This guide walks through setting up a dedicated logical volume, formatting it, mounting it, configuring Samba, and accessing it from a Windows client — using user-based authentication.

✅ 1. Check Available Space in Your Volume Group

sudo vgdisplay

Look for the Free PE / Size — it should show free space (e.g., ~647 GB).

✅ 2. Create a Logical Volume

sudo lvcreate -l 100%FREE -n data-lv ubuntu-vg

This creates a logical volume named data-lv using all available free space.

✅ 3. Format the Logical Volume

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/ubuntu-vg/data-lv

Formats the new logical volume with an ext4 filesystem.

✅ 4. Mount the New Volume

sudo mkdir /data
sudo mount /dev/ubuntu-vg/data-lv /data
df -h /data

Verify the new volume is mounted and check available space.

✅ 5. Reclaim Reserved Space for Root

You may see slightly less space available (e.g., 604G instead of 636G).

By default, ext4 reserves 5% of space for root. To reclaim it:

sudo tune2fs -m 0 /dev/ubuntu-vg/data-lv

🔍 Why?
This command sets the reserved block percentage to 0%, giving back all usable space to users. Ideal for dedicated data drives.

✅ 6. Configure Auto-Mount in /etc/fstab

Get the UUID:

sudo blkid /dev/ubuntu-vg/data-lv

Edit fstab:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Add this line (replace UUID with your actual one):

UUID=e22f2118-6818-4a4c-8dae-c5b885c5f02d /data ext4 defaults 0 2

Apply the changes:

sudo mount -a

✅ 7. Set Permissions for Samba Access

Set ownership and permissions to your Linux user:

sudo chown -R faisal:faisal /data
sudo chmod -R 770 /data

✅ 8. Restore a Clean Samba Configuration

If you previously modified /etc/samba/smb.conf, restore a clean one:

sudo cp /etc/samba/smb.conf.bak /etc/samba/smb.conf

Or reinstall Samba defaults if necessary.

✅ 9. Create a Samba User

sudo smbpasswd -a faisal

Set a password when prompted.

✅ 10. Configure Samba Share

Edit the Samba config:

sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

At the bottom, add:

[data]
   path = /data
   browseable = yes
   read only = no
   valid users = faisal

Then restart the Samba service:

sudo systemctl restart smbd

✅ 11. Open Firewall Port (if applicable)

If you’re using UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall):

sudo ufw allow 'Samba'

✅ 12. Map Network Drive from Windows Explorer

  • Open File Explorer
  • Right-click on This PC → Map Network Drive
  • Choose a drive letter (e.g., Z:)
  • Folder: \10.0.1.10\data
  • Check Reconnect at sign-in
  • Enter credentials:
    • Username: faisal
    • Password: [Your Samba password]

You’re right — Markdown blocks should be formatted clearly without mixing triple backticks (```) with normal text unless you’re including code inside the Markdown.

Here’s a clean and correct .md snippet for your documentation, with proper formatting:

🫥 Optional: Fully Hide lost+found from Windows Clients via Samba

When you format a drive with the ext4 filesystem, Linux creates a lost+found folder at the root. This is used internally by the system for recovering file fragments during disk checks (fsck). While it’s essential for the filesystem, it’s not useful for end users — and may clutter your view when accessing the share from Windows.

If you’d like to completely hide this folder from Windows (so it doesn’t appear even with “Show hidden files” enabled), use Samba’s veto files option.

🔧 Update Your Samba Configuration

  1. Open your Samba configuration file:

    sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

  2. In your [data] share section, add the veto files line (and remove or comment out any hide files line if present):

    [data]
path = /data
valid users = faisal
read only = no
browsable = yes
veto files = /lost+found/

  3. Save and exit the file, then restart Samba:

    sudo systemctl restart smbd

✅ Result

  • lost+found will be completely hidden from Windows clients.
  • It remains fully accessible and functional on the Linux system (as required).
  • This is a safe and clean way to reduce visual clutter in your Samba share.

Done! ✅

🎉 You’re all set!

You now have a clean and secure user-authenticated Samba share accessible from Windows.