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14.4. Configuration examples

The following examples provide real-world demonstrations of how SELinux complements the Samba server and how full function of the Samba server can be maintained.

14.4.1. Sharing directories you create
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The following example creates a new directory, and shares that directory through Samba:
  1. Confirm that the samba, samba-common, and samba-client packages are installed: 
    ~]$ rpm -q samba samba-common samba-client
package samba is not installed
package samba-common is not installed
package samba-client is not installed
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    If any of these packages are not installed, install them by using the yum utility as root: 
    ~]# yum install package-name
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  2. Use the mkdir utility as root to create a new top-level directory to share files through Samba: 
    ~]# mkdir /myshare
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  3. Use the touch utility root to create an empty file. This file is used later to verify the Samba share mounted correctly: 
    ~]# touch /myshare/file1
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  4. SELinux allows Samba to read and write to files labeled with the samba_share_t type, as long as the /etc/samba/smb.conf file and Linux permissions are set accordingly. Enter the following command as root to add the label change to file-context configuration: 
    ~]# semanage fcontext -a -t samba_share_t "/myshare(/.*)?"
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  5. Use the restorecon utility as root to apply the label changes: 
    ~]# restorecon -R -v /myshare
restorecon reset /myshare context unconfined_u:object_r:default_t:s0->system_u:object_r:samba_share_t:s0
restorecon reset /myshare/file1 context unconfined_u:object_r:default_t:s0->system_u:object_r:samba_share_t:s0
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  6. Edit /etc/samba/smb.conf as root. Add the following to the bottom of this file to share the /myshare/ directory through Samba: 
    [myshare]
comment = My share
path = /myshare
public = yes
writable = no
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  7. A Samba account is required to mount a Samba file system. Enter the following command as root to create a Samba account, where username is an existing Linux user. For example, smbpasswd -a testuser creates a Samba account for the Linux testuser user: 
    ~]# smbpasswd -a testuser
New SMB password: Enter a password
Retype new SMB password: Enter the same password again
Added user testuser.
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    If you enter the above command, specifying a user name of an account that does not exist on the system, it causes a Cannot locate Unix account for 'username'! error.
  8. Start the Samba service: 
    ~]# systemctl start smb.service
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  9. Enter the following command to list the available shares, where username is the Samba account added in step 7. When prompted for a password, enter the password assigned to the Samba account in step 7 (version numbers may differ): 
    ~]$ smbclient -U username -L localhost
Enter username's password:
Domain=[HOSTNAME] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.4.0-0.41.el6]

Sharename       Type      Comment
---------       ----      -------
myshare         Disk      My share
IPC$            IPC       IPC Service (Samba Server Version 3.4.0-0.41.el6)
username        Disk      Home Directories
Domain=[HOSTNAME] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 3.4.0-0.41.el6]

Server               Comment
---------            -------

Workgroup            Master
---------            -------
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  10. Use the mkdir utility as root to create a new directory. This directory will be used to mount the myshare Samba share: 
    ~]# mkdir /test/
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  11. Enter the following command as root to mount the myshare Samba share to /test/, replacing username with the user name from step 7: 
    ~]# mount //localhost/myshare /test/ -o user=username
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    Enter the password for username, which was configured in step 7.
  12. Enter the following command to view the file1 file created in step 3: 
    ~]$ ls /test/
file1
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14.4.2. Sharing a website
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It may not be possible to label files with the samba_share_t type, for example, when wanting to share a website in the /var/www/html/ directory. For these cases, use the samba_export_all_ro Boolean to share any file or directory (regardless of the current label), allowing read only permissions, or the samba_export_all_rw Boolean to share any file or directory (regardless of the current label), allowing read and write permissions.
The following example creates a file for a website in /var/www/html/, and then shares that file through Samba, allowing read and write permissions. This example assumes the httpd, samba, samba-common, samba-client, and wget packages are installed:
  1. As the root user, create a /var/www/html/file1.html file. Copy and paste the following content into this file: 
    <html>
<h2>File being shared through the Apache HTTP Server and Samba.</h2>
</html>
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  2. Enter the following command to view the SELinux context of file1.html: 
    ~]$ ls -Z /var/www/html/file1.html
-rw-r--r--. root root unconfined_u:object_r:httpd_sys_content_t:s0 /var/www/html/file1.html
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    The file is labeled with the httpd_sys_content_t. By default, the Apache HTTP Server can access this type, but Samba cannot.
  3. Start the Apache HTTP Server: 
    ~]# systemctl start httpd.service
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  4. Change into a directory your user has write access to, and enter the following command. Unless there are changes to the default configuration, this command succeeds: 
    ~]$ wget http://localhost/file1.html
Resolving localhost... 127.0.0.1
Connecting to localhost|127.0.0.1|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 84 [text/html]
Saving to: `file1.html.1'

100%[=======================>] 84          --.-K/s   in 0s      

`file1.html.1' saved [84/84]
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  5. Edit /etc/samba/smb.conf as root. Add the following to the bottom of this file to share the /var/www/html/ directory through Samba: 
    [website]
comment = Sharing a website
path = /var/www/html/
public = no
writable = no
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  6. The /var/www/html/ directory is labeled with the httpd_sys_content_t type. By default, Samba cannot access files and directories labeled with the this type, even if Linux permissions allow it. To allow Samba access, enable the samba_export_all_ro Boolean: 
    ~]# setsebool -P samba_export_all_ro on
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    Do not use the -P option if you do not want the change to persist across reboots. Note that enabling the samba_export_all_ro Boolean allows Samba to access any type.
  7. Start the Samba service: 
    ~]# systemctl start smb.service
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