Access Windows 10 Shared Folder from Ubuntu 18.04

There was a change in both Windows 10 and Samba. Some of the details are explained here.

The browse by just clicking isn't working, but you can get there by entering the shared folder link in the address field. Use the server's IP address or the computer name for the share. In the example I'm using the IP address of the Windows 10 server:

Use Keyboard shortcut Ctrl+L to type in pathname:

smb://192.168.1.102

Typing that in the file browser will bring up authorization prompt. Use the credentials from your Windows 10 server. This will display all the available shares. You can then click on the share you want access to.

There are two changes steps you may have to do. Set client max protocol = NT1 for the downward compatibility in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file. Place the entry just below the workgroup = WORKGROUP line.

It should look like this:

#======================= Global Settings =======================
[global]

client use spnego = no
client NTLMv2 auth = no

## Browsing/Identification ###
# Change this to the workgroup/NT-domain name your Samba server will part of
   workgroup = WORKGROUP
   client max protocol = NT1

Once you have manually accessed the desired share, you can make it easily accessible in the future by bookmarking it. You can do this with the keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+D.

You can easily rename your bookmarks to something friend and meaningful by right-clicking the name that appears in the File Browser's sidebar.

Install necessary packages:

You may have to install smbclient, which will ensure you have the necessary dependents such as the cifs-utils and the actual /etc/samba/smb.conf file.

$ sudo apt install smbclient

On 18.04, I have just had success with the following:

On Ubuntu: Install smbclient and add client max protocol = NT1 to /etc/samba/smb.conf as per L.D. James' answer (see this post for more info).

On Windows: Create a folder in Windows to share, e.g. named shared. Make sure the folder is shared: I created a new user on Windows, keeping the NewUser name and selected a simple password (I first tried changing the name, but found that change was apparently only skin deep. Perhaps if I had rebooted...). I logged in with NewUser, then logged back in with my admin account. I activated network sharing on my private network and for the folder specifically (see e.g. this post). Then I right clicked the folder and chose Give access to..., choosing NewUser (you may want additional permissions: see the just linked to post). Under the Sharing tab, the folder now has a network path: //COMPUTERNAME/shared.

Still on Windows: To gain access to the shared folder, I used the IP of the Windows machine instead of the COMPUTERNAME, cf. this.

To find the IP of your Windows machine, right click the network logo, open Network and Sharing Settings and choose Change connection properties. Take note of the IPv4 near the bottom.

In Ubuntu: Finally, open a terminal on you Ubuntu machine and execute

sudo mount -t cifs -o username=NewUser //[insert IPv4 here]/shared /home/your_ubuntu_username/shared

and provide the password for NewUser when prompted.

This mounts the shared Windows shared folder as a folder shared in your Ubuntu user's home directory.

The command is based on suggestions from here, where there are also suggestions for storing login credentials.

I hope it works. Good luck!

I too have had the same issue. Some installations do not download/install cifs-utils by default, even though samba is installed. Here is my smb.conf (relevant sections only)

#===========================Global definition=================================
[global]
workgroup = WORKGROUP
client max protocol = NT1
server string = Samba Server %v
netbios name = Private-99CB412
security = user
map to guest = bad user
name resolve order = bcast host
dns proxy = no
bind interfaces only = yes
#===========================Share definitions================================
[Public]
path = /media/Public
writable = yes
guest ok = yes
guest only = yes
read only = no
create mode = 0777
directory mode = 0777
force user = nobody

[Protected]
path = /media/Protected
valid users = @smbgroup
guest ok = no
writable = yes
browseable = yes

[LinuxN]
path = /media/Protected/LinuxN
force user = norah
guest ok = no
writable = yes
browseable = yes

[LinuxB]
path = /media/Protected/LinuxB
force user = bill
guest ok = no
writable = yes
browseable = yes

Here is another reference to assist others https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-install-and-configure-samba-on-ubuntu-18-04/

Another option is to enable smb1 on Windows 10: Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName smb1protocol

and set simple password on Windows user.