14 May 2025

Sharing Directories Across Your Local Network

Whether you're trying to back up files to another computer, share a media library, or simply access your work folder from a laptop in the same house, local network file sharing is a fast and secure way to transfer data without using the internet.

In this guide, we’ll walk through setting up shared folders on a Windows machine and accessing them from a Linux device using CIFS (Common Internet File System).

Part 1: Setting Up Folder Sharing on Windows

To share a folder from your Windows machine, you need to enable network discovery and file sharing.

Step 1: Enable Sharing Settings

1. Open Settings from the Start menu.

2. Go to Network & Internet.

3. Scroll down and click on Advanced network settings.

4. Under More settings, choose Advanced sharing settings.

5. In the Private Network section, enable the following:

- Network discovery

- File and printer sharing

- Allow Windows to manage homegroup connections

💡 Make sure your current network is set to “Private.” You can do this from Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi (or Ethernet) and click on the active connection. Choose Private under "Network profile".

Step 2: Share a Folder

1. Right-click the folder you want to share.

2. Click Properties > go to the Sharing tab.

3. Click Advanced Sharing....

4. Check Share this folder, give it a name, and click Permissions.

5. Add permissions (e.g., allow Everyone full access if you trust the network or only some users).

6. Click Apply and then OK to save.

✅ Now, your folder is shared and can be accessed over the network. It will be visible under the Network section in File Explorer from other Windows machines.

Part 2: Accessing the Shared Folder from Linux

On a Linux system, you can mount the Windows shared folder using CIFS, which is part of the Samba protocol suite.

Step 1: Install CIFS Tools (if not already installed)

On Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install cifs-utils

On Fedora:

sudo dnf install cifs-utils

Step 2: Mount the Shared Folder

Use the mount command to connect to the Windows share. Here’s an example:

sudo mount -t cifs -o username=WINDOWS_USER,password=WINDOWS_PASSWORD,rw,uid=1000,gid=1000 //192.168.1.100/Backups /mnt/lazar-backups

What each part means:

- -t cifs: Specifies the file system type (CIFS for Windows shares).

- -o: Mount options, such as:

- username=WINDOWS_USER: The Windows user account.

- password=WINDOWS_PASSWORD: Password for that account.

- rw: Mount the share with read/write permissions.

- uid=1000,gid=1000: Make the mounted folder owned by your Linux user (replace 1000 with your UID/GID).

- //192.168.1.100/Backups: The Windows share path (IP + folder name).

- /mnt/lazar-backups: The mount point on your Linux machine (make sure this folder exists).

You can now access the files using any file manager or terminal on your Linux system.

Optional: Add Mount to fstab (Auto-Mount on Boot)

If you want the share to be mounted automatically every time you boot, add this line to your /etc/fstab:

//192.168.1.100/Backups /mnt/lazar-backups cifs username=WINDOWS_USER,password=WINDOWS_PASSWORD,rw,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0

⚠️ Security Tip: For better security, store your credentials in a separate file (e.g., /etc/samba/creds) and change the fstab entry to use credentials=/etc/samba/creds.

Wrapping Up

With just a few steps, you can seamlessly share and access folders across Windows and Linux devices in your local network. It’s perfect for:

- Backups

- Media streaming

- Project file sharing

- File sync between machines

Happy syncing! 🐧