Mint to Windows 7 sharing

GhengisKhan

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
7,776
I'm new to Linux, and haven't been able to figure this one out on my own. How do I share folders so they're accessible to computers on my network? I'm running Mint 16, and all the others on the network are running Windows 7
 
The same as in windows pretty much. Right click, share, share through windows SMB.

I have a VM of Mint 16 with a shared folder and it works great. Love Mint!
 
The same as in windows pretty much. Right click, share, share through windows SMB.

I have a VM of Mint 16 with a shared folder and it works great. Love Mint!

close, but there isn't a "share through windows SMB" option that I could find.

Folder Sharing said:
[X] Share this folder
Share Name: Pictures
Comment:
[X] Allow others to create and delete files in this folder
[X] Guest access (for people without a user account)

can't test to see if this worked yet or not.
 
install the gui for samba - system-config-samba
Open it set the directory to share and create a samba user and password.
In win 7, your mint machine should show up under network in windows explorer, from there open your shared folder, use your samba username and password to connect. Now you can map the drive in win 7.
 
install the gui for samba - system-config-samba
Open it set the directory to share and create a samba user and password.
In win 7, your mint machine should show up under network in windows explorer, from there open your shared folder, use your samba username and password to connect. Now you can map the drive in win 7.

that's not going to work for me, there are 3 people who are not tech savy at all, I'm trying to get the shared folder to work like it does when shared from a windows computer on the same network, without a username/password.
 
close, but there isn't a "share through windows SMB" option that I could find.



can't test to see if this worked yet or not.

That is weird. I am not sure what version of 16 you have but it should be a few clicks and done.
 
setting the file sharing options made the folders show up on the windows computers, but I get an error saying i do not have permission to access the folders.
 
setting the file sharing options made the folders show up on the windows computers, but I get an error saying i do not have permission to access the folders.

What it's telling you is probably true. If the share access permissions are set right, you probably need to look at filesystem permissions and make the directory and contents read/write(if desired) by everyone.
 
What it's telling you is probably true. If the share access permissions are set right, you probably need to look at filesystem permissions and make the directory and contents read/write(if desired) by everyone.

He needs to enable loginless guest access using the instructions of my link.
 
I tried that method B00nie, no go, it still faults out with "you do not have permission to access"
 
Install Samba. Read up on the samba basics and configuring the smb.conf file.
 
Last edited:
First, set the permissions for the directories on your Mint computer that you want to share. If you want to be really lazy, just give full permissions. Open a terminal and:

chmod 777 [name of directory]

Next, install samba on your Mint machine:

sudo apt-get install samba

Then, you will need to create a user(s) with samba passwords. Open the terminal and change to root. Then:

useradd [username]
smbpasswd -a [username]


You then enter and confirm the password for the new samba user you just created. Repeat this for each samba user you want to create.

There will be a file at the following location:

/etc/samba/smb.conf

Use a text editor to open it. At the bottom, you will some text like:

[Name of shared directory]
comment = [description of whats in the shared directory]
path: [path to the shared directory]
browseable = yes
writeable = yes
read only = no
write list = [samba user(s) you just created and want to have access]
valid users = [samba user(s) you just created and want to have access]

Once you've done all this, the Windows 7 users should be able to go to the search bar and type in:

\\IP address of Mint computer

The shares should then open up in explorer. After that, they just click on the share(s) and enter the username and password.
 
Last edited:
I think I need to clarify a little bit. When trying to open the folder in Windows, I do not receive a prompt for a username and password, just an error about not having permission to access it.
 
I think I need to clarify a little bit. When trying to open the folder in Windows, I do not receive a prompt for a username and password, just an error about not having permission to access it.

Did you set proper permissions for the directories on the computer running Mint? Did you create samba users and give them permissions to access and modify the shared directories? I forgot to mention before that you will also need to modify the SELinux settings to allow samba traffic to get through and access the shares.
 
I think I need to clarify a little bit. When trying to open the folder in Windows, I do not receive a prompt for a username and password, just an error about not having permission to access it.

In Windows, you'll likely have to select connecting as another user. Windows 7 will normally try with your used/password unless you manually specify otherwise. You can try mounting the drive.

In Explorer:
Tools > Map Network Drive

Select "Connect using different credentials" and specify your \\server\share combo. It should then prompt you for the user/password you want to use.
 
Did you set proper permissions for the directories on the computer running Mint? Did you create samba users and give them permissions to access and modify the shared directories? I forgot to mention before that you will also need to modify the SELinux settings to allow samba traffic to get through and access the shares.

Assuming you have SELinux enabled ;)
 
To give permission to access the shared folder: In Mint, right click the folder you want to share and click properties, hit the share tab and make sure share this folder is checked and allow others to create and delete files in this folder is checked if you want them to have write access.
 
Assuming you have SELinux enabled ;)

I could be wrong, but if he's having trouble with this then it's unlikely that he's disabled SELinux.

It sounds like he hasn't created the samba user(s) and given them access to the shared directories which would explain perfectly why he keeps encountering the error about not having permissions. Until he does that, it's not going to matter how he tries to connect via Windows.
 
Last edited:
To give permission to access the shared folder: In Mint, right click the folder you want to share and click properties, hit the share tab and make sure share this folder is checked and allow others to create and delete files in this folder is checked if you want them to have write access.
Did this first, doesn't work.

Assuming you have SELinux enabled ;)
what is SELinux?
 
I tried that method B00nie, no go, it still faults out with "you do not have permission to access"

Did you follow the instructions to the letter, meaning you for sure restarted the service? Or rebooted, then tried?
 
Back
Top