Abstract
File sharing between various machines has been
available for a long time on UNIX systems. All system users
may now take advantage of file sharing. Sharing data between two
users on two different machines is made in three simple steps:
Admin authorizes sharing: the section called “Local Disk Sharing: Allowing Users to Share Folders”.
Users share directories: see the File Sharing section from the Starter Guide manual???.
Users browse remotely shared directories: see the File Sharing section from the Starter Guide manual???.
This tool allows the system administrator to import remote shared directories on the local machine. It affects shares based on the SMB protocol, used mainly by Windows OSes.
While users can individually access remote shares through their file managers, it may be interesting in some cases to import a specific share for it to become available at once for all users. We'll go through an example showing how to import a template directory from a Windows machine.
Clicking on the Search servers button scans the local network for machines which currently share directories (including the local one). In our example, many servers are available. We'll choose skywalker and we'll make it available locally for all users.
Clicking on a machine's name will try to connect to it and browse available shares. If those shares are password-protected, a dialog will pop up asking you to identify yourself.
Enter the correct Username, Password and Domain. The available shares on that machine will then appear. Click on the little arrow on the left of the server icon to show available shares.
![]() | Tip |
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If the machine you're connecting to has public shares, then canceling the password entry dialog will connect you to that machine, but only to those public shares. |
Once a share is selected, a button appears. Clicking on it displays a dialog where you can type the local directory where remote files will be accessible.
Once this is done, two more buttons appear:
Mount. Makes the resource available locally. When this is done, users simply have to point their file manager to the directory selected as mount point to get the files hosted by the server.
SMB mount point. Other permissions can also be set through that button.
. Allows to set a user name and password to access thatAlso, the little icon in front of the
shared directory becomes
When you're finished configuring the access points for remote directories, click on . A dialog box will appear asking you whether you wish to save your modifications to the /etc/fstab file (where mount point information is usually stored), or not. Click on to make the shares always accessible. Click on to exit without saving your changes.