Sharing Files/Folders between Windows XP and Fedora Linux

Sharing Files/Folders between Windows XP and Fedora Linux :

 

 This brief tutorial will show you how to easily enable file sharing between Windows XP and Fedora 14, codename Laughlin. When you enable file sharing between the two systems, both machines will be able to view and access shares from each other. While Windows uses SMB (Server Message Block) Fedora uses Samba to share files with Windows.

  

Getting started:

            To get started, logon to Windows XP and click Start –> then right click
‘My Computer’ and select ‘Properties’.

 Then select ‘Computer Name’ tab and click ‘Change’

Enter the Computer and Workgroup name and click OK. Make sure all systems use the same Workgroup name. You will have to restart your computer for the change to take effect.

 
After restarting, click Start –> Control Panel.

 Select Security Center –> Windows Firewall.

 

When Windows Firewall opens, select ‘Exceptions’ tab and check the box to enable File and Printer Sharing. Close out when done.

 
 Next, logon to Fedora and go to System –> Administration –> Add/Remove Software.

Then search for and install system-config-samba. Install all additional packages when prompted.

system-config-samba

After installing, go to System –> Administration –> Samba.

Then select Preferences –> Server Settings.

Enter the Workgroup name here and click OK.

 Select Preferences –> Samba Users.

 Edit or Add User to samba database and click OK.

 To create shares, click File –> Create Add Shares, then select the folder you wish to share and check

• Writable
• Visible

Then select ‘Access’ tab and give users access to the shares, then click OK to save.

Next, go to System –> Administration –> Firewall.

 Select ‘Samba’ under ‘Trusted Services’ and enable Samba.

 

Next, select ‘ICMP’ and enable ‘Echo Reply (pong) and Echo Request (ping)’

After that go to Applications –> System Tools –> Terminal and run the command below

su -c 'chkconfig smb on'

Restart your computer and if everything is setup correctly, you should be able to view shares from either system.

After doing all these setup make sure Firewall should be Turn off on both the system.

In Fedora Linux goto the Places->Network then click Windows Network then click PENGUIN.

You will see the shared Workgroups as follows

 
In Windows goto the My Network Places then click View Workgroup Computers on the left pane

You will see the shared Workgroups as follows

Hope this will be helpful for you!!!

 Stay tuned for updates. If you find any problem or have any suggestions for improvements, you can always mail me.

By M.Baran Mahamood