Can't create shared folder in Nautilus

[pwzhangzz]

System: Debian 11, fully updated, samba server, smbclient, etc. all installed.

Can't create shared folder from Nautilus. Error message:

"net usershare' returned error 255: net usershare: cannot open usershare directory /var/lib/samba/usershares. Error Permission denied
You do not have permission to create a usershare. Ask your administrator to grant you permissions to create a share"

Any suggestions?

[Marie SWE]

Hi
I have discovered that you need to run Nautilus/Caja/Nemo as root to get permission to share folders in Debian

[dice]

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ho ... or-groups/

[steve_v]

Hi
I have discovered that you need to run Nautilus/Caja/Nemo as root to get permission to share folders in Debian

No, no you do not. Running GUI applications as root unnecessarily is extremely bad advice, and it's almost always unnecessary. If you need to grant permissions on a resource to some user(s) you use groups, that's what they're for...
Or you use PAM/polkit/whatever newfangled overcomplicated *kit garbage you desire, but I digress

Any suggestions?

I don't know how much (if any) of this is already set up by default on Debian since I don't run it on my desktop these days (so you may encounter "already exists" type errors below), but the general procedure to get the new(ish) usershares thing working is:

Add:

Code: Select all

usershare allow guests = true
usershare max shares =  5
usershare owner only = true
usershare path = /var/lib/samba/usershares

to /etc/samba/smb.conf (season to taste), and restart samba however you restart stuff with systemd(isaster).

Create a group to which users allowed to create shares will belong, IIRC the usual name is "sambashare".

Code: Select all

# groupadd sambashare

Create the aforementioned (/var/lib/samba/usershares) directory, owned by the above group and with the sticky bit set (i.e. permission bits 1770).

Code: Select all

# mkdir -p /var/lib/samba/usershares
# chown root.sambashare /var/lib/samba/usershares
# chmod 1770 /var/lib/samba/usershares

Add your unprivileged user to the group and logout/login.

Code: Select all

# gpasswd -a [username] sambashare

Note that as samba stores users in a separate and incompatible (windows-style) database, to create shares that require authentication you will likely need to use smbpasswd to add an entry for your user as well. Usage is in the manual.

Considering many file managers moved to usershares a while back, it's a shame there's no Debian wiki page explaining exactly how to do this...

Ed. If you must have pictures (and run KDE), this looks to be pretty well correct. And apparently directories, groups and permissions are already set up in Debian, so you just need the smb.conf edits and to add your user to the group.

[pwzhangzz]

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/ho ... or-groups/

Looks like the new smb.conf works! No need to run Nautilus as root. Will try to run it again in a different installation to make sure it actually works.

[pwzhangzz]

Hi

Any suggestions?

I don't know how much (if any) of this is already set up by default on Debian since I don't run it on my desktop these days (so you may encounter "already exists" type errors below), but the general procedure to get the new(ish) usershares thing working is:

Add:

Code: Select all

usershare allow guests = true
usershare max shares =  5
usershare owner only = true
usershare path = /var/lib/samba/usershares

to /etc/samba/smb.conf (season to taste), and restart samba however you restart stuff with systemd(isaster).

Create a group to which users allowed to create shares will belong, IIRC the usual name is "sambashare".

Code: Select all

# groupadd sambashare

Create the aforementioned (/var/lib/samba/usershares) directory, owned by the above group and with the sticky bit set (i.e. permission bits 1770).

Code: Select all

# mkdir -p /var/lib/samba/usershares
# chown root.sambashare /var/lib/samba/usershares
# chmod 1770 /var/lib/samba/usershares

Add your unprivileged user to the group and logout/login.

Code: Select all

# gpasswd -a [username] sambashare

Note that as samba stores users in a separate and incompatible (windows-style) database, to create shares that require authentication you will likely need to use smbpasswd to add an entry for your user as well. Usage is in the manual.

Considering many file managers moved to usershares a while back, it's a shame there's no Debian wiki page explaining exactly how to do this...

Ed. If you must have pictures (and run KDE), this looks to be pretty well correct. And apparently directories, groups and permissions are already set up in Debian, so you just need the smb.conf edits and to add your user to the group.

Thanks! Will change back to the default/original smb.conf and try your suggestions.