CentOS 7 Standalone Guest Server

This guide will detail how to build a standalone SAMBA server on CentOS 7 which DOES NOT REQUIRE AUTHENTICATION to access shares. This guide will also work with RHEL 7.

1. Install SAMBA

   yum install -y samba samba-client

2. Rename the default SAMBA config

   mv /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.orig

3. Use the following config file. You might need to customise the workgroup name based on your requirements, but you can use the defaults for testing.

   vi /etc/samba/smb.conf

   [global]
      workgroup = WORKGROUP
      local master = yes
      preferred master = yes
      socket options = TCP_NODELAY IPTOS_LOWDELAY SO_RCVBUF=131072 SO_SNDBUF=131072
      use sendfile = true
      log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
      guest account = samba
      map to guest = bad user
   
   [samba]
      path = /data/samba
      read only = no
      force create mode = 0660
      create mask = 0660
      force directory mode = 0700
      directory mask = 0770
      guest ok = yes
   

4. Add a user to own your data

   useradd samba
   smbpasswd -a samba
   # Specify a password of your choice when prompted.

5. Create the filesystem location where the SAMBA data will be stored

   mkdir /data/samba
   chown samba:samba /data/samba
   chmod 0770 /data/samba
   chcon -t samba_share_t /data/samba

6. Allow the SAMBA services through the firewall

   firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=samba
   firewall-cmd --reload

7. Start the SAMBA services

   systemctl enable smb
   systemctl enable nmb
   systemctl start smb
   systemctl start nmb

8. You should then be able to connect to your SAMBA server using its IP or hostname without any authentication required.