No Linux No Life – How to Mount a Remote Samba Share

My home Linux server acts as my tech universe’s hub point. From my Windows machines to Android devices, I upload and download files via the server. Not only is it my overpriced Dropbox alternative, but it is also my personal tech experimental lab where I do every possible Linux machine can do to make my life as efficient as possible by taking advantage of Python and bash scripting skills to automate server routines.

Anyway, while I love having the Linux-centered tech life, my System 76 Galago Pro (2018) Linux laptop machine was always a bit out of the loop. Sharing files through Samba was smooth and easy from my Windows and Android devices, but accessing it from other Linux machines was always a bit of a hassle.

But I finally found a sort-of solution – yep, there’s a catch but as I mentioned earlier, what really matters is the experimental spirit that pushes the tech boundaries to achieve and learn something.

Anyway, let’s dive into it!

First of all, install cifs-utils if you haven’t yet.

sudo apt-get install cifs-utils

Then, make a directory where you want to mount the remote server’s shared directory.

sudo mkdir /mnt/remote

Give the remote server’s location, your machine’s mounting point, and the server’s username/password as arguments.

sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.0.xx/smb/remote_hdd /mnt/remote -o username=<Username>,password=<Password>

***ATTENTION*** Be careful, not to set it like this below. When I first tried it, I wrote my server’s location as “//192.168.0.xx/shares/smb/remote_hdd/”, but it didn’t work. Although it is the absolute path, somewhat it’s not how it works.

***WRONG EXAMPLE***
sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.0.xx/shares/smb/remote_hdd/ /mnt/remote -o username=<Username>,password=<Password>

Then, open /etc/fstab with whatever text editor you prefer.

sudo vim /etc/fstab

Add the line to the file and save it.

//192.168.0.xx/smb/remote_hdd /mnt/remote cifs username=<Username>,password=<Password>,_netdev 0 0

Logs:

Additionally, if your attempt to mount a remote samba directory is failed, go to “/var/log/samba” and see the log file: log.smbd.

cd /var/log/samba
sudo  cat log.smbd

Whenever the attempt failed, it’s always logged in the file.

Failure I experienced:

Well, well, well… I was feeling like a Linux guru, ready to conquer the world of open source! But boy, was I wrong! I managed to open and read files like a boss, but when it came to creating, writing, or editing files, I hit a brick wall. Talk about a confidence crusher! Don’t worry, this isn’t a tutorial post, just a cry for help from a struggling Linux enthusiast. Can someone please lend a hand and save me from this digital distress? 😂

So, what I did was open this file: /etc/samba/smb.conf, because it’s the file where I wrote all the accessing credentials and permissions when I first edited it last year.

vim /etc/samba/smb.conf

[global]
server string = File Server
workgroup = WORKGROUP
security = user
map to guest = Bad User
name resolve order = bcast wins

[smb]
path = /shares/smb
force user = user_name
force group = users
create mask = xxx
force create mode = xxx
directory mask = xxx
force directory mode = xxx
public = xxx
writable = xxx
guest ok = xxx

As you can see, the settings require users to log in with the specific username I set. I figured that if I added the same group name as the one my laptop user belongs to, I might be able to write, create, and edit files on the laptop. So, I added the laptop_group name in the server system and edited the file as well.

[global]
server string = File Server
workgroup = WORKGROUP
security = user
map to guest = Bad User
name resolve order = bcast wins

[smb]
path = /shares/smb
force user = user_name
force group = users, laptop_group
create mask = xxx
force create mode = xxx
directory mask = xxx
force directory mode = xxx
public = xxx
writable = xxx
guest ok = xxx

But it didn’t work out… Well, I’m still searching for a solution for this lol.

Anyways, whenever I found a way, I’ll update this post! Thanks for the reading as always bro!