How do I use Ubuntu Server as file server?

The important thing to remember is that Desktop and Server are the same underlying OS, with different packages & configuration In Windows that isn't true (tx to @jay-bazuzi)

This is a step-to-step answer.

Install samba

sudo apt-get  install  samba samba-common

Install some dependencies for Configuration tools

sudo apt-get install python-glade2

Installa samba configuration tool

sudo apt-get install system-config-samba

Make a new user Jones

adduser   Jones

Make a Linux password for user jones

passwd pirat9

Open samba configuration tool.

Add the folder you want to share and setup the permissions

Create a samba user

sudo smbpasswd -a  jones
New SMB password
retype New SMB Password

You can chose any directory you want to share by right click on the folder directory and open the share options

Now at this point if your ubuntu server has ip: 192.168.1.10 you can access to your folder with a Linux Machine typing on Nautilus address bar:

smb://192.168.1.10/pirat9

or on a windows machine with:

\\192.168.1.10\pirat9

Thanks Linuxman for screen and refs: http://www.unixmen.com/howto-install-and-configure-samba-share-in-ubuntu/

The short answer is yes, you can set up file sharing with Samba. See

• https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/serverguide/samba-fileserver.html

There's also a beginner-friendly tutorial here http://www.howtogeek.com/74459/how-to-create-samba-windows-shares-in-linux-the-easy-way/. If you search for Samba in the Ubuntu Software Center, you'll find a nice little GUI for this.

File Servers

If you have more than one computer on a single network. At some point you will probably need to share files between them. In this section we cover installing and configuring FTP, NFS, and CUPS.

FTP Server

Network File System (NFS)

iSCSI Initiator

CUPS - Print Server

SOURCE -> File Servers

Windows Networking

Computer networks are often comprised of diverse systems, and while operating a network made up entirely of Ubuntu desktop and server computers would certainly be fun, some network environments must consist of both Ubuntu and Microsoft® Windows® systems working together in harmony. This section of the Ubuntu Server Guide introduces principles and tools used in configuring your Ubuntu Server for sharing network resources with Windows computers.

Introduction

Samba File Server

Samba Print Server

Securing a Samba File and Print Server

Samba as a Domain Controller

Samba Active Directory Integration

SOURCE -> Windows Networking