Sharing files between Ubuntu and Vista

I want to share files and folders between 2 machines and one of them is running Vista and th other one is running Ubuntu. These both machines are able to see each other but I am unable to get the sharing right in anyways? I have same user set up on both the machines with the same password as well. There is a built in firewall in Vista but there are no firewall in Ubuntu. I have also added the directory that I want to share on Ubuntu to Samba and I have also added the User to Public folder in Vista but still it doesnt work. Any ideas?

If you want to setup Samba, then follow the below steps:

1. On Windows boxen, make sure all accounts are properly named (no spaces) and there are no null passwords. Configure any firewalls to allow lan traffic.

2. On Linux, create identical user account/passwords with your distro's configuration method.

3. Make sure you've installed Samba server/client with your distro's configuration method.

4. Configure run levels so that the nmb and smb daemons start at bootup.

5. Now add your users to Samba. Make these match the ones on Windows. I think the easiest way is from the console, so open one, su to root, and type:
smbpasswd -a username [enter]
(enter password)
(enter password again)

(IIRC, Ubuntu uses sudo and your user password instead of grownup Linux handling of root. You have to check.)

6. Go to your distro's configuration method and set your Samba server and client Identity to match your Windows Workgroup name.

7. I use KDE, so if you use Gnome or another window manager you'll need to figure this next bit out yourself. Open up the Control Center and go to Internet/Network and then Samba. Click on the Administrator Mode (enter root password). I use User security level. Check to make sure Shares (these are for the Linux box of course) are the way you want them. Apply and close that part.

8. Click on File Sharing and enable Administrator Mode. Check "Enable local network file sharing". I have mine set on "Advanced sharing". Check the box for "Use Samba" rather than NFS.

After that you need to solve Vista to work with Samba:

Start Orb > Search box > and then type: secpol.msc
When secpol.msc appears in Results above, right-click it and "run as administrator".

Click on "Local Policies" --> "Security Options"

Navigate to the policy "Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level" and double-click it to get its Properties. By default Windows Vista sets the policy to "NTVLM2 responses only". Use the drop-down arrow to change this to "LM and NTLM ? use NTLMV2 session security if negotiated".

In Vista Home Premium, you won't have this tool so per MVP Steve Winograd, do:

Start Orb > Search box > and then type: regedit
When regedit appears in the Results above, right-click it and "run as administrator"

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa

1. If it doesn't already exist, create a DWORD value named LmCompatibilityLevel
2. Set the value to 1 and reboot.

You can check the below easy setup:

1. First of all install samba and smbtools
2. After that Edit the configuration file from a terminal using the command:
   $ gksudo gedit /etc/samba/smb.conf
3. Now look for the lines
   # Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will
   # part of
   workgroup = WORKGROUP
4. Replace "Workgroup" with the domain of the windows machine (This is usually MS_HOME, but check on your windows box by right clicking the "My computer" Icon and selecting properties)
5. Save the file
6. Restart samba by issueing the following command in a terminal
   $ sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart (NOTE: You may need to restart linux - this will depend on your configuration)

That's it.

You will now be able to share folders from Ubuntu by right clicking the folder and selecting "sharing options" and setting your required options.

You can also view all your windows shares from Places -> Network -> Windows Networks -> "YOUR DOMAIN"