You can use the findsmb command to query a subnet for Samba servers. The command displays the IP address, NetBIOS name, workgroup, operating system and version for each server that it finds.

Alternatively, you can use the smbtree command, which is a text-based SMB network browser that displays the hierarchy of known domains, servers in those domains, and shares on those servers.

The GNOME and KDE desktops provide browser-based file managers that you can use to view Windows shares on the network. Enter smb: in the location bar of a file manager to browse network shares.

To connect to a Windows share from the command line, use the smbclient command:

$ smbclient //server_name/share_name [-U username]

After logging in, enter help at the smb:\> prompt to display a list of available commands.

To mount a Samba share, use a command such as the following:

# mount -t cifs //server_name/share_name mountpoint -o credentials=credfile

where the credentials file contains settings for username, password, and domain, for example:

username=eddie
password=clydenw
domain=MYDOMWKG

The argument to domain can be the name of a domain or a workgroup.

# chmod 400 credfile

If the Samba server is a domain member server in an AD domain and your current login session was authenticated by the Kerberos server in the domain, you can use your existing session credentials by specifying the sec=krb5 option instead of a credentials file:

# mount -t cifs //server_name/share_name mountpoint -o sec=krb5

For more information, see the findsmb(1), mount.cifs(8), smbclient(1), and smbtree(1) manual pages.