Ubuntu – SAMBA Issues: Core file & Cannot See Share from certain Win 10 Machines

file-sharingnetworkingsamba

I installed Ubuntu 19.10 a short time ago. One of the way I would like to use it is as a file server. Using the Gnome GUI, I enabled sharing on a folder called UbuntuShare and clicked through the prompts to enable Samba. I've checked the boxes so that that anyone can access the shares and set the permission to read/write for all as well.

A few odd things have happened with this.

  1. In the UbuntuShare folder, a file called core has been created. It has an orange lock symbol and red X symbol on it. This happened with another shared folder. I wound up deleting the folder to get rid of it, but it happened again with this folder. I've searched online and can't find anything on this so I don't know if this is normal, but it seems odd.

  2. I can see and access the UbuntuShare folder from my Windows 10 laptop, but only if I type in the computer name or IP address. It does not show up on the network sharing screen. What's very odd is that I have two other desktops and neither of them can see it, even if I type in the computer name or IP address. All three machines are Windows 10 and I have checked the network sharing settings on all three, and they are the same. The only difference is that my laptop is on a domain from my office, while the desktops are on the standard Workgroup.

  3. I created and save a couple of Word documents from my laptop to the Samba share on Ubuntu. When I am on the Ubuntu machine, it has a lock symbol on them. When I look at permissions in the GUI, it says I do not own the files and cannot modify the permissions. How to I make it so I don't have this issue with filed added by the windows machines?

I am concerned that I have messed up Samba somehow. Before I realized that the Gnome GUI had a way to share, I was following some command line instructions I found to install Samba for an earlier version of Ubuntu. Once I realized that the GUI was simpler, I did sudo apt purge on Samba to erase whatever I had done, hoping that would clear it out.

My goal is to make the share work so I can easily share files for the Windows machines to access. The two windows 10 machines are used by my elementary school children, so I don't want to get into having to authenticate to get to the Samba server. Also, if the core file is normal, then that is fine. If not, I'd like to fix it.

I would appreciate any help with this.

Erik

Best Answer

Thank you everyone for the guidance and help. After it became apparent that it was unlikely this was a samba issue, I spent some time today searching for possible causes in Windows.

I ran across the article below, followed the solution, and both desktop computers were immediately able to access the samba share.

Article with Solution: https://superuser.com/questions/1287731/windows-10-can-ping-other-pc-but-cannot-access-shared-folders-what-gives

Microsoft Support Article solution is based upon: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4046019

Computer configuration\administrative templates\network\Lanman Workstation "Enable insecure guest logons"

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