mountsmb - Cross-Platform SMB Mounting

A comprehensive SMB mounting solution that provides seamless access to remote filesystems across Windows, WSL, and Linux environments.

Quick Start

# Install globally from npm
npm install -g @bobfrankston/mountsmb

# Mount a remote host's root filesystem
mountsmb beta1

# Mount a specific path
mountsmb pi3a /var/www

# From source directory
node index.js beta1

Features

• Automatic hostname resolution from SSH config files
• Platform-aware dual mounting (WSL creates both native and Windows mounts)
• Automatic Samba installation and configuration on remote hosts
• SSH key authentication for secure connections
• Persistent connections that survive reboots
• Cross-platform API for programmatic use

Installation

The script automatically installs required dependencies:

• WSL/Linux: cifs-utils for native SMB mounting
• Remote hosts: samba server with automatic configuration

Command Line Usage

Basic Commands

# Mount commands
mountsmb <hostname>              # Mount root filesystem
mountsmb <hostname> <path>       # Mount specific path
mountsmb beta1 --install-samba   # Force Samba reinstallation
mountsmb beta1 --verbose         # Enable verbose logging
mountsmb beta1 --debug           # Enable debug messages

# Management commands
mountsmb list                    # Show active mounts
mountsmb unmount beta1           # Unmount specific host
mountsmb cleanup                 # Remove dead mounts
mountsmb show-mappings           # Display hostname mappings
mountsmb sync-config             # Sync Windows/WSL configs

Windows Wrapper

Use the batch wrapper for Windows:

mountsmb beta1
mountsmb unmount beta1

Location: Y:\x\bin\mountsmb.cmd

Configuration

SSH Config Setup

Ensure your SSH config includes host definitions with users:

# Windows: C:\Users\{USER}\.ssh\config
# WSL: ~/.ssh\config

Host beta1
    HostName beta1.frankston.com
    User root  # Required

Host pi3a
    HostName pi3a.aaz.lt
    User pi    # Required

REQUIRED: A User MUST be specified in SSH config for each host.

JSON Override (Optional)

For hosts not in SSH config:

# ~/.mountsmb/hostnames.json
{
  "dev": "development.example.com",
  "prod": "production.example.com"
}

Access Paths

After mounting, access your files through platform-appropriate paths:

WSL Environment

# Native WSL mount (recommended)
cd /mnt/smb/beta1
ls ~/mounts/beta1          # Convenience symlink

# Cross-platform
ls /mnt/c/drives/smb/beta1  # Windows junction from WSL

Windows Environment

REM Native Windows access
cd C:\drives\smb\beta1
dir \\beta1.frankston.com\beta1  REM Direct UNC access

Directory Structure

Platform-specific mounts:
├── WSL Native:     /mnt/smb/{hostname}
├── WSL Symlink:    ~/mounts/{hostname} → /mnt/smb/{hostname}
├── Windows:        C:\drives\smb\{hostname} → \\{hostname}\{hostname}
└── UNC Direct:     \\{hostname}.domain.com\{hostname}

Programming API

TypeScript/JavaScript Import

import { 
  mountSMBHost, 
  unmountSMBHost,
  getActiveMounts,
  getHostnameMappings,
  getConnectionInfo,
  cleanupDeadMounts,
  syncHostnameConfigs
} from '@bobfrankston/mountsmb';

Core Functions

Mount Operations

// Mount a host's root filesystem
await mountSMBHost('beta1');

// Mount specific path with options
await mountSMBHost('pi3a', { remotePath: '/var/www', installSamba: true });

// Mount with explicit verbose/debug control
await mountSMBHost('beta1', { verbose: false, debug: false }); // Quiet mode

// Unmount
await unmountSMBHost('beta1');

Information Queries

// Get all active mounts
const mounts = getActiveMounts();

// Get hostname mappings from SSH config
const mappings = getHostnameMappings();

// Get resolved connection info
const conn = getConnectionInfo('beta1');

Maintenance Operations

// Clean up dead mounts
const cleaned = cleanupDeadMounts();

// Sync hostname configs between Windows and WSL
const result = syncHostnameConfigs();

Interface Types

interface ConnectionInfo {
  user: string;           // SSH username  
  host: string;          // Full hostname for connections
  mountName: string;     // Short name for mount points
  remotePath: string;    // Remote path being mounted
}

interface MountOptions {
  installSamba?: boolean;  // Force Samba installation
  verbose?: boolean;        // Enable verbose logging
  debug?: boolean;          // Enable debug output
  remotePath?: string;      // Path to mount (default: "/")
}

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Command failed: ssh user@host"

• Verify SSH key authentication works: ssh beta1
• Check hostname resolution: nslookup beta1.frankston.com

"SMB share is not accessible"

• Force Samba reinstallation: mountsmb beta1 --install-samba
• Check Samba status: ssh beta1 "systemctl status smbd"

"I/O error accessing /mnt/c/drives/smb/"

• Use WSL native path instead: /mnt/smb/beta1 or ~/mounts/beta1
• This is a known WSL limitation with Windows SMB junctions

"Permission denied mounting"

• Install cifs-utils: sudo apt install cifs-utils
• Check sudo privileges for mount commands

Debug Commands

# Show detailed mounting information
mountsmb beta1 --debug

# List all active mounts with status
mountsmb list

# Test hostname resolution
mountsmb show-mappings

# Clean up broken mounts
mountsmb cleanup

Manual Mount Commands

If the script fails, you can mount manually:

# WSL/Linux manual mount
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/smb/beta1
sudo mount -t cifs //beta1.frankston.com/beta1 /mnt/smb/beta1 \
    -o user=root,password=smb_beta1,vers=3.0

# Windows manual mount  
net use \\beta1.frankston.com\beta1 smb_beta1 /user:root
mklink /D C:\drives\smb\beta1 \\beta1.frankston.com\beta1

Security Notes

• Uses SSH key authentication for initial setup
• SMB passwords are auto-generated per host: smb_{hostname}
• Requires SMB3 with encryption for secure transport
• Samba shares restricted to specific users (no guest access)

Examples

Basic Usage

# Mount beta1's root filesystem
mountsmb beta1

# Access files
ls ~/mounts/beta1/etc/
vim ~/mounts/beta1/root/config.txt

API Usage

import { mountSMBHost, getActiveMounts } from '@bobfrankston/mountsmb';

// Mount multiple hosts
await mountSMBHost('beta1');
await mountSMBHost('pi3a', { remotePath: '/var/www' });

// Check status
const mounts = getActiveMounts();
console.log(`Active mounts: ${mounts.length}`);

Cross-Platform Development

// Works in both Windows and WSL
function getDataPath(hostname: string): string {
  if (process.platform === 'win32') {
    return `C:\\drives\\smb\\${hostname}\\data`;
  } else {
    return `/mnt/smb/${hostname}/data`;
  }
}

await mountSMBHost('beta1');
const configPath = getDataPath('beta1');
const config = readFileSync(join(configPath, 'app.json'), 'utf8');

Additional Tools

For advanced usage and troubleshooting, see companion utilities in /mnt/c/Users/Bob/OneDrive/xfer/bin/linuxbin/:

• setupkeys.ts: Automated SSH key setup and management
• assuressh: Verify SSH connectivity to hosts
• check-mount: Validate mount point status and accessibility
• mount-status: Detailed mount information and diagnostics

Support

• NPM Package: @bobfrankston/mountsmb
• SSH config help: man ssh_config
• Samba documentation: Official Samba docs