Basic question about networked /home shared via Samba

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

el_pedr0

Member
Sep 6, 2016
44
1
8
47
I've got myself confused about what I'm sure is quite basic, please help.

Aim: I want to put my /home directories on a network drive and then share them.
Relevant factors:
* Non-critical home environment
* Mixed linux/windows. All my server stuff is Linux, but users tend to use Windows
* I've already got a samba server sharing some other directories so perhaps prefer to use Samba rather than spinning up another machine for NFS (although would do so if it's the 'right' way).
* User authentication is handled by an ipa server.
* All server machines are containers in a Proxmox host.

My current vague plan:
1) create a directory called /home on my storage
2) mount the /home directory using proxmox bind mounts on the samba machine
3) share the /home directories using samba
4) somehow use automount so that clients only mount their home directories when they log on (i.e. authenticate with the ipa)

Is this the right way? Any pointers or things to avoid? How do I do 4?
 

kromberg

Active Member
Jan 18, 2021
135
86
28
Keep things simple. Create a proxmox VM that will contain the /home storage data. On the storage vm install both samba and the nfs server. Export /home through the standard nfs export method and have the linux clients use autofs to mount it on remand. Setup samba to export /home so the windows machines can mount it via windows map drive method. Both are simple to setup and do. Ping me if you need some help doing it.
 

el_pedr0

Member
Sep 6, 2016
44
1
8
47
Thanks @kromberg. I've only just spotted your reply. So it looks like the piece I was missing was employing both samba and nfs.

I'm hoping the IPA doesn't complicate things, but don't think it will. thanks.