How to setup filesharing in Raspberry Pi

😎Simple filesharing – SSH

The simplest way to share files with a Raspberry Pi is to use secure copy via SSH. To copy a file from the raspberry pi:

scp pi@<IP Address of Raspberry Pi>:<Path to File> .

Using a . at the end copies it to your current directory. To copy a file to the raspberry pi:

scp <Path to File To Copy> pi@<IP Address of Raspberry Pi>:<Path that File will Go>

😉Installing Samba

Samba is more versatile solution that also enables you to mount (drives on) your Raspberry Pi . To install, run the following command:

sudo apt install samba samba-common-bin

Create a dedicated shared directory. It can be anywhere, but for this example we create a folder called shared at the top level of the root file system (/). Furthermore, to make the folder readable and writeable for all users while preventing it from accidentally deleted we add the permissions flag 1777:

sudo mkdir -m 1777 /shared

To share the folder, we need to tell samba where it is. Open up the samba configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

At the end of the file, add the following to share the folder, giving the remote user read/write permissions:

[pishare]
path = /shared
writeable = yes
browseable = yes
create mask = 0777
directory mask = 0777
public = no

In brackets, in our example [pishare], you can provide the name as the folder will appear on connected computers. If besides specific users you also want to enable guest access, add the line Guest ok = yes. Now exit and save the file by ctrl+x then y followed by Enter.

Now we want to set a Samba password, which can be the same as your standard password:

sudo smbpasswd -a pi

Finally restart the samba service for the changes to take effect:

sudo systemctl restart smbd

Samba will automatically start whenever you power on your Raspberry Pi.

😁Sharing the home folder

To share the home folder and make it editable on Mac and Windows systems add the following code:

[pihome]
    comment = Pi Home
    path = /home/pi
    browseable = yes
    writeable = yes
    force create mode = 0777
    force directory mode = 0777
    public = yes

Make sure to adapt the comment which is the name that will appear in the folder window and the path to take into account your username.

🫡Connecting to the shared folder

Connecting to the shared folder is quite easy with any computer on the network.

On a Mac, go to the Finder > Go > Connect to server. Now click browse to find the shared folder automatically, or you can directly enter the address in the address box as follows smb://[ip-address]/[nameofshare].

On Windows, within the File Explorer click Network and there your Raspberry Pi should automatically appear. Click on it to see the folder you just shared.

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