17.3. Connecting to a Samba Share

To connect to a Linux Samba share from a Microsoft Windows machine, use Network Neighborhood or the graphical file manager.

smbclient //hostname/sharename -U username

Replace hostname with the hostname or IP address of the Samba server you want to connect to, sharename with the name of the shared directory you want to browse, and username with the Samba username for the system. Enter the correct password or press [Enter] if no password is required for the user.

If you see the smb:\> prompt, you have successfully logged in. Once you are logged in, type helpsharename with your username. If the -U switch is not used, the username of the current user is passed to the Samba server.

To exit smbclient, type exit at the smb:\> prompt.

You can also use Nautilus to view available Samba shares on your network. Select Main Menu Button (on the Panel) => Network Servers to view a list of Samba workgroups on your network. You can also type smb: in the Location: bar of Nautilus to view the workgroups.

As shown in Figure 17-6, an icon appears for each available SMB workgroup on the network.

Double-click one of the workgroup icons to view a list of computers within the workgroup.

As you can see from Figure 17-7 them.

Alternately, you can also specify a username and password combination in the Location: bar using the following syntax (replace user, password, servername, and sharename with the appropriate values):

smb://user:password@servername/sharename/