Setting up a Samba server can be a repetitive and time-consuming task—especially if you manage multiple systems or need to redeploy often. To solve this, I recently published an open-source project on GitHub:
👉 samba-server-autosetup
🔧 What is Samba?
Samba is a free and open-source implementation of the SMB/CIFS networking protocol, which allows file and print sharing between Linux/Unix systems and Windows machines. It’s widely used in small offices, home networks, and enterprise setups.
Normally, configuring Samba requires editing multiple config files, setting permissions, creating shares, and troubleshooting user access. That’s where this project comes in.
🎯 Purpose
This tool was created to solve the common challenge of setting up reliable file sharing between Linux hosts and Windows guest operating systems in virtualized environments. It automates the entire Samba server configuration process, handles complex firewall setups (including libvirt zones), and provides comprehensive troubleshooting capabilities.
🔧 Key Use Cases:
Virtualization Environments: Share files between Linux host and Windows/Linux VMs
Development Setups: Quick SMB server deployment for testing and development
Home Lab Networks: Secure anonymous file sharing on isolated networks
Cross-Platform Integration: Bridge Linux and Windows file systems seamlessly
✅ The Solution: Samba Auto-Setup Script
The samba-server-autosetup script automates the entire installation and configuration process. With just a few commands, you’ll have a fully functional Samba server up and running.
Features:
- 🔧 Automatic Samba installation and configuration
- 🔓 Anonymous access (no username/password required)
- 📁 Configurable shared directory (default: /srv/shared)
- 🪟 Windows-compatible SMB protocol
- � SMB version selection (SMBv1/SMBv2/SMBv3) with auto-timeout
- �🛡️ Proper permissions and security settings
- 📋 Automatic backup of existing configuration
- ✅ Configuration validation
- 🌐 Network interface binding selection with auto-timeout
🚀 Quick Start
Clone the repository and run the script:
git clone https://github.com/msfx07/samba-server-autosetup.git cd samba-server-autosetup # Adjust the destination folder of your Linux # It was default to /srv/shared sudo python3 main.py
That’s it! 🎉 You’ll have a working Samba server with a default shared folder.
📌 Why I Built This
I created this project to simplify my own workflow as I often set up test environments and needed Samba quickly without repeating tedious steps. Over time, I realized others could benefit too—so I decided to share it publicly on GitHub.
🔗 Check It Out on GitHub
You can find the full code, documentation, and future updates here:
👉 GitHub Repo: samba-server-autosetup
If you like the project, please ⭐ star it and feel free to contribute improvements or raise issues.
💭 Final Thoughts
Automation saves time, reduces errors, and makes system administration much smoother. With this Samba auto-setup script, you can focus on actually using file sharing instead of spending hours configuring it.
This is just one of the tools I’m building to make Linux system management faster and more efficient. Stay tuned for more updates on this blog—and don’t forget to visit the GitHub repo for the latest version.
