Set Up a Samba
File Server on Arch

Samba is a free and open-source re-implementation of the SMB/CIFS networking protocol. It lets Linux and Unix machines share files and printers with Windows systems seamlessly — as if they were native Windows network shares.

This guide is written for a bare-metal Arch Linux installation (not a VM, not a container). You're working directly on real hardware, so every command and config tweak here applies to your actual system.

Here's what we're building. The Arch Linux box is the server; the Windows machine is the client. Both are on the same LAN subnet.

  [ Arch Linux Server ]              [ Windows Client ]
  192.168.1.12                        192.168.1.4
  ┌───────────────────┐              ┌─────────────────────┐
  │  Samba (smbd)     │◄────SMB─────►│  File Explorer      │
  │                   │   port 445   │  net use command    │
  │  [rootfs] share   │──────────────► \\192.168.1.12\rootfs│
  │  path: /          │              │  (user: potato)     │
  │                   │              └─────────────────────┘
  │  [data] share     │              ┌─────────────────────┐
  │  path: /mnt/sda1  │──────────────► \\192.168.1.12\data │
  └───────────────────┘              │  (user: asmit)      │
                                     └─────────────────────┘

  Router / Switch  192.168.1.1
  ─────────────────────────────────────
  Both devices on the same /24 subnet

On a fresh or long-idle Arch install, the default mirrorlist might be stale, giving you 404 errors when running pacman. Fix it with reflector, which automatically picks fast, up-to-date mirrors.

# Method 1 — Automatic (recommended)

sudo pacman -S reflector
sudo reflector --country India,Singapore,Japan --protocol https --latest 10 --sort rate --save /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
sudo pacman -Syy

# Method 2 — Manual fallback

If reflector itself won't download, edit the mirrorlist by hand:

sudo nano /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist

Delete everything in the file and paste these three reliable mirrors:

Server = https://mirror.rackspace.com/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirrors.kernel.org/archlinux/$repo/os/$arch
Server = https://mirror.pkgbuild.com/$repo/os/$arch

Save with Ctrl+O → Enter → Ctrl+X, then force-refresh:

sudo pacman -Syyu

With mirrors working, install the samba package. This provides smbd (file/print sharing), nmbd (NetBIOS name service), and tools like smbpasswd and smbclient.

sudo pacman -S samba
which smbpasswd

The which smbpasswd command should return /usr/bin/smbpasswd. If it prints nothing, the installation failed — re-check your mirrors from the previous step.

Samba requires that users exist as real Linux system accounts before you can add them to Samba's own password database. Create both users and set their Unix passwords:

sudo useradd -m potato
sudo useradd -m asmit
sudo passwd potato
sudo passwd asmit

Samba keeps its own separate password database (/var/lib/samba/private/passdb.tdb). A user can have a different Samba password from their Unix login password. Register both users:

sudo smbpasswd -a potato
sudo smbpasswd -a asmit

You'll be prompted to enter and confirm a Samba password for each user. These are the credentials Windows will use to authenticate.

The main Samba configuration file lives at /etc/samba/smb.conf. On a fresh Arch install this file does not exist — you create it from scratch. Open it in nano:

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

Paste the following configuration exactly as shown:

[global]
   workgroup     = WORKGROUP
   server string = Arch Samba Server
   netbios name  = archlinux
   security      = user
   map to guest  = Bad User

[rootfs]
   path        = /
   browsable   = yes
   writable    = yes
   valid users = potato
   read only   = no

[data]
   path        = /mnt/sda1
   browsable   = yes
   writable    = yes
   valid users = asmit
   read only   = no

Save with Ctrl+O → Enter → Ctrl+X. Then validate the config syntax:

testparm

testparm loads the config and reports any syntax errors. If it ends with "Loaded services file OK" you're good to go.

Samba runs as two systemd services: smb (the SMB/CIFS file server) and nmb (NetBIOS name broadcasting — lets Windows discover the server by hostname). Enable and start both:

sudo systemctl enable --now smb nmb
sudo systemctl status smb
sudo systemctl status nmb

Both services should show active (running) in green. The --now flag means "enable at boot AND start immediately."

This is the most common reason Samba "works" locally but Windows can't connect. UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) blocks SMB ports by default. Open the four required ports:

sudo systemctl enable --now ufw
sudo ufw allow 137/udp
sudo ufw allow 138/udp
sudo ufw allow 139/tcp
sudo ufw allow 445/tcp
sudo ufw reload
sudo ufw status

# Temporary: disable firewall for testing

If Windows still can't connect after opening ports, temporarily disable UFW to confirm the firewall is the culprit:

sudo ufw disable   # disable for testing only — re-enable after!

Before touching Windows, verify Samba is working from the Linux machine itself using smbclient:

smbclient -L localhost -U potato

Enter potato's Samba password when prompted. You should see a share list like:

Sharename       Type      Comment
---------       ----      -------
rootfs          Disk
data            Disk
IPC$            IPC       IPC Service

# Verify Samba is listening on port 445

ip a                           # confirm your IP is 192.168.1.12
ss -tulnp | grep 445          # confirm smbd is listening

The ss command should show smbd listening on 0.0.0.0:445.

Open Command Prompt on the Windows machine (Win + R → cmd → Enter):

# Step 1 — Verify network connectivity

ping 192.168.1.12

You should get replies. If not, the machines can't reach each other — check your router/switch.

# Step 2 — Clear old Windows credentials

net use * /delete

# Step 3 — Map the shares

net use \\192.168.1.12\rootfs /user:potato
net use \\192.168.1.12\data   /user:asmit

Enter the respective Samba passwords when prompted. A success message means the shares are mounted.

Open File Explorer and type any of these directly into the address bar:

\\192.168.1.12            ← Browse all shares
\\192.168.1.12\rootfs     ← potato's root share
\\192.168.1.12\data       ← asmit's data share

You can also right-click This PC → Map network drive → enter the path → check "Connect using different credentials" → enter the Samba user and password.