How to setup Samba share on Debian Server

There are several guides out there when searching for creating a Samba share on Debian, each with slightly differing instructions. However, none worked out of the box and I had to combine information from multiple sources to get it working. This guide will show you how to create a Samba share on Debian.

Install Samba

Installing Samba just requires a single command:

sudo apt install samba

Create users

Create user and Samba user for Samba share

sudo useradd -m <username>
sudo smbpasswd -a <username>

Editing Samba configuration file

Then, edit the Samba configuration file located at /etc/samba/smb.conf. A minimal configuration file would look like this:

[share]
        path = /home/<username>/share (or desired directory)
        writeable = yes
        browseable = yes
        valid users = <username>

You may require sudo permissions to edit the file.

Restart Samba

Run the following command to restart the Samba service:

systemctl restart smbd.service

You should now be able to access the share from another computer on the network.