Mounting Network Folders with CIFS

🔑 Introduction

#

CIFS (Common Internet File System) allows you to mount network folders on your Linux system, making it easier to access shared files from Windows machines. In this guide, we’ll walk through the steps to install CIFS, mount unprotected and password-protected shares, and discuss the importance of using credentials files for secure mounting.

Install CIFS 🚀

#

To install CIFS, run the following command:

sudo apt-get install cifs-utils

Mount unprotected (guest) network folders 📁

#

First, let’s create the mount directory. You will need a separate directory for each mount:

sudo mkdir /media/windowsshare

Then edit your /etc/fstab file (with root privileges)

sudo nano /etc/fstab

add this line:

//servername/sharename /media/windowsshare cifs guest,uid=1000 0 0

Where:

• servername is the server hostname or IP address 📲,

• guest indicates you don’t need a password to access the share 🔒,

• uid=1000 makes the Linux user (specified by the ID) the owner of the mounted share, allowing them to rename files, and

• If there is any space in the server path, you need to replace it by \040, for example: //servername/My\040Documents

After you add the entry to /etc/fstab, type:

sudo mount /media/windowsshare

Mount password-protected network folders 🔒

#

To auto-mount a password-protected share, you can edit /etc/fstab (with root privileges), and add this line:

servername/sharename /media/windowsshare cifs username=msusername,password=mspassword 0 0

** Warning: ** This is not a good idea however: /etc/fstab is readable by everyone – and so is your Windows password within it. The way around this is to use a credentials file.

Create a credentials file 🔒

#

Using a text editor, create a file for your remote server’s logon credential:

sudo nano ~/.smbcredentials

Enter your Windows username and password in the file:

username=username
password=password

Save the file and exit the editor.

Change the permissions of the file to prevent unwanted access to your credentials:

chmod 600 ~/.smbcredentials

Then edit your /etc/fstab file (with root privileges) to add this line (replacing the insecure line in the example above, if you added it):

//servername/sharename /media/windowsshare cifs credentials=/home/ubuntuusername/.smbcredentials 0 0

Save the file and exit the editor.

Finally, test mounting the share by running:

sudo mount /media/windowsshare

If there are no errors, you should test how it works after a reboot. Your remote share should mount automatically. However, if the remote server goes offline, the boot process could present errors because it won’t be possible to mount the share 😬.

Conclusion: 🎉

#

You now know how to mount network folders on your Linux system using CIFS! With these simple steps, you can access your Windows shares without having to physically connect a cable. Remember to use a credentials file for password-protected shares to keep your passwords safe 🔒. Happy mounting! 😊