
mount -a

  2. Using NFS from Linux Server => Windows client - See my post on this

SCP

  • SCP is a protocol for transferring files through a SSH session using RCP commands on a Unix system. Unlike FTP, SCP retains file permissions and timestamps through inclusion with the transferred files themselves, thereby ensuring data confidentiality during transit.

  1. From Linux to Linux:

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    cd /home/username/path
scp foo.txt  root@remoteServer.domain.com:/home/username/path/foo.txt
# Enter password for user root at remoteServer.domain.com

# now /home/username/path/foo.txt is copied to remoteServer.domain.com at /home/username/path/foo.txt

  2. From Windows with WSL to Linux:

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    cd /mnt/c/scripts # c:\scripts in Windows File Explorer
scp foo.txt  root@remoteServer.domain.com:/home/username/path/foo.txt
# Enter password for user root at server.domain.com

# now /mnt/c/scripts/foo.txt is copied to remoteServer.domain.com at /home/username/path/foo.txt
# which is the same as: c:\scripts\foo.txt is copied to remoteServer.domain.com at /home/username/path/foo.txt

  3. (Really Neat!) From your machine, you can grab a file off a remote system and bring it to you:

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    cd /mnt/c/scripts/
# The dot represents your current directory
scp root@remoteServer.domain.com:/var/log/foo.log .
# Enter password for user root at remoteServer.domain.com

# now /var/log/foo.log from remoteServer exists on your machine at /mnt/c/scripts
# You can also specify a full path:
scp root@remoteServer.domain.com:/var/log/foo.log /mnt/c/scripts/foo.log
# Enter password for user root at remoteServer.domain.com

# now foo.log is at c:\scripts on your Windows machine

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