Installing Samba on the Pogoplug

The Pogoplug can be turned into a dedicated Samba server by following the steps below.


1. PREREQUISITES
As a prerequisite of this article, please complete the steps described in my previous post here in order to prepare your Pogoplug so you can install packages using the IPKG package management system.


2. INSTALLING THE SAMBA PACKAGE
To install the Samba server, SSH to your Pogoplug and perform the following:

# Install samba server
/opt/bin/ipkg install samba2

3. CONFIGURING THE SAMBA SERVER
The Samba server should now be installed.  At this point we need to modify the configuration file.  Perform the following:

# Navigate to the samba config directory
cd /opt/etc/samba/
# Backup the default configuration file
cp smb.conf smb.conf.backup 
# Edit the configuration file
vi smb.conf

My config file is as follows (you can copy, paste, edit as required):

[global]

workgroup = PARKNET
server string = Pogoplug Samba2 Server
hosts allow = 192. 127.
null passwords = yes
guest account = root
log file = /opt/var/log/samba/log.%m
max log size = 50
security = share
encrypt passwords = yes
smb passwd file = /opt/etc/samba/smbpasswd
dns proxy = no
preserve case = yes

[HD1]
comment = HD1 Network Share
path = /tmp/.cemnt
available = yes
public = yes
writable = yes
printable = no
create mask = 0777
guest ok = yes
browseable = yes

4. RUNNING THE SAMBA SERVER

To start the Samba, run the following:

# Start the Samba Server
/opt/etc/init.d/S80samba start

If all goes according to plan, you should be able to perform the following (from a Windows PC):

• Go to the Run prompt (Windows key + r)
• Type "\\pogoplug\" and press enter (where pogoplug is replaced with the IP address of your device)
• If prompted, enter your root username and password to authenticate

You should now be able to browse your device from Windows Explorer, map drives as network shares etc.