Samba quota via sparse container

Creating a sparse file, formatting it with a file system, mounting it, and sharing it.

Ubuntu as an Apple Time machine capsule with Samba SMB2

Apple's TimeMachine now works with Samba SMB2. Apple also is moving to depreciate AFP which was the previously underpinned TimeMachine. Since Yosemite OSX 10.10 it is possible to use samba which in my view is easier and simpler to set up. Read on...

Setting up password authentication for windows file sharing / samba (smb / cifs ) shares

Adding password based authentication to windows file shares / samba sharing on linux is never as simple as I'd expect. With the spread of cryptolocker (ransomware which can encrypt your network shares!)  I have been working to enhance the security and resilience of my windows samba network shares. Here are some simple pointers from my experience of setting up authentication on a Ubuntu machine running samba (tested on samba versions 3.4.7 and 3.6.3) :

Ubuntu: auto mount samba network shares on boot via smbfs & fstab

Increasingly all of my data is stored on a network server which allows me to access it from multiple devices/platforms and to reduce local storage for each device. Having migrated recently from Windows XP to Ubuntu 11.10 for my main desktop workstation I want to automatically mount my network based data currently hosted as a Windows share on a samba server when my Ubuntu system boots up. Here's how...

Read only EXT4 filesystem (Ubuntu) & pending hard drive failure

I've been experiencing woes with a Samba server recently with all sorts of gremlins around access, and write access specifically. After gutting the Samba config several times to the bare minimum I happened to notice that mysteriously the whole EXT4 file system partition on which the Samba shares resided had become mounted as read only. After a little investigating I think the culprit is a hard drive on its way out. Ironically the drive in question is a Seagate drive and the image I think is therefore, rather suited. Read on...

Windows XP and Samba "is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource."

I've recently been struggling to access my Ubuntu Samba server from Windows XP clients experiencing intermittent success and at times receiving the message "is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource." Reading through the Samba documentation it appears that the Encrypt Passwords parameter must be set when using Windows clients, read on for the solution...