It was pointed out to me recently that the graphical tool for sharing files and folders no longer displayed within the Main Menu. I’m not sure if this is reported as a bug anywhere (I haven’t looked), but I thought I would mention how you can still use the tool, or even better, manually add it to your menu. This tutorial is for anyone that wants to simply share files and folders via samba or NFS.
Sharing Folders with Shares Admin
First, lets take a look at the shares-admin tool. It is a graphical management tool for sharing files and folders by way of NFS or samba. If you’re not familiar with these protocols, samba is generally used for sharing within a Windows network, and NFS for Linux/Unix networks.
To launch the shares-admin tool type:
ALT-F2: shares-admin
You’ll be asked to “Unlock” access for your user, and then you’ll be able to create a share.
Click “Add” to create a new share. Select the folder you want to share, the protocol you want to share it with, and the name you want to give it. It’s that simple!
Adding Shares-Admin to your Main Menu
If this is something you find you might use often you may want to add it to your Main Menu. This can be done pretty easily, by using the Main Menu Editor. I posted about this recently, Edit The Main Menu with Two Clicks on Ubuntu 8.04.