How to Create Network Share via Samba on Linux

Samba is an SMB/CIFS networking protocol is used for providing file and print services for Microsoft clients. Samba also can be used as part of Active Directory domain. Samba uses TCP/IP protocol for communication.
I am using CentOS 6.3 for below installation instructions, But below steps will also work on CentOS 5 as well.

Step 1 – Install Samba

sudo yum install samba       ## CentOS and Redhat systems 
sudo dnf install samba       ## Fedora 22+ systems 
sudo apt install samba       ## Debian based systems 

Step 2 – Create Account for Authentication

Now create a system account for authentication to access samba shares.

useradd marc
passwd marc

Also add this account in smbpasswd file to be used by samba authentication.

smbpasswd -a marc

Step 3 – Configure Share Directory

Now you will required a directory to be access with samba.

mkdir /opt/shared

Add below entry in Samba configuration file /etc/samba/smb.conf at the bottom.

[shared]
comment = Public Stuff
path = /opt/shared
public = yes
writable = yes
valid users = marc
write list = marc

Step 4 – Restart Samba Service

Restart smb and nmb services of your system.

systemctl restart smbd.service
systemctl restart nmbd.service

Step 5 – Access Samba Share

To test your setup, you need to access shared location from windows system. Open run window on your Windows operating system and type below.

//192.168.1.90/publicshare/

Change IP with your samba server IP address. If will prompt for authentication. To authorize use account created in
step 2.