ksmbd

KSMBD is a server which implements SMB3 protocol in kernel space for sharing files over your network and can be used as a Samba alternative. Ksmbd tends to use fewer resources than Samba, but also has less features.

To use ksmbd with LuCI install the package luci-app-ksmbd which will automatically install the server and dependencies too. To use ksmbd only on the command line instead install ksmbd-server and ksmbd-tools.

To share an external drive plugged into USB/eSATA first install the drivers, filesystem, and mount it as outlined in the Samba prerequisites section.

In LuCI, go to Services → Network Shares. Here you can add shared directories, name the shares, set the drive path (e.g. /mnt/sda1), set allowed users, etc.

For security it's recommended to add a user account for access. This can only be set from the command line via ksmbd.adduser. See below for details.

The command line configuration file is at /etc/config/ksmbd, with some options hardcoded at /etc/ksmbd/ksmb.conf.template.

User account access: (recommended) to access shares with a user account, SSH in and use ksmbd.adduser [username] then set a password. The file /etc/ksmbd/ksmbdpwd.db will be created. Enter your username on the LuCI Services → Network Shares page in the Allowed users box. Save & apply.

Guest access: to allow guest access without a user account check force root and allow guests on the LuCI page.

Annonymous access: to access shares anonymously using the nobody/nogroup user, first assign ownership for all files and directories at these mounting points to that user:

chown -R nobody:nogroup /mnt/sda1

This example uses the command-line and assumes you have a block device attached on /mnt/sda1.

root@OpenWrt:~# ksmbd.adduser --help
Usage: ksmbd.adduser [-v] [-P PWDDB] [-c CONF] [-a | -u | -d] [-p PWD] USER

If neither `-a', `-u', nor `-d' is given, either add or update USER.
USER must be UTF-8 and [1, 48) bytes.
USER cannot contain colon (`:').

  -a, --add             add USER to user database
  -u, --update          update USER in user database
  -d, --delete          delete USER from user database
  -p, --password=PWD    use PWD as user password instead of prompting;
                        PWD must be UTF-8 and [0, 129) bytes
  -P, --pwddb=PWDDB     use PWDDB as user database instead of
                        `/etc/ksmbd/ksmbdpwd.db'
  -C, --config=CONF     use CONF as configuration file instead of
                        `/etc/ksmbd/ksmbd.conf'
  -v, --verbose         be verbose
  -V, --version         output version information and exit
  -h, --help            display this help and exit

See ksmbd.adduser(8) for more details.

Configure shares in LuCI → Services → Network Shares or by editing /etc/config/ksmbd:

config globals
	option workgroup 'WORKGROUP'
	option description 'Ksmbd on OpenWrt'
	option interface 'lan'

config share
	option name 'ssd'
	option path '/mnt/sda1'
	option read_only 'no'
	option guest_ok 'yes'
	option create_mask '0666'
	option dir_mask '0777'

or the above config will look similar to this when allowed users have been added:

config globals
	option workgroup 'WORKGROUP'
	option description 'Ksmbd on your_router_name'

config share
	option name 'router-USB1'
	option path '/mnt/sda1'
	option read_only 'no'
	option guest_ok 'no'
	option create_mask '0666'
	option dir_mask '0777'
	option users 'user1'

Multiple devices and shares may be added by adding a config share section with a name and mount location for each.

The globals section contains share-independent options.

Most modern devices are performant enough to saturate 1Gbps LAN (100-120MB/s read/write) with Samba/Ksmbd shares using a USB3 drive, and some will serve much faster using 2.5Gbps ports. A few examples are on the Samba page performance_tests.

On devices with adequate RAM (>256MB) performance can be improved by increasing (or comment out) the preset buffer limits in LuCI → Services → Network Shares → Edit Template. Save and apply. These values are adjusted automatically when running 25.12 onward. For 24.10 or older you can edit the values or comment out the 5 lines as desired:

	#smb2 max read = 512K
	#smb2 max write = 512K
	#smb2 max trans = 512K

	32 ~ 64MB RAM, set the value to 64K
	64 ~ 128MB, set it to 128KB
	128 ~ 256MB, set it to 1MB
	More than 256MB leave default size to 4MB

	With 64MB and 128MB it is better also to disable the read/write cache
	#cache read buffers = no
	#cache write buffers = no