If you're looking for a fast and reliable way to share an external USB drive over your network, this guide walks you through a clean setup using Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) inside a Proxmox virtual machine. The goal? Seamless Samba sharing with minimal configuration.
I went with this when I needed to quickly share the contents of an external drive over the network so we can watch content from the living room tv over vlc. I didn't have time to fiddle with fstab, usb automounting and mapping smb on the terminal (or mostly just lazy). Since my HP EliteDesk mini pc acting as my Proxmox server had the hardware resource, I went with this setup.
Why Linux Mint Debian Edition?
LMDE is a lightweight, Debian-based distro that’s perfect for quick setups. It offers:
- Automatic USB mounting (even for NTFS drives)
- Simple Samba sharing via the GUI
- Stability and performance in a virtualized environment
This makes it ideal for use in a Proxmox VM where you want to avoid complex CLI configurations.
Step-by-Step Setup
1. Connect the USB Drive to Proxmox
- Plug your 1TB NTFS-formatted USB drive into the Proxmox host.
- In the Proxmox web UI, go to your VM → Hardware → Add → USB Device.
- Select the USB drive and confirm.
2. Boot into LMDE and Verify the Drive
- Start the VM.
- LMDE should automatically mount the USB drive (usually under
/media/username/). - Open the file manager to confirm the drive is accessible.
3. Enable Samba Sharing
- Right-click the mounted folder → Sharing Options.
- Check “Share this folder”.
- Optionally allow guest access for easier LAN access.
Accessing the Share
From any device on your network:
- On Windows:
\\<LMDE_VM_IP>\<Shared_Folder_Name> - On Linux/macOS:
smb://<LMDE_VM_IP>/<Shared_Folder_Name>
Final Thoughts
This setup is perfect for home labs or small networks where you want to quickly share files without setting up a full NAS. LMDE’s ease of use combined with Proxmox’s flexibility makes this a powerful combo. The main use case that influences all these is that the drive being shared in question is USB, which getting it to automount in a linux server requires effort.