Share files between linux and windows

How to share files between a Linux and Windows computer

The easiest and most reliable way to share files between a Linux and Windows computer on the same local area network is to use the Samba file-sharing protocol. All modern versions of Windows come with Samba installed, and Samba is installed by default on most distributions of Linux.

Create a shared folder on Windows

First, create a shared folder on your Windows computer.

Following the steps below, creates a shared folder on your Windows computer that lets you access files in that folder on your Linux computer. With the right permissions you can also copy, edit, and delete files in that folder from your Linux computer.

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Select the Network and Sharing Options or Network and Sharing Center option.
3. Click the Change advanced sharing settings link in the left navigation menu.
4. Click the Turn on Network Discovery and Turn on File and Print Sharing options.
5. Click the Save changes button at the bottom of the Advanced sharing settings window.

Now, create a new folder to share or choose an existing folder that you want to share.

1. Right-click the folder and select Properties.
2. Go to the Sharing tab.
3. To share the folder with another Windows account, click the Share button, add the account to grant permission to access the shared folder, and click the Share button.

If you shared the folder with another Windows account, you need to click the Advanced Sharing button, then click the Permissions button. Select the account, check the Allow box for the Change or Modify permission, and click OK.

1. Click the Advanced Sharing button.
2. On the Advanced Sharing window, check the box for Share this folder and click OK.
3. The network path for the folder is now displayed above the Share button, indicating that it is now a shared folder. For example, it may look like \\YOURCOMPUTERNAME\Users\YourUserName\ShareFolderName. Make a note of this network folder path to use later on your Linux machine.

Access a Windows shared folder from Linux using Konqueror

Many Linux distributions use the KDE (K Desktop Environment) and the Konqueror file manager/browser. If you’re using this, you can follow these steps to access your Windows shared folder.

1. Click the K menu icon.
2. Select Internet ->Konqueror.
3. In the Konqueror window that opens, click the Network Folders link, or type remote:/ in the address bar and press Enter .
4. Click the Samba Shares icon.
5. Click the icon of your Windows Home workgroup.
6. Click the Workgroup icon.
7. Click the icon for your computer.
8. When prompted, enter the username and password for the Windows account that created the share.
9. Click OK.

Access a Windows shared folder from Linux using Nautilus

Many Linux distributions, especially those that use the GNOME desktop environment, use the Nautilus file manager. If you’re using this, you can follow these steps to access your Windows shared folder.

1. Open Nautilus.
2. From the File menu, select Connect to Server.
3. In the Service type drop-down box, select Windows share.
4. In the Server field, enter the name of your computer.
5. Click Connect.

Alternatively, in the Nautilus address bar, you can type smb://ComputerName/ShareName and press Enter . For example, when you created your Windows Share if the share name was listed as:

\\YOURCOMPUTERNAME\Users\YourUserName\ShareFolderName

Type smb://YOURCOMPUTERNAME/Users/YourUserName/ShareFolderName and press Enter . Note the smb: at the beginning, in Linux, use forward slashes instead of backslashes.

Access a Windows shared folder from Linux using the command line

You can also access your Windows shared folder from the Linux command line using the smbclient program.

1. Open a terminal.
2. Type smbclient at the command prompt.
3. If you receive a «Usage:» message, smbclient is installed, and you can skip to the next step. However, if the command is not found, you need to install smbclient. Follow these steps to install it.

1. If you use the apt package manager, the default on Linux systems such as Ubuntu or Debian, you can use the sudo apt-get install smbclient command.
2. If you use the yum package manager, the default on Linux systems, such as CentOS, you can use the sudo yum install samba-client command.
3. You can also download the Samba client directly at www.samba.org/samba/download/, which might be useful to you if you need or want to compile the program from the source code.

Related information

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Share files between Linux and Windows computers

If you work with different operating systems, it’s handy to be able to share files between them. This article explains how to set up file access between Linux (Fedora 33) and Windows 10 using Samba and mount.cifs.

Samba is the Linux implementation of the SMB/CIFS protocol, allowing direct access to shared folders and printers over a network. Mount.cifs is part of the Samba suite and allows you to mount the CIFS filesystem under Linux.

Caution: These instructions are for sharing files within your private local network or in a virtualized host-only network between a Linux host machine and a virtualized Windows guest. Don’t consider this article a guideline for your corporate network, as it doesn’t implement the necessary cybersecurity considerations.

Access Linux from Windows

This section explains how to access a user’s Linux home directory from Windows File Explorer.

1. Install and configure Samba

Start on your Linux system by installing Samba:

Samba is a system daemon, and its configuration file is located in /etc/samba/smb.conf . Its default configuration should work. If not, this minimal configuration should do the job:

[global] workgroup = SAMBA server string = %h server (Samba %v) invalid users = root security = user [homes] comment = Home Directories browseable = no valid users = %S writable = yes

You can find a detailed description of the parameters in the smb.conf section of the project’s website.

2. Modify LinuxSE

If your Linux distribution is protected by SELinux (as Fedora is), you have to enable Samba to be able to access the user’s home directory:

setsebool -P samba_enable_home_dirs on

Check that the value is set by typing:

getsebool samba_enable_home_dirs

Your output should look like this:

3. Enable your user

Samba uses a set of users and passwords that have permission to connect. Add your Linux user to the set by typing:

You will be prompted for a password. This is a completely new password; it is not the current password for your account. Enter the password you want to use to log in to Samba.

To get a list of allowed user types:

4. Start Samba

Because Samba is a system daemon, you can start it on Fedora with:

This starts Samba for the current session. If you want Samba to start automatically on system startup, enter:

On some systems, the Samba daemon is registered as smbd .

4. Configure the firewall

By default, Samba is blocked by your firewall. Allow Samba to access the network permanently by configuring the firewall.

You can do it on the command line with:

firewall-cmd --add-service=samba --permanent

Or you do it graphically with the firewall-config tool:

5. Access Samba from Windows

In Windows, open File Explorer. On the address line, type in two backslashes followed by your Linux machine’s address (IP address or hostname):

You will be prompted for your login information. Type in the username and password combination from step 3. You should now be able to access your home directory on your Linux machine:

Access Windows from Linux

The following steps explain how to access a shared Windows folder from Linux. To implement them, you need Administrator rights on your Windows user account.

1. Enable file sharing

Open the Network and Sharing Center either by clicking on the

Windows Button > Settings > Network & Internet

or by right-clicking the little monitor icon on the bottom-right of your taskbar:

In the window that opens, find the connection you want to use and note its profile. I used Ethernet 3, which is tagged as a Public network.

Caution: Consider changing your local machine’s connection profile to Private if your PC is frequently connected to public networks.

Remember your network profile and click on Change advanced sharing settings:

Select the profile that corresponds to your connection and turn on network discovery and file and printer sharing:

2. Define a shared folder

Open the context menu by right-clicking on the folder you want to share, navigate to Give access to, and select Specific people. :

Check whether your current username is on the list. Click on Share to tag this folder as shared:

You can display a list of all shared folders by entering \\localhost in File Explorer’s address line:

3. Mount the shared folder under Linux

Go back to your Linux system, open a command shell, and create a new folder where you want to mount the Windows share:

Mounting Windows shares is done with mount.cifs, which should be installed by default. To mount your shared folder temporarily, use:

sudo mount.cifs ///MySharedFolder ~/WindowsShare/ -o user=,uid=$UID

• is the Windows PC’s address info (IP or hostname)
• is the user that is allowed to access the shared folder (from step 2)

You will be prompted for your Windows password. Enter it, and you will be able to access the shared folder on Windows with your normal Linux user.

To unmount the shared folder:

You can also mount a Windows shared folder on system startup. Follow these steps to configure your system accordingly.

Summary

This shows how to establish temporary shared folder access that must be renewed after each boot. It is relatively easy to modify this configuration for permanent access. I often switch back and forth between different systems, so I consider it incredibly practical to set up direct file access.

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