samba

Samba is an open-source implementation of SMB/CIFS for sharing files and printers between systems (commonly between Windows and Unix/Linux). It also supports domain-related components such as an Active Directory-compatible domain controller in many setups.

Evaluated Mar 30, 2026 (33d ago)

Homepage ↗ Repo ↗ Infrastructure smb cifs file-sharing printer-sharing networking linux windows-interop active-directory

⚙ Agent Friendliness

/ 100

Can an agent use this?

🔒 Security

/ 100

Is it safe for agents?

⚡ Reliability

/ 100

Does it work consistently?

Score Breakdown

⚙ Agent Friendliness

MCP Quality

Documentation

Error Messages

Auth Simplicity

Rate Limits

🔒 Security

TLS Enforcement

Auth Strength

Scope Granularity

Dep. Hygiene

Secret Handling

Security is largely achieved through correct configuration and SMB hardening (e.g., disabling weak SMB dialects, using SMB signing and/or encryption where supported, least-privilege share permissions, and proper domain/Kerberos integration). Samba does not inherently provide modern API-style TLS/auth/secret patterns; correctness is on the operator.

⚡ Reliability

Uptime/SLA

Version Stability

Breaking Changes

Error Recovery

Best When

You need interoperable SMB/CIFS sharing in a LAN and can properly harden and administer the Samba service.

Avoid When

You cannot apply network segmentation, strong authentication, and transport security controls for SMB traffic.

Use Cases

• File and printer sharing across Windows and Linux environments
• Joining/serving SMB shares for mixed-OS networks
• Active Directory-compatible domain controller deployments (where configured)

Not For

• Cloud-native, API-first access to remote resources
• Use-cases requiring a managed SaaS security/observability layer
• Environments where SMB is prohibited or cannot be secured

Interface

REST API

GraphQL

gRPC

MCP Server

SDK

Webhooks

Authentication

Methods: Local users / PAM / system account authentication (typical deployments) Kerberos (in Kerberos/AD-integrated setups) NTLMv2 (commonly supported in SMB authentication flows where applicable)

OAuth: No Scopes: No

Auth model is configuration-driven and tied to the SMB/AD/Kerberos/PAM integration; Samba typically does not expose OAuth-style scopes.

Pricing

Free tier: No

Requires CC: No

Open-source; costs are primarily operational (hosting, administration, hardening, monitoring).

Agent Metadata

Pagination

none

Idempotent

False

Retry Guidance

Not documented

Known Gotchas

⚠ Samba is typically configured via static configuration files and services, not a request/response API; 'agent retries' and idempotency depend on your operational tooling.
⚠ Security depends heavily on correct configuration (protocol versions, signing/encryption, share permissions).
⚠ SMB behavior varies with client OS and SMB dialect negotiation, which can complicate automated troubleshooting.

Alternatives

NFS (for Unix/Linux environments) FTP/SFTP (for simpler file transfer, depending on requirements) Windows Server SMB shares (in Microsoft-managed environments) WebDAV (for HTTP-based file access)

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Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-30.