How to share files with Windows using samba and no password

Introduction

There are a lot of ways to share files between Linux and Windows, one of them and maybe the fastest one is using python simple HTTP server or PHP web server, another one might be to use WinSCP client on the windows computers, but that require to give the Linux password to the Windows users, thus compromising the security.

So, today we’ll see how to make a simple samba share, so with no password needed, no account creation needed you’ll be able to share files between Linux and Windows.

How to configure Samba to share files with windows using no passwords First be sure to have samba installed, you can use your package manager to install it. Once installed you may have the file /etc/samba/smb.conf or /etc/samba/smb-example.com or something similar.

Be sure to backup your actual smb.conf file, by copying it with another name you may use this command

cp /etc/samba/smb.con /etc/samba/smb.conf.original

You’ll need root powers to do that. Now let’s create a simple configuration file.

[global]
workgroup = MYGROUP
server string = Samba Server
security = share
guest account = nobody
log file = /var/log/samba.%m

[Guest Share]
        comment = Guest access share
        path = /tmp/share/
        browseable = yes
        read only = yes
        guest ok = yes

Be sure to use security = share so the Windows will not be prompted for a password. I usually create a temporary folder inside /tmp/ to share files, and grant permissions to everybody on that folder

chmod 666 /tmp/share/ -R

You can put the files you need to share there, and everybody will be able to download, delete, or write on them.

NOTE: This is to share files that are not confidential, as anyone in the network will have access to those files, so this is great if you want to share some mp3 files, or the pictures of that last office meeting.