Setting up a Share Using POSIX ACLs
Introduction
Samba supports shares with POSIX access control lists (ACL). They enable you to manage permissions locally on the Samba host using UNIX utilities. If the file system of the share supports extended attributes, you can use extended POSIX ACLs to set multiple users and groups in ACLs - similar to Windows ACLs. For details, see Setting Extended ACLs. In case you require the fine-granular Windows ACLs, set up instead a share using Windows ACLs. For details, see Setting up a Share Using Windows ACLs.
Samba supports shares with POSIX ACLs on:
- Domain members
- NT4 PDC and BDCs
- Standalone hosts
![]() | On a Samba Active Directory (AD) domain controller (DC), Windows ACL support is enabled globally, and therefore shares with POSIX ACLs are not supported. |
Preparing the Host
Before you are able to create a share, set up Samba. For details, see:
- Setting up Samba as a Domain Member
- Setting up Samba as an NT4 PDC (Quick Start)
- Setting up Samba as an NT4 BDC
- Setting up Samba as a Standalone Server
Making Files Executable
Using the default setting, users are only able to execute files, such as *.exe
and *.bat
, on a Samba share if they have the POSIX x-bit set. For example, the following file is executable for the root
user and members of the Domain Users
group:
-rwxr-x--- 1 root "Domain Users" 133160 1. Jan 00:00 /srv/samba/Demo/example.exe
In some scenarios it is necessary to enable users to execute all files on a share, regardless if the x-bit is set. To enable, set in the [global]
section of your smb.conf
:
acl allow execute always = yes
To share the /srv/samba/Demo/
directory using the Demo
share name:
- Create the directory:
# mkdir -p /srv/samba/Demo/
- Add the
[Demo]
share definition to yoursmb.conf
file:
[Demo] path = /srv/samba/Demo/ read only = no
- These are the minimum parameters required to set up a writeable share. Optionally, you can set share permissions. For details, see Setting Share Permissions.
- Reload the Samba configuration:
# smbcontrol all reload-config
Setting ACLs
Setting Standard UNIX ACLs
The standard access control lists (ACL) on a UNIX operating system supports setting permissions for one owner, one group, and everyone else (other). If you need to set multiple ACLs on a directory, see Setting Extended ACLs.
For example, to set the owner of the /srv/samba/Demo/
directory to root
, grant read and write permissions to the owner and the Domain User
group, and deny access to all other users, enter:
# chmod 2770 /srv/samba/Demo/ # chown root:"Demo Group" /srv/samba/Demo/
![]() | Setting the SGID bit (2770 ) automatically inherits the directory's group to all new files and directories created, instead setting it to the user's primary group. |
For further details about the permissions, see the chmod(1)
and chown(1)
man page.
Setting Extended ACLs
If your file system supports extended access control lists (ACL), you can use extended POSIX ACLs. They enable you to set permissions for multiple users and groups on a file or directory - similar to Windows ACLs. However, POSIX ACLs are limited to the following general permissions modes:
- None
- Read
- Write
- Full control
For example, to set read, write, and execute permissions for the Domain Admins
group, read and execute permissions for the Domain Users
group, and deny access to everyone else on the /srv/samba/Demo/
directory:
- Add the
inherit acls = yes
parameter to the share's configuration. For example:
[Demo] path = /srv/samba/Demo/ read only = no inherit acls = yes
- The
inherit acls = yes
parameter enables ACL inheritance of extended ACLs. For further details, see the parameter description in thesmb.conf
man page.
- Reload Samba:
# smbcontrol all reload-config
- Verify that the directory is stored on a file system that supports extended ACLs. For details, see File System Support.
- Disable auto-granting permissions for the primary group of user accounts:
# setfacl -m group::--- /srv/samba/Demo/ # setfacl -m default:group::--- /srv/samba/Demo/
- The primary group of the directory is additionally mapped to the dynamical
CREATOR GROUP
principal. If you use extended POSIX ACLs on a Samba share, this principal is automatically added and you cannot remove it. For further details about theCREATOR GROUP
principal, see Well-known security identifiers in Windows operating systems.
- Set the permissions on the directory:
- Grant read, write, and execute permissions to the
Domain Admins
group:
- Grant read, write, and execute permissions to the
# setfacl -m group:"SAMDOM\Domain Admins":rwx /srv/samba/Demo/
- Grant read and execute permissions to the
Domain Users
group:
- Grant read and execute permissions to the
# setfacl -m group:"SAMDOM\Domain Users":r-x /srv/samba/Demo/
- Set permissions for the
other
ACL entry to deny access to users that do not match other ACL entries:
- Set permissions for the
# setfacl -R -m other::--- /srv/samba/Demo/
- These settings are only applied to the directory itself. In Windows, this is converted to
This folder only
.
- To configure that the same permissions set in the previous step are inherited to new file system objects created in this directory, enter:
# setfacl -m default:group:"SAMDOM\Domain Admins":rwx /srv/samba/Demo/ # setfacl -m default:group:"SAMDOM\Domain Users":r-x /srv/samba/Demo/ # setfacl -m default:other::--- /srv/samba/Demo/
- With this settings, the
This folder only
mode for the principals now changed toThis folder, subfolders, and files
.
The ACLs set in the previous steps are mapped to the following Windows ACLs:
Principal | Access | Applies to | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
SAMDOM\Domain Admins | Full control | This folder, subfolders, and files | |
SAMDOM\Domain Users | Read & execute | This folder, subfolders, and files | |
Everyone | None | This folder, subfolders, and files | Samba maps the permissions for this principal from the UNIX other ACL entry.
|
directory_owner (Unix User\directory_owner) * | Full control | This folder only | Samba maps the owner of the directory to this entry. |
directory_primary_group (Unix User\directory_primary_group) * | None | This folder only | Samba maps the primary group of the directory to this entry. |
CREATOR OWNER * | Full control | Subfolders and files only | On new file system objects, the creator inherits automatically the permissions of this principal. |
CREATOR GROUP * | None | Subfolders and files only | On new file system objects, the creator's primary group inherits automatically the permissions of this principal. |
* Configuring or removing these principals from the ACLs is only supported when using Windows ACLs. For details, see Setting up a Share Using Windows ACLs.
For further details, see the setfacl
man page.
Optional: Samba enables you to set permissions on each share which are validated when a user connects.
Access to the content on a share, is controlled using file system access control lists (ACL). For details, see Setting POSIX ACLs on a Samba Share
Share-based access control enables you to grant or deny access to a share for certain users and groups. For example, to enable all members of the Domain Users
group to access a share while access is denied for the example_user
account, add the following parameters to the share's configuration:
valid users = +SAMDOM\"Domain Users" invalid users = +SAMDOM\example_user
The invalid users
parameter has a higher priority than the valid users
parameter. For example, if the example_user
account is a member of the Domain Users
group, access is denied for this account in the previous example.
For further details, see the parameter descriptions in the smb.conf(5)
man page.
Host-based access control enables you to grant or deny access to a share based on host names, IP addresses, or IP ranges. For example, to enable the 127.0.0.1 IP address, the 10.99.0.0/24 IP range, and the GoodHost
host name to access a share, and additionally deny access to the BadHost
host name, add the following parameters to the share's configuration:
hosts allow = 127.0.0.1 10.99.0.0/24 GoodHost hosts deny = BadHost
The hosts deny
parameter has a higher priority than the hosts allow
parameter. For example, if the BadHost
resolves to an IP address that is listed in the hosts allow
parameter, access to this host is denied.
For further details, see the parameter descriptions in the smb.conf(5)
man page.