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Creating Network Storage on External Drive and YouTube Download System

This guide documents setting up a centralized Samba network storage server on Proxmox using an external SSD

Posted Updated
By Calabi Yau
5 min read
Creating Network Storage on External Drive and YouTube Download System

Creating Network Storage on External Drive and YouTube Download System

Overview

This guide documents setting up a centralized Samba network storage server on Proxmox using an external SSD, configuring it for universal access across Linux, Windows, and iOS devices, fixing Navidrome music streaming, and setting up yt-dlp for downloading YouTube videos directly to network storage with mobile streaming capability.

Infrastructure Assessment

Proxmox Hosts:

  • .125 (nuc5): 60 GB RAM, 29 GB available
  • .121 (nuc3): 16 GB RAM, 2.6 GB available

Storage on .125:

  • 1 TB NVMe (nvme1tb): Backups
  • 2 TB internal NVMe (nvme2tb): Applications and VMs
  • 2 TB external SSD (Ext_T7_SSD): 1.7 TB available - chosen for network storage

Commands run on both Proxmox hosts:

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lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,TYPE,MOUNTPOINT,FSTYPE
df -h
free -h
top -bn1 | head -20
qm list

Cleaning the External SSD

Check current contents on .125:

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ls -lh /mnt/Ext_T7_ssd/
du -sh /mnt/Ext_T7_ssd/*

Move music to permanent location:

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mkdir -p /mnt/nvme2tb/music
mv /mnt/Ext_T7_ssd/music/* /mnt/nvme2tb/music/

Delete old files:

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rm -rf /mnt/Ext_T7_ssd/nvme2tb-backup/
rm -rf /mnt/Ext_T7_ssd/dump/
rm -rf /mnt/Ext_T7_ssd/music/

Verify clean:

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ls -lh /mnt/Ext_T7_ssd/
df -h /mnt/Ext_T7_ssd

Creating Samba Storage VM

Clone Ubuntu template on .125:

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qm clone 890 1106 --name samba-storage-vm --full

Start VM and get IP address (192.168.1.167)

Update hostname on VM:

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ssh mark@192.168.1.167
hostnamectl set-hostname samba-storage-vm
hostname

Passing External Drive to VM

On Proxmox host .125, identify the drive:

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ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/ | grep -i sda

Update NFS exports (remove old Ext_T7_SSD shares):

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nano /etc/exports

Changed to export music from new location:

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/mnt/nvme2tb/music 192.168.1.0/24(ro,sync,no_subtree_check)

Reload exports:

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exportfs -ra

Unmount drive from Proxmox host:

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umount /mnt/Ext_T7_ssd

Attach drive to VM:

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qm set 1106 -scsi1 /dev/disk/by-id/usb-Samsung_PSSD_T7_S7MPNS0XA03986E-0:0

Verify attachment:

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qm config 1106 | grep scsi

Mounting Drive Inside VM

SSH into samba-storage-vm:

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ssh mark@192.168.1.167

Check for new disk:

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lsblk

Create mount point:

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sudo mkdir -p /mnt/storage

Mount the drive:

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sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/storage

Verify mount:

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df -h /mnt/storage

Get UUID for permanent mount:

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sudo blkid /dev/sdb1

Add to fstab:

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sudo nano /etc/fstab

Added:

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UUID=18e4bb73-2214-486f-a4da-0efef03a4eec /mnt/storage ext4 defaults 0 2

Test fstab:

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sudo mount -a

Installing and Configuring Samba

Update and install Samba:

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sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install samba -y

Backup original config:

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

Configure Samba share:

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sudo nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

Added at bottom:

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[storage]
   path = /mnt/storage
   browseable = yes
   read only = no
   create mask = 0775
   directory mask = 0775
   valid users = mark

Set Samba password:

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sudo smbpasswd -a mark

Restart Samba:

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sudo systemctl restart smbd

Verify running:

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sudo systemctl status smbd

Testing Access from Linux Laptop

On Linux Mint laptop, access via file manager:

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smb://192.168.1.167/storage

Login with username: mark and Samba password

Test file creation and verify read/write access

Setting Up iOS Access

Install Infuse from App Store

Add SMB share in Infuse:

  • Name: Network Storage
  • Protocol: SMB
  • Address: 192.168.1.167/storage
  • Username: mark
  • Password: [Samba password]

Enable background audio in Infuse settings → Playback → Background Audio: ON

Fixing Navidrome Music Access

Update NFS mount on Navidrome VM (.152):

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ssh mark@192.168.1.152

Edit fstab:

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sudo nano /etc/fstab

Changed:

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192.168.1.125:/mnt/nvme2tb/music /mnt/navidrome/music nfs ro,nofail,x-systemd.automount,_netdev 0 0

Stop Navidrome:

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cd ~/navidrome
docker compose down

On Proxmox host .125, verify NFS server running:

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systemctl status nfs-server

Start if needed:

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systemctl start nfs-server

Verify NFS daemons:

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rpcinfo -p | grep nfs

Verify export active:

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exportfs -v

Back on Navidrome VM, verify can see export:

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showmount -e 192.168.1.125

Manually mount:

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sudo mount -t nfs 192.168.1.125:/mnt/nvme2tb/music /mnt/navidrome/music

Verify mount:

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mount | grep navidrome

Test access:

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ls -lh /mnt/navidrome/music/ | head -20

Start Navidrome:

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docker compose up -d

Setting Up yt-dlp Network Downloads

On Linux Mint laptop, create mount point:

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sudo mkdir -p /mnt/network-storage

Create credentials file:

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nano ~/.smbcreds

Contents:

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username=mark
password=YOUR_SAMBA_PASSWORD

Secure credentials:

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chmod 600 ~/.smbcreds

Add to fstab:

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sudo nano /etc/fstab

Added:

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//192.168.1.167/storage /mnt/network-storage cifs credentials=/home/mark/.smbcreds,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0

Reload systemd:

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sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Mount the share:

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sudo mount /mnt/network-storage

Verify mount:

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mount | grep network-storage

Test access:

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ls /mnt/network-storage

Update yt-dlp alias:

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nano ~/.config/fish/config.fish

Changed from:

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alias yt-dlp-save="yt-dlp --write-sub --write-auto-sub --sub-lang 'en.*' --convert-subs srt --restrict-filenames -o '/media/mark/Ext_T7_lpthp/YouTube-downloads/%(uploader)s/%(title)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s'"

To:

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alias yt-dlp-save="yt-dlp --write-sub --write-auto-sub --sub-lang 'en.*' --convert-subs srt --restrict-filenames -o '/mnt/network-storage/YouTube-downloads/%(uploader)s/%(title)s/%(title)s.%(ext)s'"

Reload fish config:

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source ~/.config/fish/config.fish

Test download:

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yt-dlp-save https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ

Verify file on network storage:

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ls -lh /mnt/network-storage/YouTube-downloads/

Final Configuration Summary

Network Storage Server (VM 1106 on .125):

  • IP: 192.168.1.167
  • Storage: 1.7 TB external SSD at /mnt/storage
  • Samba share name: storage
  • Access: \192.168.1.167\storage (Windows) or smb://192.168.1.167/storage (Linux/Mac)

Access Methods:

  • Linux: Mounted at /mnt/network-storage
  • Windows: \192.168.1.167\storage
  • iOS: Infuse app with SMB connection

yt-dlp Integration:

  • Downloads go directly to /mnt/network-storage/YouTube-downloads/
  • Organized by uploader/title structure
  • Accessible from all devices

Navidrome Music Streaming:

  • Music location: /mnt/nvme2tb/music on Proxmox host .125
  • Shared via NFS to Navidrome VM
  • Mounted at /mnt/navidrome/music

Mobile Streaming:

  • Use Infuse app on iOS
  • Background audio enabled for screen-off listening
  • Access via SMB to network storage

Key Lessons Learned

  • Always verify NFS server is running before troubleshooting client-side mount issues
  • Check basic infrastructure (is service running?) before complex troubleshooting
  • Unmounting actively-exported filesystems can stop NFS server
  • Systemd automounts require daemon-reload after fstab changes
  • Simple solutions (like rebooting) often work better than complex systemd commands

Next Steps

  • Set up Tailscale for remote access to network storage
  • Configure automatic backups of network storage
  • Consider additional Samba shares for specific purposes
networking, samba, windows
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.