Ubuntu
samba package

How do I let the network "see" hard drives on Ubuntu

Asked by Blain Brown

I have set up Ubuntu Server 12.04 on a PC. I need it to be a server for my Mac computers (Mac Pro Tower, Macbook Pro, a couple of G5's and a Mini). The Mac (running Lion) has no trouble seeing the Ubuntu computer on the net and I can access the Ubuntu Desktop, Documents, etc (I set them to share).

I don't really need to access any of those things, however: what I need to see are the other internal hard drives in the Ubuntu computer as well as the external RAID I'll be adding later. How do I do this?

In Ubuntu, I can see the internal hard drives in Disk Utility. How do I access them to work with the files? Most web posts I read about Ubuntu tell me to go to the Menu "System" or "Administration" but I don't have those menus. I only have a GUI because I added one (12.04 server is normally command line). Did I add the wrong GUI?

Also, how can I "see" the Mac files in Ubuntu. I know it's connected, but I need to see the files in Ubuntu. As it will be a server, this is not as crucial, but it is something I would like to be able to do.

I don't know if this is relevant but when I open "Personal File Sharing" it says that I don't have those packages installed and it won't allow me to change any settings but when I try to install Personal File Sharing, it shows that I do have installed.

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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

You don't let anything see your drives. you can share folders using samba (using nautilus) and your system will give access to the folders you share.

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Blain Brown (hawk-handsaw) said : 		#2

Understood. Folders or drives, either way is fine.

I did find a way to use Disk Utility to mount the drives. They are then in the applications stack on the left side of the screen, much the same way they could be mounted on the desktop in Windows 7 (but not in Windows 8!!)

They also show up on my Mac and I can access them and that's all I really need. Haven't tested it yet with the Windows machine but I'm confident it will work OK. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could even work on 4K High Def video files over the network. (This server is primarily for video files, which I work with on the Mac and in Windows 8).

Unfortunately, the mounted drives visible in the Ubuntu Desktop go away when I shut down the Ubuntu computer and are also not available from the Mac. (Although this is a server, I'm not going to leave it running all the time; don't need to do that for my purposes.)

Is there a way to keep them mounted even when I restart the computer?

The final test will be when I attach my external Sata drives. It's a Highpoint RAID card and two Granite Digital 4-bay enclosures.

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

When you access them, you can add it as a bookmark, it will also be available in the right click menu of the hoe icon in the Unity launcher.

Can you help with this problem?

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