EH SMB MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides secure access to SMB/CIFS network shares. This server allows AI assistants to interact with files on network drives through a controlled, validated interface.

Features

• 🔌 Multiple SMB Shares: Connect to multiple SMB/CIFS shares simultaneously
• 🔒 Security Controls: Configurable file extension filtering, path restrictions, and size limits
• 🌍 Environment-Based Configuration: All settings via environment variables (no config files needed)
• 📦 Easy Installation: Install and run directly with uvx
• 🛡️ Safety First: Write and delete operations can be disabled independently

Attribution

The original code is from festion/mcp-servers.

Available Tools

The server provides the following MCP tools:

Core File Operations

1. list_network_directory - List contents of a network directory
2. read_network_file - Read contents of a file
3. write_network_file - Write contents to a file (if enabled)
4. delete_network_file - Delete a file (if enabled)
5. create_network_directory - Create a directory
6. get_network_file_info - Get file/directory metadata
7. get_share_info - Get information about configured shares

File Transfer Operations

8. copy_from_network - Copy files from network share to local directory (supports glob patterns)
9. copy_to_network - Copy files from local filesystem to network share (supports glob patterns)
10. move_in_network - Move files within a network share (supports glob patterns)

Rename Operations

11. rename_network_item - Rename a single file or directory
12. rename_network_batch - Batch rename files using regex patterns

Installation

Using uvx (Recommended)

# Install and run directly from PyPI (once published)
uvx eh-smb-mcp

# Or install from local directory during development
uvx --from . eh-smb-mcp

Using pip

pip install eh-smb-mcp
eh-smb-mcp

Configuration

All configuration is done through environment variables using JSON list format. Each list index corresponds to a share.

Quick Start

Create a .env file with minimal required configuration:

# Single share example
SMB_HOSTS='["192.168.1.100"]'
SMB_SHARE_NAMES='["shared_folder"]'
SMB_USERNAMES='["myuser"]'
SMB_PASSWORDS='["mypassword"]'

Multiple Shares

# Multiple shares - each index corresponds to the same share
SMB_NAMES='["data", "backup"]'
SMB_HOSTS='["192.168.1.100", "192.168.1.101"]'
SMB_SHARE_NAMES='["shared_folder", "backup_drive"]'
SMB_USERNAMES='["user1", "user2"]'
SMB_PASSWORDS='["password1", "password2"]'
SMB_DOMAINS='["WORKGROUP", "DOMAIN"]'

Required Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Example
SMB_HOSTS	SMB server hostnames/IPs	["192.168.1.100"]
SMB_SHARE_NAMES	Remote share names	["shared"]
SMB_USERNAMES	Authentication usernames	["user"]
SMB_PASSWORDS	Authentication passwords	["pass"]

Optional Environment Variables

Share Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
SMB_NAMES	Share identifiers	["share_1", "share_2", ...]
SMB_DOMAINS	NT domains	["", ""]
SMB_PORTS	SMB ports	[445, 445]

Security Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
SMB_ALLOWED_EXTENSIONS	Allowed file extensions	[".txt", ".py", ".json", ...]
SMB_BLOCKED_EXTENSIONS	Blocked file extensions	[".exe", ".bat", ".cmd", ...]
SMB_MAX_FILE_SIZE	Maximum file size	10000MB
SMB_ALLOWED_PATHS	Allowed paths (empty = all)	[]
SMB_BLOCKED_PATHS	Blocked paths	["/etc", "/root", ...]
SMB_ENABLE_WRITE	Enable write operations	true
SMB_ENABLE_DELETE	Enable delete operations	false

Server Configuration

Variable	Description	Default
SMB_LOG_LEVEL	Logging level	INFO
SMB_MAX_CONNECTIONS	Max concurrent connections	10

See .env.example for a complete configuration template.

Usage with Claude Desktop

Add this server to your Claude Desktop configuration:

macOS/Linux

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "smb": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["eh-smb-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "SMB_HOSTS": "[\"192.168.1.100\"]",
        "SMB_SHARE_NAMES": "[\"shared\"]",
        "SMB_USERNAMES": "[\"myuser\"]",
        "SMB_PASSWORDS": "[\"mypassword\"]",
        "SMB_ENABLE_DELETE": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Windows

Edit %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json with the same configuration.

Security Considerations

⚠️ Important Security Notes:

1. Password Storage: Passwords are stored in environment variables or config files. Consider using:

   • Restricted file permissions
   • Environment variable management tools
   • Secrets management systems for production use

2. Network Security:

   • Use this server only on trusted networks
   • Consider using VPN for remote access
   • Be aware of SMB security vulnerabilities

3. Access Control:

   • Start with write/delete disabled
   • Use extension filtering to block executable files
   • Set appropriate path restrictions
   • Configure file size limits

4. Default Security Settings:

   • System paths are blocked by default

Development

Running Locally

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/eh-smb-mcp
cd eh-smb-mcp

# Set environment variables
export SMB_HOSTS='["192.168.1.100"]'
export SMB_SHARE_NAMES='["shared"]'
export SMB_USERNAMES='["user"]'
export SMB_PASSWORDS='["password"]'

# Run with Python
python -m smb_mcp

# Or use uvx from local directory
uvx --from . eh-smb-mcp

Project Structure

eh-smb-mcp/
├── smb_mcp/
│   ├── __init__.py          # Package initialization
│   ├── __main__.py          # Entry point for python -m
│   ├── cli.py               # Command-line interface
│   ├── config.py            # Configuration from env vars
│   ├── server.py            # MCP server implementation
│   ├── smb_fs.py            # SMB filesystem operations
│   ├── security.py          # Security validation
│   └── exceptions.py        # Custom exceptions
├── pyproject.toml           # Project metadata and dependencies
├── .env.example             # Example environment configuration
└── README.md                # This file

Dependencies

• mcp (>=1.0.0) - Model Context Protocol implementation
• pysmb (>=1.2.9) - SMB/CIFS client library
• pydantic (>=2.0.0) - Data validation and settings management

Troubleshooting

Connection Issues

Error: Failed to connect to SMB server

Solutions:

• Verify the host is reachable: ping <host>
• Check SMB port is accessible: telnet <host> 445
• Verify credentials are correct
• Check Windows Firewall/network firewall rules

Authentication Errors

Error: SMB authentication failed

Solutions:

• Verify username and password
• Check domain name (use WORKGROUP for workgroup environments)
• Ensure NTLMv2 authentication is enabled on the server

Configuration Errors

Configuration error: SMB_HOSTS environment variable is required

Solutions:

• Ensure environment variables are set before running
• Use proper JSON format: SMB_HOSTS='["192.168.1.100"]'
• Check for typos in variable names