Samba Cheatsheet

User Management

List Users

sudo pdbedit --list --verbose

... or for more detailed information

sudo pdbedit --list --verbose | less

Add Users

This is the "samba way" to add SAMBA users (and definitely the way to use if you are using SAMBA for active directory).

samba-tool user create myUserName

However, I have been using the following in the past to create linux users don't have a home directory and can't login with SSH, which works with how I set up SAMBA for file sharing.

sudo useradd \
  --no-create-home  \
  --shell /usr/sbin/nologin  \
   steve

You should see the user like so in the /etc/passwd file:

richard:x:1029:1029::/home/richard:/usr/sbin/nologin

Set User Password

Then set a password for the user for the first time:

sudo smbpasswd -a $USERNAME

pnbedit

smbpasswd

Samba Service

Restart Samba Service

sudo service smbd start

You don't have to restart the service after creating a user and setting their password. It should immediately take effect.

Configuration

Add Another Share

Add a section like below to the /etc/samba/smb.conf file. Obviously tweak the values as necessary.

[MyShare]
  comment = Read only share except for authorized users
  path = /mydata/mystuff/
  public = no
  guest ok = no
  read only = yes
  create mask = 0644
  directory mask = 0755
  force group = mygroup
  write list = myname, @mygroup

References

• samba.org - pdbedit
• Ubuntu forums - Samba force create/directory mode/mask not replicating in file system