Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS (Noble Numbat): Sharing Directories Across the LAN

In this guide, we describe how to make the $HOME/Public/ directory of a newly installed Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS (Noble Numbat) available for sharing across the home network. This shared directory allows authenticated users to read and write. An example of $HOME/Public/ is /home/behai/Public/.


Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS (Noble Numbat): Sharing Directories Across the LAN

I have performed a clean, fresh installation of Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS (Noble Numbat), replacing Ubuntu 22.10 (Kinetic Kudu), which reached End of Life on July 20, 2023. I followed my own previously noted steps to share the /home/behai/Public/ directory. The UI part of the process no longer works, but I have found another solution. I successfully shared the /home/behai/Public/ directory, and my Windows 10 Pro can access it. I will describe step by step what I did to get it to work.

💥 Please note: behai is the user created during the installation process.

⓵ Install the nautilus-share package by running the following commands:

$ sudo apt-get update -y
$ sudo apt-get install -y nautilus-share

These commands install the Samba smbd service, samba-common-bin version 2:4.19.5+dfsg-4ubuntu9, and acl version 2.3.2-1build1. I’m not sure what the latter two are.

To verify the smbd service has been installed, query its version using the command:

$ smbd --version

My installation reports Version 4.19.5-Ubuntu.

⓶ Add the directory to be shared to the Samba configuration. Edit the Samba configuration with the following command:

$ sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

At the end of the file, add the following content:

[Public]
comment = behai Public folder
path = /home/behai/Public
browsable = yes
guest ok = no
read only = no
create mask = 0755

I am matching the section name [Public] to the directory name /Public. Next, allow authenticated users full access to the shared directory with:

$ sudo chmod 777 Public

⓷ Set the Samba password for user behai:

$ sudo smbpasswd -a behai

⓸ Open the Samba port:

$ sudo ufw allow 445

⓹ Restart the Samba service and check its status.

To restart:

$ sudo service smbd restart

To check the Samba status:

$ sudo service smbd status

If everything goes well, it should report active (running).

⓺ On Windows 10 Pro, you can now attempt to access this newly shared Ubuntu 24.04.1 directory using Windows Map network drive.... The mapped folder would be \\Ubuntu 24.04.1 IP Address\Public, for example, \\192.168.0.16\Public. It will ask for credentials; use the username and password we set up in section ⓷.

⓻ I assume the same steps can be followed to share other directories. I have not done this myself.

⓼ For further reading, please refer to the following posts and articles:

Thank you for reading. I hope you find the information in this post useful. Stay safe, as always.

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