Sharing Files with Windows

Configure the Server

To easily share and transfer files and folders on the server with a Windows PC I used the Samba tool included in the ClarkConnect install. First you have to configure Samba:

This can be done from the ClarkConnect web interface, go to:  Software - File Services  - Windows Files Sharing

Under 'Configure Windows Network':

• For Name enter the name you want the server to be called in Windows (I called mine Black-Box)

• For Workgroup enter the Windows workgroup

  • In Windows XP select 'System' from the Control Panel and click on 'Computer Name' where it will be listed.

  • In Windows Vista click on the 'Computer' tab in the start menu and its listed near the bottom of the window.

• Press the 'Update' button

Click 'Advanced configuration options' to reveal more settings, then:

• Set the 'Security Type' to 'Share'

• Set the 'Local Master' to 'Enabled' - (without this enabled, the server sometimes wasn't found from my Vista PC)

• Press the 'Update' button again.

In the 'Server Status' box:

• Set 'Status' to 'Running'

• Set 'On Boot' to 'Automatic'

Note - As I'm using a separate drive for all my shares, I disabled all the listed 'Common Shares' that are set up as standard by ClarkConnect.

 

The next task is to tell Samba which directory(s) you want to share with the PC. For this example I'm going to share the entire disk that I have mounted at "/mnt/HardDrive" with all users on my window PC.

 

The simplest way to do this is to manually edit the Samba configuration file, use WinSCP to log into your box and navigate to /etc/samba/, then double click on the file 'smb.conf' and add the following lines to the bottom of the file:

[Shares]
comment = Black Box Share Directory
path = /mnt/HardDrive
browseable = yes
guest only = yes
writable = yes
public = yes

(you may want to change the name of the shared drive (contained within the [ ]), 'comment' and drive 'path' details to suit your system)

 

See here for an example

 

You could set up multiple shares for specific directories, by repeating the above lines with individual names and paths. This could be useful if you want to assign personal directories for each user (Google for more advance tutorials if you want to set up more complicated file shares).

 

The final step is to restart Samba for all theses changes to take effect, this can be done from the ClarkConnect web interface by pressing 'stop' and then 'start' in the 'Server Status' box (found in the Software - File Services  - Windows Files Sharing).
 

Finding your server in Windows

In Windows XP you should now be able to see 'Shares' in your Windows 'My Network Places', where you will be able to navigate, copy and write files to the remote drive.

 

In Windows Vista you will see your server name appear in the 'Network' window, again you should be able to navigate, copy and write files to the remote drive.

 

If you want, you can 'map' the network drive to assign a drive letter, I've set mine to the Z: Drive...