This guide explains how to set up independent ZFS datasets and configure NFS/SMB file sharing directly on your Proxmox host.

This guide covers:

1. Create an independent ZFS datasets
2. Setting up user and group permissions
3. Configuring NFS server on Proxmox
4. Configuring Samba server on Proxmox
5. Mounting shares on client machines

You can create as many datasets as you want. I prefer this approach because Proxmox won't link it to a LXC/VM.
This allow to not delete all you data by deleting the wrong LXC/VM (yup, it sadly happened...)

zfs create vault/data
zfs create vault/db
zfs create config/config

I like to create a dataset for my media files data, for databases like immich db and config for my compose and config files. Plus, make it easy to setup backups on more targeted things (See Backup Strategy)

Verify the creation was successful:

zfs list -r vault
zfs list -r config

Set appropriate properties for the dataset:

# Set compression if not already enabled
zfs set compression=lz4 vault/data
# Disable atime to improve performance
zfs set atime=off vault/data
zfs set atime=off vault/db
zfs set atime=off config/config
# Set appropriate recordsize for general file sharing
zfs set recordsize=1M vault/data
zfs set recordsize=1M vault/db
zfs set recordsize=1M config/config

Create a group for shared access and a user:

# Create the user-share group
groupadd -g 101000 user-share

# Create user if it doesn't exist
useradd -m titem
passwd titem

# Add titem to required groups
usermod -aG user-share,sudo titem

We use a gid of 101000 for user-share because when pass to a LXC, Proxmox pass the shared directories with the uid-100000:gid-100000 permissions Resulting in permissions of 1000:1000 on the LXC. You can then create a user/group with a uid and gid of 1000, then in Docker you can set user: 1000:1000 to avoid any permissions issues.

Set appropriate ownership and permissions on the zfs dataset:

chown -R titem:user-share /vault/data /vault/db /config/config
chmod -R 775 /vault/data /vault/db /config/config

# Set the setgid bit to ensure new files inherit the group
chmod g+s /vault/data /vault/db /config/config

Install the necessary NFS server packages:

apt update
apt install nfs-kernel-server -y

Edit the NFS exports file to share your dataset:

# Open exports file
nvim /etc/exports

Add your export configuration:

/vault/data *(rw,sync,no_subtree_check,all_squash,anonuid=1000,anongid=1000)

Or for more security, limit to your local network:

/vault/data 10.0.0.0/24(rw,sync,no_subtree_check,all_squash,anonuid=1000,anongid=1000)

Apply the new exports configuration:

exportfs -ra

systemctl enable --now nfs-kernel-server
systemctl status nfs-kernel-server

If you have a firewall enabled, allow NFS traffic:

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s 10.0.0.0/24 --dport 2049 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p udp -s 10.0.0.0/24 --dport 2049 -j ACCEPT

Install Samba server packages:

apt update
apt install samba samba-common -y

Back up the original configuration:

cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.backup

Create a new configuration:

nvim /etc/samba/smb.conf

Add the following configuration:

[global]
    workgroup = WORKGROUP
    server string = Proxmox File Server
    security = user
    map to guest = bad user
    log file = /var/log/samba/%m.log
    max log size = 50
    passdb backend = tdbsam
    unix password sync = yes
    vfs objects = acl_xattr
    map acl inherit = yes
    store dos attributes = yes

[Data]
    path = /vault/data
    browseable = yes
    writable = yes
    create mask = 0775
    directory mask = 0775
    valid users = @user-share

[DB]
    path = /vault/db
    browseable = yes
    writable = yes
    create mask = 0775
    directory mask = 0775
    valid users = @user-share

[Config]
    path = /config/config
    browseable = yes
    writable = yes
    create mask = 0775
    directory mask = 0775
    valid users = @user-share

Add your user to Samba's user database:

# Add titem user to Samba
smbpasswd -a titem

systemctl enable --now smbd
systemctl status smbd

iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s 10.0.0.0/24 --dport 139 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s 10.0.0.0/24 --dport 445 -j ACCEPT

# Create mount directory
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/data

# Mount NFS share
sudo mount -t nfs <proxmox-ip>:/vault/data /mnt/data

# Add to fstab for persistence
echo "<proxmox-ip>:/vault/data /mnt/data nfs rw,defaults,_netdev 0 0" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

# Create mount directory
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/data-smb

# Install CIFS utilities
sudo apt install cifs-utils -y

# Create a credentials file
sudo nvim /root/.smbcredentials

Add the following content to the credentials file:

username=titem
password=your_password

Set secure permissions:

sudo chmod 600 /root/.smbcredentials

Mount the share:

sudo mount -t cifs //<proxmox-ip>/Data /mnt/data-smb -o credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,uid=1000,gid=1000,dir_mode=0775,file_mode=0775

# Add to fstab for persistence
echo "//<proxmox-ip>/Data /mnt/data-smb cifs credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,uid=1000,gid=1000,dir_mode=0775,file_mode=0775,_netdev 0 0" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

The Data correspond to the name set in the smb.conf, here [Data]

1. Permissions Issues

   • Check the UID/GID mapping between server and client
   • Verify export options in /etc/exports
   • Check permissions on the dataset mountpoint

2. Connection Refused

   • Verify NFS service is running: systemctl status nfs-kernel-server
   • Check firewall settings
   • Try restarting the NFS server: systemctl restart nfs-kernel-server

3. Performance Problems

   • Adjust mount options like rsize/wsize in client fstab:

     <proxmox-ip>:/vault/data /mnt/proxmox-data nfs rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,hard,timeo=600,retrans=2,_netdev 0 0
     

1. Cannot Connect to Share

   • Test connectivity with smbclient -L <proxmox-ip> -U titem
   • Verify Samba services are running: systemctl status smbd nmbd
   • Check firewall settings

2. Permission Denied

   • Verify user is in the correct group: groups titem
   • Check that user has a Samba password: pdbedit -L
   • Verify file permissions on the shared directory

# Backup Samba configuration
cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.$(date +%Y%m%d)

# Check disk usage
zfs list -o name,used,avail,refer,mountpoint vault/data

If you need to restart services after configuration changes:

# Restart NFS
systemctl restart nfs-kernel-server

# Restart Samba
systemctl restart smbd