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Mounting a Samba share from another machine is a common need — whether it’s a NAS, another Linux server, or a dedicated storage box. Here’s the clean way to do it persistently.

Create a mount point

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/immich

Create a credentials file

Create a file to store your Samba credentials securely:

sudo nano /root/.smbcredentials

username=paul
password=YOUR_PASSWORD

Secure it so only root can read it:

sudo chmod 600 /root/.smbcredentials

Add to /etc/fstab

//SERVER_IP/immich  /mnt/immich  cifs  credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,iocharset=utf8,uid=1000,gid=1000  0  0

Replace:

  • SERVER_IP — your Samba server address
  • uid/gid — the local user who should own the mounted files

Then mount it:

sudo mount -a

No output means success.

Common fixes

Install CIFS tools

If mounting fails, you may need the CIFS utilities:

sudo apt install cifs-utils

Specify SMB version

Older servers need a specific SMB version:

...,vers=3.1.1

For very old servers:

...,vers=3.0

A solid example

//192.168.1.10/immich /mnt/immich cifs credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,vers=3.1.1,uid=1000,gid=1000,_netdev 0 0

The _netdev option tells the system to wait until the network is up before mounting — prevents boot hangs on headless servers.

Permissions

  • uid/gid controls local ownership of files
  • Samba server permissions still apply based on the server config
  • The interaction between create mask on the server and uid/gid on the client determines the final behavior

If you’re mounting from a different OS — another Linux server, macOS, or Windows — let me know and I can give you the exact approach for that.