Ok, I work as a part time level one IT tech. We have a client that has a linux ubuntu 12.04 file and print server. They all use windows 7 pcs with local accounts. They all get access to the files on that server by mapping the server IP as a network drive. You have to put in the linux servers admin credentials and then it lets you have access to everything on the file server, the admin account is the only way you can get access to it as it's setup now. They have user accounts on the linux server, not sure why because they aren't being used, the get access to the files by mapping that IP and putting in the admin creds. They want certain users to have access to certain folders and lock everyone else out. Question is, how\can this by done?
Samba
https://www.samba.org/samba/docs/using_samba/ch09.html
May need a little trial and error to get how it works if youve never used it before. Alternative maybe NFS but im unsure if it has user permissions etc.
They probably use samba for both the print server and file server.
What you want to do is achievable by setting up users and group permissions: https://www.samba.org/samba/docs/using_samba/ch09.html
EDIT: @Eden damn you're fast
Why thank you xD
So lets say they try to access a folder that they aren't allow access to, what happens? does a prompt come up asking for their credentials to the server? Does this change how you log onto that mapped IP drive?
A prompt pops up, you put the credentials in, but you don't have the permissions, so a prompt pops up saying you don't have the permissions asking to enter new credentials
Or if you saved your credentials, it just tells you don't have permissions and you'll have to remove the stored credentials and type the new ones.
The link @spidernet and I provided explains most of it. At the simplest level you specify what the shares are and what users or groups have access to it and create these users and groups on the server. You can also set it up to use active directory.
It works the same way your working it now, except the user would put in there own user name and password that was setup, it would deny them access the same way it will deny them when they get the root user wrong.
Check out Nixie Pixel's "Set Up a Secure Network / File Sharing Server in 5 Minutes". You should be able to adapt it, to suit your requirements.
The bit I always must remind myself is that the file sharing password, and the users ordinary password are not synchronised by default. Thus either you need to set each users file sharing password with smbpasswd (works basically like passwd) or you need to set up synchronisation between them (the details are in the link @Eden and @spidernet posted)
Also, remember to change the admin password so they don't know it. Otherwise, who would use their own password if it makes them accountable for what they do as well as give them fewer rights.