1SMB.CONF(5) File Formats and Conventions SMB.CONF(5)
2
6 smb.conf - The configuration file for the Samba suite
7
9 The smb.conf file is a configuration file for the Samba suite.
10 smb.conf contains runtime configuration information for the Samba
11 programs. The smb.conf file is designed to be configured and
12 administered by the swat(8) program. The complete description of the
13 file format and possible parameters held within are here for reference
14 purposes.
15
17 The file consists of sections and parameters. A section begins with the
18 name of the section in square brackets and continues until the next
19 section begins. Sections contain parameters of the form:
20 name = value
22 The file is line-based - that is, each newline-terminated line
24 represents either a comment, a section name or a parameter.
25 Section and parameter names are not case sensitive.
27 Only the first equals sign in a parameter is significant. Whitespace
29 before or after the first equals sign is discarded. Leading, trailing
30 and internal whitespace in section and parameter names is irrelevant.
31 Leading and trailing whitespace in a parameter value is discarded.
32 Internal whitespace within a parameter value is retained verbatim.
33 Any line beginning with a semicolon (“;”) or a hash (“#”) character is
35 ignored, as are lines containing only whitespace.
36 Any line ending in a “\” is continued on the next line in the customary
38 UNIX fashion.
39 The values following the equals sign in parameters are all either a
41 string (no quotes needed) or a boolean, which may be given as yes/no,
42 1/0 or true/false. Case is not significant in boolean values, but is
43 preserved in string values. Some items such as create masks are
44 numeric.
45
47 Each section in the configuration file (except for the [global]
48 section) describes a shared resource (known as a “share”). The section
49 name is the name of the shared resource and the parameters within the
50 section define the shares attributes.
51 There are three special sections, [global], [homes] and [printers],
53 which are described under special sections. The following notes apply
54 to ordinary section descriptions.
55 A share consists of a directory to which access is being given plus a
57 description of the access rights which are granted to the user of the
58 service. Some housekeeping options are also specifiable.
59 Sections are either file share services (used by the client as an
61 extension of their native file systems) or printable services (used by
62 the client to access print services on the host running the server).
63 Sections may be designated guest services, in which case no password is
65 required to access them. A specified UNIX guest account is used to
66 define access privileges in this case.
67 Sections other than guest services will require a password to access
69 them. The client provides the username. As older clients only provide
70 passwords and not usernames, you may specify a list of usernames to
71 check against the password using the user = option in the share
72 definition. For modern clients such as Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000, this
73 should not be necessary.
74 The access rights granted by the server are masked by the access rights
76 granted to the specified or guest UNIX user by the host system. The
77 server does not grant more access than the host system grants.
78 The following sample section defines a file space share. The user has
80 write access to the path /home/bar. The share is accessed via the share
81 name foo:
82 [foo]
84 path = /home/bar
85 read only = no
86 The following sample section defines a printable share. The share is
88 read-only, but printable. That is, the only write access permitted is
89 via calls to open, write to and close a spool file. The guest ok
90 parameter means access will be permitted as the default guest user
91 (specified elsewhere):
92 [aprinter]
94 path = /usr/spool/public
95 read only = yes
96 printable = yes
97 guest ok = yes
98
101 The [global] section
102 Parameters in this section apply to the server as a whole, or are
103 defaults for sections that do not specifically define certain items.
104 See the notes under PARAMETERS for more information.
105 The [homes] section
107 If a section called [homes] is included in the configuration file,
108 services connecting clients to their home directories can be created on
109 the fly by the server.
110 When the connection request is made, the existing sections are scanned.
112 If a match is found, it is used. If no match is found, the requested
113 section name is treated as a username and looked up in the local
114 password file. If the name exists and the correct password has been
115 given, a share is created by cloning the [homes] section.
116 Some modifications are then made to the newly created share:
118 · The share name is changed from homes to the located username.
120 · If no path was given, the path is set to the user´s home directory.
122 If you decide to use a path = line in your [homes] section, it may be
125 useful to use the %S macro. For example:
126 path = /data/pchome/%S
128 is useful if you have different home directories for your PCs than for
130 UNIX access.
131 This is a fast and simple way to give a large number of clients access
133 to their home directories with a minimum of fuss.
134 A similar process occurs if the requested section name is “homes”,
136 except that the share name is not changed to that of the requesting
137 user. This method of using the [homes] section works well if different
138 users share a client PC.
139 The [homes] section can specify all the parameters a normal service
141 section can specify, though some make more sense than others. The
142 following is a typical and suitable [homes] section:
143 [homes]
145 read only = no
146 An important point is that if guest access is specified in the [homes]
148 section, all home directories will be visible to all clients without a
149 password. In the very unlikely event that this is actually desirable,
150 it is wise to also specify read only access.
151 The browseable flag for auto home directories will be inherited from
153 the global browseable flag, not the [homes] browseable flag. This is
154 useful as it means setting browseable = no in the [homes] section will
155 hide the [homes] share but make any auto home directories visible.
156 The [printers] section
158 This section works like [homes], but for printers.
159 If a [printers] section occurs in the configuration file, users are
161 able to connect to any printer specified in the local host´s printcap
162 file.
163 When a connection request is made, the existing sections are scanned.
165 If a match is found, it is used. If no match is found, but a [homes]
166 section exists, it is used as described above. Otherwise, the requested
167 section name is treated as a printer name and the appropriate printcap
168 file is scanned to see if the requested section name is a valid printer
169 share name. If a match is found, a new printer share is created by
170 cloning the [printers] section.
171 A few modifications are then made to the newly created share:
173 · The share name is set to the located printer name
175 · If no printer name was given, the printer name is set to the
177 located printer name
178 · If the share does not permit guest access and no username was
180 given, the username is set to the located printer name.
181 The [printers] service MUST be printable - if you specify otherwise,
184 the server will refuse to load the configuration file.
185 Typically the path specified is that of a world-writeable spool
187 directory with the sticky bit set on it. A typical [printers] entry
188 looks like this:
189 [printers]
191 path = /usr/spool/public
192 guest ok = yes
193 printable = yes
194 All aliases given for a printer in the printcap file are legitimate
196 printer names as far as the server is concerned. If your printing
197 subsystem doesn´t work like that, you will have to set up a
198 pseudo-printcap. This is a file consisting of one or more lines like
199 this:
200 alias|alias|alias|alias...
202 Each alias should be an acceptable printer name for your printing
204 subsystem. In the [global] section, specify the new file as your
205 printcap. The server will only recognize names found in your
206 pseudo-printcap, which of course can contain whatever aliases you like.
207 The same technique could be used simply to limit access to a subset of
208 your local printers.
209 An alias, by the way, is defined as any component of the first entry of
211 a printcap record. Records are separated by newlines, components (if
212 there are more than one) are separated by vertical bar symbols (|).
213 Note
215 On SYSV systems which use lpstat to determine what printers are
216 defined on the system you may be able to use printcap name = lpstat
217 to automatically obtain a list of printers. See the printcap name
218 option for more details.
219
221 Starting with Samba version 3.0.23 the capability for non-root users to
222 add, modify, and delete their own share definitions has been added.
223 This capability is called usershares and is controlled by a set of
224 parameters in the [global] section of the smb.conf. The relevant
225 parameters are :
226 usershare allow guests
228 Controls if usershares can permit guest access.
229 usershare max shares
231 Maximum number of user defined shares allowed.
232 usershare owner only
234 If set only directories owned by the sharing user can be shared.
235 usershare path
237 Points to the directory containing the user defined share
238 definitions. The filesystem permissions on this directory control
239 who can create user defined shares.
240 usershare prefix allow list
242 Comma-separated list of absolute pathnames restricting what
243 directories can be shared. Only directories below the pathnames in
244 this list are permitted.
245 usershare prefix deny list
247 Comma-separated list of absolute pathnames restricting what
248 directories can be shared. Directories below the pathnames in this
249 list are prohibited.
250 usershare template share
252 Names a pre-existing share used as a template for creating new
253 usershares. All other share parameters not specified in the user
254 defined share definition are copied from this named share.
255 To allow members of the UNIX group foo to create user defined shares,
257 create the directory to contain the share definitions as follows:
258 Become root:
260 mkdir /usr/local/samba/lib/usershares
262 chgrp foo /usr/local/samba/lib/usershares
263 chmod 1770 /usr/local/samba/lib/usershares
264 Then add the parameters
266 usershare path = /usr/local/samba/lib/usershares
268 usershare max shares = 10 # (or the desired number of shares)
269 to the global section of your smb.conf. Members of the group foo may
271 then manipulate the user defined shares using the following commands.
272 net usershare add sharename path [comment] [acl] [guest_ok=[y|n]]
274 To create or modify (overwrite) a user defined share.
275 net usershare delete sharename
277 To delete a user defined share.
278 net usershare list wildcard-sharename
280 To list user defined shares.
281 net usershare info wildcard-sharename
283 To print information about user defined shares.
284
286 Parameters define the specific attributes of sections.
287 Some parameters are specific to the [global] section (e.g., security).
289 Some parameters are usable in all sections (e.g., create mask). All
290 others are permissible only in normal sections. For the purposes of the
291 following descriptions the [homes] and [printers] sections will be
292 considered normal. The letter G in parentheses indicates that a
293 parameter is specific to the [global] section. The letter S indicates
294 that a parameter can be specified in a service specific section. All S
295 parameters can also be specified in the [global] section - in which
296 case they will define the default behavior for all services.
297 Parameters are arranged here in alphabetical order - this may not
299 create best bedfellows, but at least you can find them! Where there are
300 synonyms, the preferred synonym is described, others refer to the
301 preferred synonym.
302
304 Many of the strings that are settable in the config file can take
305 substitutions. For example the option “path = /tmp/%u” is interpreted
306 as “path = /tmp/john” if the user connected with the username john.
307 These substitutions are mostly noted in the descriptions below, but
309 there are some general substitutions which apply whenever they might be
310 relevant. These are:
311 %U
313 session username (the username that the client wanted, not
314 necessarily the same as the one they got).
315 %G
317 primary group name of %U.
318 %h
320 the Internet hostname that Samba is running on.
321 %m
323 the NetBIOS name of the client machine (very useful).
324 This parameter is not available when Samba listens on port 445, as
326 clients no longer send this information. If you use this macro in
327 an include statement on a domain that has a Samba domain controller
328 be sure to set in the [global] section smb ports = 139. This will
329 cause Samba to not listen on port 445 and will permit include
330 functionality to function as it did with Samba 2.x.
331 %L
333 the NetBIOS name of the server. This allows you to change your
334 config based on what the client calls you. Your server can have a
335 “dual personality”.
336 %M
338 the Internet name of the client machine.
339 %R
341 the selected protocol level after protocol negotiation. It can be
342 one of CORE, COREPLUS, LANMAN1, LANMAN2 or NT1.
343 %d
345 the process id of the current server process.
346 %a
348 The architecture of the remote machine. It currently recognizes
349 Samba (Samba), the Linux CIFS file system (CIFSFS), OS/2, (OS2),
350 Windows for Workgroups (WfWg), Windows 9x/ME (Win95), Windows NT
351 (WinNT), Windows 2000 (Win2K), Windows XP (WinXP), Windows XP
352 64-bit(WinXP64), Windows 2003 including 2003R2 (Win2K3), and
353 Windows Vista (Vista). Anything else will be known as UNKNOWN.
354 %I
356 the IP address of the client machine.
357 %i
359 the local IP address to which a client connected.
360 %T
362 the current date and time.
363 %D
365 name of the domain or workgroup of the current user.
366 %w
368 the winbind separator.
369 %$(envvar)
371 the value of the environment variable envar.
372 The following substitutes apply only to some configuration options
374 (only those that are used when a connection has been established):
375 %S
377 the name of the current service, if any.
378 %P
380 the root directory of the current service, if any.
381 %u
383 username of the current service, if any.
384 %g
386 primary group name of %u.
387 %H
389 the home directory of the user given by %u.
390 %N
392 the name of your NIS home directory server. This is obtained from
393 your NIS auto.map entry. If you have not compiled Samba with the
394 --with-automount option, this value will be the same as %L.
395 %p
397 the path of the service´s home directory, obtained from your NIS
398 auto.map entry. The NIS auto.map entry is split up as %N:%p.
399 There are some quite creative things that can be done with these
401 substitutions and other smb.conf options.
402
404 Samba supports name mangling so that DOS and Windows clients can use
405 files that don´t conform to the 8.3 format. It can also be set to
406 adjust the case of 8.3 format filenames.
407 There are several options that control the way mangling is performed,
409 and they are grouped here rather than listed separately. For the
410 defaults look at the output of the testparm program.
411 These options can be set separately for each service.
413 The options are:
415 case sensitive = yes/no/auto
417 controls whether filenames are case sensitive. If they aren´t,
418 Samba must do a filename search and match on passed names. The
419 default setting of auto allows clients that support case sensitive
420 filenames (Linux CIFSVFS and smbclient 3.0.5 and above currently)
421 to tell the Samba server on a per-packet basis that they wish to
422 access the file system in a case-sensitive manner (to support UNIX
423 case sensitive semantics). No Windows or DOS system supports
424 case-sensitive filename so setting this option to auto is that same
425 as setting it to no for them. Default auto.
426 default case = upper/lower
428 controls what the default case is for new filenames (ie. files that
429 don´t currently exist in the filesystem). Default lower. IMPORTANT
430 NOTE: This option will be used to modify the case of all incoming
431 client filenames, not just new filenames if the options case
432 sensitive = yes, preserve case = No, short preserve case = No are
433 set. This change is needed as part of the optimisations for
434 directories containing large numbers of files.
435 preserve case = yes/no
437 controls whether new files (ie. files that don´t currently exist in
438 the filesystem) are created with the case that the client passes,
439 or if they are forced to be the default case. Default yes.
440 short preserve case = yes/no
442 controls if new files (ie. files that don´t currently exist in the
443 filesystem) which conform to 8.3 syntax, that is all in upper case
444 and of suitable length, are created upper case, or if they are
445 forced to be the default case. This option can be used with
446 preserve case = yes to permit long filenames to retain their case,
447 while short names are lowercased. Default yes.
448 By default, Samba 3.0 has the same semantics as a Windows NT server, in
450 that it is case insensitive but case preserving. As a special case for
451 directories with large numbers of files, if the case options are set as
452 follows, "case sensitive = yes", "case preserve = no", "short preserve
453 case = no" then the "default case" option will be applied and will
454 modify all filenames sent from the client when accessing this share.
455
457 There are a number of ways in which a user can connect to a service.
458 The server uses the following steps in determining if it will allow a
459 connection to a specified service. If all the steps fail, the
460 connection request is rejected. However, if one of the steps succeeds,
461 the following steps are not checked.
462 If the service is marked “guest only = yes” and the server is running
464 with share-level security (“security = share”, steps 1 to 5 are
465 skipped.
466 1. If the client has passed a username/password pair and that
468 username/password pair is validated by the UNIX system´s password
469 programs, the connection is made as that username. This includes
470 the \\server\service%username method of passing a username.
471 2. If the client has previously registered a username with the system
473 and now supplies a correct password for that username, the
474 connection is allowed.
475 3. The client´s NetBIOS name and any previously used usernames are
477 checked against the supplied password. If they match, the
478 connection is allowed as the corresponding user.
479 4. If the client has previously validated a username/password pair
481 with the server and the client has passed the validation token,
482 that username is used.
483 5. If a user = field is given in the smb.conf file for the service and
485 the client has supplied a password, and that password matches
486 (according to the UNIX system´s password checking) with one of the
487 usernames from the user = field, the connection is made as the
488 username in the user = line. If one of the usernames in the user =
489 list begins with a @, that name expands to a list of names in the
490 group of the same name.
491 6. If the service is a guest service, a connection is made as the
493 username given in the guest account = for the service, irrespective
494 of the supplied password.
495
497 Starting with Samba version 3.2.0, the capability to store Samba
498 configuration in the registry is available. The configuration is stored
499 in the registry key HKLM\Software\Samba\smbconf. There are two levels
500 of registry configuration:
501 1. Share definitions stored in registry are used. This is triggered by
503 setting the global parameter registry shares to “yes” in smb.conf.
504 The registry shares are loaded not at startup but on demand at
506 runtime by smbd. Shares defined in smb.conf take priority over
507 shares of the same name defined in registry.
508 2. Global smb.conf options stored in registry are used. This can be
510 activated in two different ways:
511 Firstly, a registry only configuration is triggered by setting
513 config backend = registry in the [global] section of smb.conf. This
514 resets everything that has been read from config files to this
515 point and reads the content of the global configuration section
516 from the registry. This is the recommended method of using registry
517 based configuration.
518 Secondly, a mixed configuration can be activated by a special new
520 meaning of the parameter include = registry in the [global] section
521 of smb.conf. This reads the global options from registry with the
522 same priorities as for an include of a text file. This may be
523 especially useful in cases where an initial configuration is needed
524 to access the registry.
525 Activation of global registry options automatically activates
527 registry shares. So in the registry only case, shares are loaded on
528 demand only.
529 Note: To make registry-based configurations foolproof at least to a
532 certain extent, the use of lock directory and config backend inside the
533 registry configuration has been disabled: Especially by changing the
534 lock directory inside the registry configuration, one would create a
535 broken setup where the daemons do not see the configuration they loaded
536 once it is active.
537 The registry configuration can be accessed with tools like regedit or
539 net (rpc) registry in the key HKLM\Software\Samba\smbconf. More
540 conveniently, the conf subcommand of the net(8) utility offers a
541 dedicated interface to read and write the registry based configuration
542 locally, i.e. directly accessing the database file, circumventing the
543 server.
544
546 abort shutdown script (G)
547 This a full path name to a script called by smbd(8) that should
549 stop a shutdown procedure issued by the shutdown script.
550 If the connected user posseses the SeRemoteShutdownPrivilege,
552 right, this command will be run as root.
553 Default: abort shutdown script = ""
555 Example: abort shutdown script = /sbin/shutdown -c
557 access based share enum (S)
559 If this parameter is yes for a service, then the share hosted by
561 the service will only be visible to users who have read or write
562 access to the share during share enumeration (for example net view
563 \\sambaserver). This has parallels to access based enumeration, the
564 main difference being that only share permissions are evaluated,
565 and security descriptors on files contained on the share are not
566 used in computing enumeration access rights.
567 Default: access based share enum = no
569 acl check permissions (S)
571 This boolean parameter controls what smbd(8)does on receiving a
573 protocol request of "open for delete" from a Windows client. If a
574 Windows client doesn´t have permissions to delete a file then they
575 expect this to be denied at open time. POSIX systems normally only
576 detect restrictions on delete by actually attempting to delete the
577 file or directory. As Windows clients can (and do) "back out" a
578 delete request by unsetting the "delete on close" bit Samba cannot
579 delete the file immediately on "open for delete" request as we
580 cannot restore such a deleted file. With this parameter set to true
581 (the default) then smbd checks the file system permissions directly
582 on "open for delete" and denies the request without actually
583 deleting the file if the file system permissions would seem to deny
584 it. This is not perfect, as it´s possible a user could have deleted
585 a file without Samba being able to check the permissions correctly,
586 but it is close enough to Windows semantics for mostly correct
587 behaviour. Samba will correctly check POSIX ACL semantics in this
588 case.
589 If this parameter is set to "false" Samba doesn´t check permissions
591 on "open for delete" and allows the open. If the user doesn´t have
592 permission to delete the file this will only be discovered at close
593 time, which is too late for the Windows user tools to display an
594 error message to the user. The symptom of this is files that appear
595 to have been deleted "magically" re-appearing on a Windows explorer
596 refresh. This is an extremely advanced protocol option which should
597 not need to be changed. This parameter was introduced in its final
598 form in 3.0.21, an earlier version with slightly different
599 semantics was introduced in 3.0.20. That older version is not
600 documented here.
601 Default: acl check permissions = True
603 acl compatibility (G)
605 This parameter specifies what OS ACL semantics should be compatible
607 with. Possible values are winnt for Windows NT 4, win2k for Windows
608 2000 and above and auto. If you specify auto, the value for this
609 parameter will be based upon the version of the client. There
610 should be no reason to change this parameter from the default.
611 Default: acl compatibility = Auto
613 Example: acl compatibility = win2k
615 acl group control (S)
617 In a POSIX filesystem, only the owner of a file or directory and
619 the superuser can modify the permissions and ACLs on a file. If
620 this parameter is set, then Samba overrides this restriction, and
621 also allows the primary group owner of a file or directory to
622 modify the permissions and ACLs on that file.
623 On a Windows server, groups may be the owner of a file or directory
625 - thus allowing anyone in that group to modify the permissions on
626 it. This allows the delegation of security controls on a point in
627 the filesystem to the group owner of a directory and anything below
628 it also owned by that group. This means there are multiple people
629 with permissions to modify ACLs on a file or directory, easing
630 managability.
631 This parameter allows Samba to also permit delegation of the
633 control over a point in the exported directory hierarchy in much
634 the same way as Windows. This allows all members of a UNIX group to
635 control the permissions on a file or directory they have group
636 ownership on.
637 This parameter is best used with the inherit owner option and also
639 on on a share containing directories with the UNIX setgid bit set
640 on them, which causes new files and directories created within it
641 to inherit the group ownership from the containing directory.
642 This is parameter has been was deprecated in Samba 3.0.23, but
644 re-activated in Samba 3.0.31 and above, as it now only controls
645 permission changes if the user is in the owning primary group. It
646 is now no longer equivalent to the dos filemode option.
647 Default: acl group control = no
649 acl map full control (S)
651 This boolean parameter controls whether smbd(8) maps a POSIX ACE
653 entry of "rwx" (read/write/execute), the maximum allowed POSIX
654 permission set, into a Windows ACL of "FULL CONTROL". If this
655 parameter is set to true any POSIX ACE entry of "rwx" will be
656 returned in a Windows ACL as "FULL CONTROL", is this parameter is
657 set to false any POSIX ACE entry of "rwx" will be returned as the
658 specific Windows ACL bits representing read, write and execute.
659 Default: acl map full control = True
661 add group script (G)
663 This is the full pathname to a script that will be run AS ROOT by
665 smbd(8) when a new group is requested. It will expand any %g to the
666 group name passed. This script is only useful for installations
667 using the Windows NT domain administration tools. The script is
668 free to create a group with an arbitrary name to circumvent unix
669 group name restrictions. In that case the script must print the
670 numeric gid of the created group on stdout.
671 Default: add group script =
673 Example: add group script = /usr/sbin/groupadd %g
675 add machine script (G)
677 This is the full pathname to a script that will be run by smbd(8)
679 when a machine is added to Samba´s domain and a Unix account
680 matching the machine´s name appended with a "$" does not already
681 exist.
682 This option is very similar to the add user script, and likewise
684 uses the %u substitution for the account name. Do not use the %m
685 substitution.
686 Default: add machine script =
688 Example: add machine script = /usr/sbin/adduser -n -g machines -c
690 Machine -d /var/lib/nobody -s /bin/false %u
691 add port command (G)
693 Samba 3.0.23 introduced support for adding printer ports remotely
695 using the Windows "Add Standard TCP/IP Port Wizard". This option
696 defines an external program to be executed when smbd receives a
697 request to add a new Port to the system. The script is passed two
698 parameters:
699 · port name
701 · device URI
703 The deviceURI is in the for of socket://<hostname>[:<portnumber>]
705 or lpd://<hostname>/<queuename>.
706 Default: add port command =
708 Example: add port command = /etc/samba/scripts/addport.sh
710 addprinter command (G)
712 With the introduction of MS-RPC based printing support for Windows
714 NT/2000 clients in Samba 2.2, The MS Add Printer Wizard (APW) icon
715 is now also available in the "Printers..." folder displayed a share
716 listing. The APW allows for printers to be add remotely to a Samba
717 or Windows NT/2000 print server.
718 For a Samba host this means that the printer must be physically
720 added to the underlying printing system. The addprinter command
721 defines a script to be run which will perform the necessary
722 operations for adding the printer to the print system and to add
723 the appropriate service definition to the smb.conf file in order
724 that it can be shared by smbd(8).
725 The addprinter command is automatically invoked with the following
727 parameter (in order):
728 · printer name
730 · share name
732 · port name
734 · driver name
736 · location
738 · Windows 9x driver location
740 All parameters are filled in from the PRINTER_INFO_2 structure sent
742 by the Windows NT/2000 client with one exception. The "Windows 9x
743 driver location" parameter is included for backwards compatibility
744 only. The remaining fields in the structure are generated from
745 answers to the APW questions.
746 Once the addprinter command has been executed, smbd will reparse
748 the smb.conf to determine if the share defined by the APW exists.
749 If the sharename is still invalid, then smbd will return an
750 ACCESS_DENIED error to the client.
751 The addprinter command program can output a single line of text,
753 which Samba will set as the port the new printer is connected to.
754 If this line isn´t output, Samba won´t reload its printer shares.
755 Default: addprinter command =
757 Example: addprinter command = /usr/bin/addprinter
759 add share command (G)
761 Samba 2.2.0 introduced the ability to dynamically add and delete
763 shares via the Windows NT 4.0 Server Manager. The add share command
764 is used to define an external program or script which will add a
765 new service definition to smb.conf.
766 In order to successfully execute the add share command, smbd
768 requires that the administrator connects using a root account (i.e.
769 uid == 0) or has the SeDiskOperatorPrivilege. Scripts defined in
770 the add share command parameter are executed as root.
771 When executed, smbd will automatically invoke the add share command
773 with five parameters.
774 · configFile - the location of the global smb.conf file.
776 · shareName - the name of the new share.
778 · pathName - path to an **existing** directory on disk.
780 · comment - comment string to associate with the new share.
782 · max connections Number of maximum simultaneous connections to
784 this share.
785 This parameter is only used to add file shares. To add printer
787 shares, see the addprinter command.
788 Default: add share command =
790 Example: add share command = /usr/local/bin/addshare
792 add user script (G)
794 This is the full pathname to a script that will be run AS ROOT by
796 smbd(8) under special circumstances described below.
797 Normally, a Samba server requires that UNIX users are created for
799 all users accessing files on this server. For sites that use
800 Windows NT account databases as their primary user database
801 creating these users and keeping the user list in sync with the
802 Windows NT PDC is an onerous task. This option allows smbd to
803 create the required UNIX users ON DEMAND when a user accesses the
804 Samba server.
805 In order to use this option, smbd(8) must NOT be set to security =
807 share and add user script must be set to a full pathname for a
808 script that will create a UNIX user given one argument of %u, which
809 expands into the UNIX user name to create.
810 When the Windows user attempts to access the Samba server, at login
812 (session setup in the SMB protocol) time, smbd(8) contacts the
813 password server and attempts to authenticate the given user with
814 the given password. If the authentication succeeds then smbd
815 attempts to find a UNIX user in the UNIX password database to map
816 the Windows user into. If this lookup fails, and add user script is
817 set then smbd will call the specified script AS ROOT, expanding any
818 %u argument to be the user name to create.
819 If this script successfully creates the user then smbd will
821 continue on as though the UNIX user already existed. In this way,
822 UNIX users are dynamically created to match existing Windows NT
823 accounts.
824 See also security, password server, delete user script.
826 Default: add user script =
828 Example: add user script = /usr/local/samba/bin/add_user %u
830 add user to group script (G)
832 Full path to the script that will be called when a user is added to
834 a group using the Windows NT domain administration tools. It will
835 be run by smbd(8) AS ROOT. Any %g will be replaced with the group
836 name and any %u will be replaced with the user name.
837 Note that the adduser command used in the example below does not
839 support the used syntax on all systems.
840 Default: add user to group script =
842 Example: add user to group script = /usr/sbin/adduser %u %g
844 administrative share (S)
846 If this parameter is set to yes for a share, then the share will be
848 an administrative share. The Administrative Shares are the default
849 network shares created by all Windows NT-based operating systems.
850 These are shares like C$, D$ or ADMIN$. The type of these shares is
851 STYPE_DISKTREE_HIDDEN.
852 See the section below on security for more information about this
854 option.
855 Default: administrative share = no
857 admin users (S)
859 This is a list of users who will be granted administrative
861 privileges on the share. This means that they will do all file
862 operations as the super-user (root).
863 You should use this option very carefully, as any user in this list
865 will be able to do anything they like on the share, irrespective of
866 file permissions.
867 This parameter will not work with the security = share in Samba
869 3.0. This is by design.
870 Default: admin users =
872 Example: admin users = jason
874 afs share (S)
876 This parameter controls whether special AFS features are enabled
878 for this share. If enabled, it assumes that the directory exported
879 via the path parameter is a local AFS import. The special AFS
880 features include the attempt to hand-craft an AFS token if you
881 enabled --with-fake-kaserver in configure.
882 Default: afs share = no
884 afs username map (G)
886 If you are using the fake kaserver AFS feature, you might want to
888 hand-craft the usernames you are creating tokens for. For example
889 this is necessary if you have users from several domain in your AFS
890 Protection Database. One possible scheme to code users as
891 DOMAIN+User as it is done by winbind with the + as a separator.
892 The mapped user name must contain the cell name to log into, so
894 without setting this parameter there will be no token.
895 Default: afs username map =
897 Example: afs username map = %u@afs.samba.org
899 aio read size (S)
901 If Samba has been built with asynchronous I/O support and this
903 integer parameter is set to non-zero value, Samba will read from
904 file asynchronously when size of request is bigger than this value.
905 Note that it happens only for non-chained and non-chaining reads
906 and when not using write cache.
907 Current implementation of asynchronous I/O in Samba 3.0 does
909 support only up to 10 outstanding asynchronous requests, read and
910 write combined.
911 Related command: write cache size
913 Related command: aio write size
915 Default: aio read size = 0
917 Example: aio read size = 16384 # Use asynchronous I/O for reads
919 bigger than 16KB request size
920 aio write behind (S)
922 If Samba has been built with asynchronous I/O support, Samba will
924 not wait until write requests are finished before returning the
925 result to the client for files listed in this parameter. Instead,
926 Samba will immediately return that the write request has been
927 finished successfully, no matter if the operation will succeed or
928 not. This might speed up clients without aio support, but is really
929 dangerous, because data could be lost and files could be damaged.
930 The syntax is identical to the veto files parameter.
932 Default: aio write behind =
934 Example: aio write behind = /*.tmp/
936 aio write size (S)
938 If Samba has been built with asynchronous I/O support and this
940 integer parameter is set to non-zero value, Samba will write to
941 file asynchronously when size of request is bigger than this value.
942 Note that it happens only for non-chained and non-chaining reads
943 and when not using write cache.
944 Current implementation of asynchronous I/O in Samba 3.0 does
946 support only up to 10 outstanding asynchronous requests, read and
947 write combined.
948 Related command: write cache size
950 Related command: aio read size
952 Default: aio write size = 0
954 Example: aio write size = 16384 # Use asynchronous I/O for writes
956 bigger than 16KB request size
957 algorithmic rid base (G)
959 This determines how Samba will use its algorithmic mapping from
961 uids/gid to the RIDs needed to construct NT Security Identifiers.
962 Setting this option to a larger value could be useful to sites
964 transitioning from WinNT and Win2k, as existing user and group rids
965 would otherwise clash with sytem users etc.
966 All UIDs and GIDs must be able to be resolved into SIDs for the
968 correct operation of ACLs on the server. As such the algorithmic
969 mapping can´t be ´turned off´, but pushing it ´out of the way´
970 should resolve the issues. Users and groups can then be assigned
971 ´low´ RIDs in arbitrary-rid supporting backends.
972 Default: algorithmic rid base = 1000
974 Example: algorithmic rid base = 100000
976 allocation roundup size (S)
978 This parameter allows an administrator to tune the allocation size
980 reported to Windows clients. The default size of 1Mb generally
981 results in improved Windows client performance. However, rounding
982 the allocation size may cause difficulties for some applications,
983 e.g. MS Visual Studio. If the MS Visual Studio compiler starts to
984 crash with an internal error, set this parameter to zero for this
985 share.
986 The integer parameter specifies the roundup size in bytes.
988 Default: allocation roundup size = 1048576
990 Example: allocation roundup size = 0 # (to disable roundups)
992 allow trusted domains (G)
994 This option only takes effect when the security option is set to
996 server, domain or ads. If it is set to no, then attempts to connect
997 to a resource from a domain or workgroup other than the one which
998 smbd is running in will fail, even if that domain is trusted by the
999 remote server doing the authentication.
1000 This is useful if you only want your Samba server to serve
1002 resources to users in the domain it is a member of. As an example,
1003 suppose that there are two domains DOMA and DOMB. DOMB is trusted
1004 by DOMA, which contains the Samba server. Under normal
1005 circumstances, a user with an account in DOMB can then access the
1006 resources of a UNIX account with the same account name on the Samba
1007 server even if they do not have an account in DOMA. This can make
1008 implementing a security boundary difficult.
1009 Default: allow trusted domains = yes
1011 announce as (G)
1013 This specifies what type of server nmbd(8) will announce itself as,
1015 to a network neighborhood browse list. By default this is set to
1016 Windows NT. The valid options are : "NT Server" (which can also be
1017 written as "NT"), "NT Workstation", "Win95" or "WfW" meaning
1018 Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation, Windows 95 and Windows
1019 for Workgroups respectively. Do not change this parameter unless
1020 you have a specific need to stop Samba appearing as an NT server as
1021 this may prevent Samba servers from participating as browser
1022 servers correctly.
1023 Default: announce as = NT Server
1025 Example: announce as = Win95
1027 announce version (G)
1029 This specifies the major and minor version numbers that nmbd will
1031 use when announcing itself as a server. The default is 4.9. Do not
1032 change this parameter unless you have a specific need to set a
1033 Samba server to be a downlevel server.
1034 Default: announce version = 4.9
1036 Example: announce version = 2.0
1038 auth methods (G)
1040 This option allows the administrator to chose what authentication
1042 methods smbd will use when authenticating a user. This option
1043 defaults to sensible values based on security. This should be
1044 considered a developer option and used only in rare circumstances.
1045 In the majority (if not all) of production servers, the default
1046 setting should be adequate.
1047 Each entry in the list attempts to authenticate the user in turn,
1049 until the user authenticates. In practice only one method will ever
1050 actually be able to complete the authentication.
1051 Possible options include guest (anonymous access), sam (lookups in
1053 local list of accounts based on netbios name or domain name),
1054 winbind (relay authentication requests for remote users through
1055 winbindd), ntdomain (pre-winbindd method of authentication for
1056 remote domain users; deprecated in favour of winbind method),
1057 trustdomain (authenticate trusted users by contacting the remote DC
1058 directly from smbd; deprecated in favour of winbind method).
1059 Default: auth methods =
1061 Example: auth methods = guest sam winbind
1063 available (S)
1065 This parameter lets you "turn off" a service. If available = no,
1067 then ALL attempts to connect to the service will fail. Such
1068 failures are logged.
1069 Default: available = yes
1071 bind interfaces only (G)
1073 This global parameter allows the Samba admin to limit what
1075 interfaces on a machine will serve SMB requests. It affects file
1076 service smbd(8) and name service nmbd(8) in a slightly different
1077 ways.
1078 For name service it causes nmbd to bind to ports 137 and 138 on the
1080 interfaces listed in the interfaces parameter. nmbd also binds to
1081 the "all addresses" interface (0.0.0.0) on ports 137 and 138 for
1082 the purposes of reading broadcast messages. If this option is not
1083 set then nmbd will service name requests on all of these sockets.
1084 If bind interfaces only is set then nmbd will check the source
1085 address of any packets coming in on the broadcast sockets and
1086 discard any that don´t match the broadcast addresses of the
1087 interfaces in the interfaces parameter list. As unicast packets are
1088 received on the other sockets it allows nmbd to refuse to serve
1089 names to machines that send packets that arrive through any
1090 interfaces not listed in the interfaces list. IP Source address
1091 spoofing does defeat this simple check, however, so it must not be
1092 used seriously as a security feature for nmbd.
1093 For file service it causes smbd(8) to bind only to the interface
1095 list given in the interfaces parameter. This restricts the networks
1096 that smbd will serve, to packets coming in on those interfaces.
1097 Note that you should not use this parameter for machines that are
1098 serving PPP or other intermittent or non-broadcast network
1099 interfaces as it will not cope with non-permanent interfaces.
1100 If bind interfaces only is set and the network address 127.0.0.1 is
1102 not added to the interfaces parameter list smbpasswd(8) and swat(8)
1103 may not work as expected due to the reasons covered below.
1104 To change a users SMB password, the smbpasswd by default connects
1106 to the localhost - 127.0.0.1 address as an SMB client to issue the
1107 password change request. If bind interfaces only is set then unless
1108 the network address 127.0.0.1 is added to the interfaces parameter
1109 list then smbpasswd will fail to connect in it´s default mode.
1110 smbpasswd can be forced to use the primary IP interface of the
1111 local host by using its smbpasswd(8) -r remote machine parameter,
1112 with remote machine set to the IP name of the primary interface of
1113 the local host.
1114 The swat status page tries to connect with smbd and nmbd at the
1116 address 127.0.0.1 to determine if they are running. Not adding
1117 127.0.0.1 will cause smbd and nmbd to always show "not running"
1118 even if they really are. This can prevent swat from
1119 starting/stopping/restarting smbd and nmbd.
1120 Default: bind interfaces only = no
1122 blocking locks (S)
1124 This parameter controls the behavior of smbd(8) when given a
1126 request by a client to obtain a byte range lock on a region of an
1127 open file, and the request has a time limit associated with it.
1128 If this parameter is set and the lock range requested cannot be
1130 immediately satisfied, samba will internally queue the lock
1131 request, and periodically attempt to obtain the lock until the
1132 timeout period expires.
1133 If this parameter is set to no, then samba will behave as previous
1135 versions of Samba would and will fail the lock request immediately
1136 if the lock range cannot be obtained.
1137 Default: blocking locks = yes
1139 block size (S)
1141 This parameter controls the behavior of smbd(8) when reporting disk
1143 free sizes. By default, this reports a disk block size of 1024
1144 bytes.
1145 Changing this parameter may have some effect on the efficiency of
1147 client writes, this is not yet confirmed. This parameter was added
1148 to allow advanced administrators to change it (usually to a higher
1149 value) and test the effect it has on client write performance
1150 without re-compiling the code. As this is an experimental option it
1151 may be removed in a future release.
1152 Changing this option does not change the disk free reporting size,
1154 just the block size unit reported to the client.
1155 Default: block size = 1024
1157 Example: block size = 4096
1159 browsable
1161 This parameter is a synonym for browseable.
1163 browseable (S)
1165 This controls whether this share is seen in the list of available
1167 shares in a net view and in the browse list.
1168 Default: browseable = yes
1170 browse list (G)
1172 This controls whether smbd(8) will serve a browse list to a client
1174 doing a NetServerEnum call. Normally set to yes. You should never
1175 need to change this.
1176 Default: browse list = yes
1178 cache directory (G)
1180 Usually, most of the TDB files are stored in the lock directory.
1182 Since Samba 3.4.0, it is possible to differentiate between TDB
1183 files with persistent data and TDB files with non-persistent data
1184 using the state directory and the cache directory options.
1185 This option specifies the directory where TDB files containing
1187 non-persistent data will be stored.
1188 Default: cache directory = ${prefix}/var/locks
1190 Example: cache directory = /var/run/samba/locks/cache
1192 casesignames
1194 This parameter is a synonym for case sensitive.
1196 case sensitive (S)
1198 See the discussion in the section name mangling.
1200 Default: case sensitive = no
1202 change notify (S)
1204 This parameter specifies whether Samba should reply to a client´s
1206 file change notify requests.
1207 You should never need to change this parameter
1209 Default: change notify = yes
1211 change share command (G)
1213 Samba 2.2.0 introduced the ability to dynamically add and delete
1215 shares via the Windows NT 4.0 Server Manager. The change share
1216 command is used to define an external program or script which will
1217 modify an existing service definition in smb.conf.
1218 In order to successfully execute the change share command, smbd
1220 requires that the administrator connects using a root account (i.e.
1221 uid == 0) or has the SeDiskOperatorPrivilege. Scripts defined in
1222 the change share command parameter are executed as root.
1223 When executed, smbd will automatically invoke the change share
1225 command with five parameters.
1226 · configFile - the location of the global smb.conf file.
1228 · shareName - the name of the new share.
1230 · pathName - path to an **existing** directory on disk.
1232 · comment - comment string to associate with the new share.
1234 · max connections Number of maximum simultaneous connections to
1236 this share.
1237 This parameter is only used to modify existing file share
1239 definitions. To modify printer shares, use the "Printers..." folder
1240 as seen when browsing the Samba host.
1241 Default: change share command =
1243 Example: change share command = /usr/local/bin/changeshare
1245 check password script (G)
1247 The name of a program that can be used to check password
1249 complexity. The password is sent to the program´s standard input.
1250 The program must return 0 on a good password, or any other value if
1252 the password is bad. In case the password is considered weak (the
1253 program does not return 0) the user will be notified and the
1254 password change will fail.
1255 Note: In the example directory is a sample program called
1257 crackcheck that uses cracklib to check the password quality.
1258 Default: check password script = Disabled
1260 Example: check password script = /usr/local/sbin/crackcheck
1262 client lanman auth (G)
1264 This parameter determines whether or not smbclient(8) and other
1266 samba client tools will attempt to authenticate itself to servers
1267 using the weaker LANMAN password hash. If disabled, only server
1268 which support NT password hashes (e.g. Windows NT/2000, Samba,
1269 etc... but not Windows 95/98) will be able to be connected from the
1270 Samba client.
1271 The LANMAN encrypted response is easily broken, due to its
1273 case-insensitive nature, and the choice of algorithm. Clients
1274 without Windows 95/98 servers are advised to disable this option.
1275 Disabling this option will also disable the client plaintext auth
1277 option.
1278 Likewise, if the client ntlmv2 auth parameter is enabled, then only
1280 NTLMv2 logins will be attempted.
1281 Default: client lanman auth = no
1283 client ldap sasl wrapping (G)
1285 The client ldap sasl wrapping defines whether ldap traffic will be
1287 signed or signed and encrypted (sealed). Possible values are plain,
1288 sign and seal.
1289 The values sign and seal are only available if Samba has been
1291 compiled against a modern OpenLDAP version (2.3.x or higher).
1292 This option is needed in the case of Domain Controllers enforcing
1294 the usage of signed LDAP connections (e.g. Windows 2000 SP3 or
1295 higher). LDAP sign and seal can be controlled with the registry key
1296 "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\
1297 NTDS\Parameters\LDAPServerIntegrity" on the Windows server side.
1298 Depending on the used KRB5 library (MIT and older Heimdal versions)
1300 it is possible that the message "integrity only" is not supported.
1301 In this case, sign is just an alias for seal.
1302 The default value is plain which is not irritable to KRB5 clock
1304 skew errors. That implies synchronizing the time with the KDC in
1305 the case of using sign or seal.
1306 Default: client ldap sasl wrapping = plain
1308 client ntlmv2 auth (G)
1310 This parameter determines whether or not smbclient(8) will attempt
1312 to authenticate itself to servers using the NTLMv2 encrypted
1313 password response.
1314 If enabled, only an NTLMv2 and LMv2 response (both much more secure
1316 than earlier versions) will be sent. Many servers (including NT4 <
1317 SP4, Win9x and Samba 2.2) are not compatible with NTLMv2.
1318 Similarly, if enabled, NTLMv1, client lanman auth and client
1320 plaintext auth authentication will be disabled. This also disables
1321 share-level authentication.
1322 If disabled, an NTLM response (and possibly a LANMAN response) will
1324 be sent by the client, depending on the value of client lanman
1325 auth.
1326 Note that some sites (particularly those following ´best practice´
1328 security polices) only allow NTLMv2 responses, and not the weaker
1329 LM or NTLM.
1330 Default: client ntlmv2 auth = no
1332 client plaintext auth (G)
1334 Specifies whether a client should send a plaintext password if the
1336 server does not support encrypted passwords.
1337 Default: client plaintext auth = no
1339 client schannel (G)
1341 This controls whether the client offers or even demands the use of
1343 the netlogon schannel. client schannel = no does not offer the
1344 schannel, client schannel = auto offers the schannel but does not
1345 enforce it, and client schannel = yes denies access if the server
1346 is not able to speak netlogon schannel.
1347 Default: client schannel = auto
1349 Example: client schannel = yes
1351 client signing (G)
1353 This controls whether the client is allowed or required to use SMB
1355 signing. Possible values are auto, mandatory and disabled.
1356 When set to auto, SMB signing is offered, but not enforced. When
1358 set to mandatory, SMB signing is required and if set to disabled,
1359 SMB signing is not offered either.
1360 Default: client signing = auto
1362 client use spnego principal (G)
1364 This parameter determines whether or not smbclient(8) and other
1366 samba components acting as a client will attempt to use the
1367 server-supplied principal sometimes given in the SPNEGO exchange.
1368 If enabled, Samba can attempt to use Kerberos to contact servers
1370 known only by IP address. Kerberos relies on names, so ordinarily
1371 cannot function in this situation.
1372 If disabled, Samba will use the name used to look up the server
1374 when asking the KDC for a ticket. This avoids situations where a
1375 server may impersonate another, soliciting authentication as one
1376 principal while being known on the network as another.
1377 Note that Windows XP SP2 and later versions already follow this
1379 behaviour, and Windows Vista and later servers no longer supply
1380 this ´rfc4178 hint´ principal on the server side.
1381 Default: client use spnego principal = no
1383 client use spnego (G)
1385 This variable controls whether Samba clients will try to use Simple
1387 and Protected NEGOciation (as specified by rfc2478) with supporting
1388 servers (including WindowsXP, Windows2000 and Samba 3.0) to agree
1389 upon an authentication mechanism. This enables Kerberos
1390 authentication in particular.
1391 Default: client use spnego = yes
1393 cluster addresses (G)
1395 With this parameter you can add additional addresses nmbd will
1397 register with a WINS server. These addresses are not necessarily
1398 present on all nodes simultaneously, but they will be registered
1399 with the WINS server so that clients can contact any of the nodes.
1400 Default: cluster addresses =
1402 Example: cluster addresses = 10.0.0.1 10.0.0.2 10.0.0.3
1404 clustering (G)
1406 This parameter specifies whether Samba should contact ctdb for
1408 accessing its tdb files and use ctdb as a backend for its messaging
1409 backend.
1410 Set this parameter to yes only if you have a cluster setup with
1412 ctdb running.
1413 Default: clustering = no
1415 comment (S)
1417 This is a text field that is seen next to a share when a client
1419 does a queries the server, either via the network neighborhood or
1420 via net view to list what shares are available.
1421 If you want to set the string that is displayed next to the machine
1423 name then see the server string parameter.
1424 Default: comment = # No comment
1426 Example: comment = Fred´s Files
1428 config backend (G)
1430 This controls the backend for storing the configuration. Possible
1432 values are file (the default) and registry. When config backend =
1433 registry is encountered while loading smb.conf, the configuration
1434 read so far is dropped and the global options are read from
1435 registry instead. So this triggers a registry only configuration.
1436 Share definitions are not read immediately but instead registry
1437 shares is set to yes.
1438 Note: This option can not be set inside the registry configuration
1440 itself.
1441 Default: config backend = file
1443 Example: config backend = registry
1445 config file (G)
1447 This allows you to override the config file to use, instead of the
1449 default (usually smb.conf). There is a chicken and egg problem here
1450 as this option is set in the config file!
1451 For this reason, if the name of the config file has changed when
1453 the parameters are loaded then it will reload them from the new
1454 config file.
1455 This option takes the usual substitutions, which can be very
1457 useful.
1458 If the config file doesn´t exist then it won´t be loaded (allowing
1460 you to special case the config files of just a few clients).
1461 No default
1463 Example: config file = /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf.%m
1465 copy (S)
1467 This parameter allows you to "clone" service entries. The specified
1469 service is simply duplicated under the current service´s name. Any
1470 parameters specified in the current section will override those in
1471 the section being copied.
1472 This feature lets you set up a ´template´ service and create
1474 similar services easily. Note that the service being copied must
1475 occur earlier in the configuration file than the service doing the
1476 copying.
1477 Default: copy =
1479 Example: copy = otherservice
1481 create krb5 conf (G)
1483 Setting this paramter to no prevents winbind from creating custom
1485 krb5.conf files. Winbind normally does this because the krb5
1486 libraries are not AD-site-aware and thus would pick any domain
1487 controller out of potentially very many. Winbind is site-aware and
1488 makes the krb5 libraries use a local DC by creating its own
1489 krb5.conf files.
1490 Preventing winbind from doing this might become necessary if you
1492 have to add special options into your system-krb5.conf that winbind
1493 does not see.
1494 Default: create krb5 conf = yes
1496 create mode
1498 This parameter is a synonym for create mask.
1500 create mask (S)
1502 When a file is created, the necessary permissions are calculated
1504 according to the mapping from DOS modes to UNIX permissions, and
1505 the resulting UNIX mode is then bit-wise ´AND´ed with this
1506 parameter. This parameter may be thought of as a bit-wise MASK for
1507 the UNIX modes of a file. Any bit not set here will be removed from
1508 the modes set on a file when it is created.
1509 The default value of this parameter removes the group and other
1511 write and execute bits from the UNIX modes.
1512 Following this Samba will bit-wise ´OR´ the UNIX mode created from
1514 this parameter with the value of the force create mode parameter
1515 which is set to 000 by default.
1516 This parameter does not affect directory masks. See the parameter
1518 directory mask for details.
1519 Note that this parameter does not apply to permissions set by
1521 Windows NT/2000 ACL editors. If the administrator wishes to enforce
1522 a mask on access control lists also, they need to set the security
1523 mask.
1524 Default: create mask = 0744
1526 Example: create mask = 0775
1528 csc policy (S)
1530 This stands for client-side caching policy, and specifies how
1532 clients capable of offline caching will cache the files in the
1533 share. The valid values are: manual, documents, programs, disable.
1534 These values correspond to those used on Windows servers.
1536 For example, shares containing roaming profiles can have offline
1538 caching disabled using csc policy = disable.
1539 Default: csc policy = manual
1541 Example: csc policy = programs
1543 ctdbd socket (G)
1545 If you set clustering=yes, you need to tell Samba where ctdbd
1547 listens on its unix domain socket. The default path as of ctdb 1.0
1548 is /tmp/ctdb.socket which you have to explicitly set for Samba in
1549 smb.conf.
1550 Default: ctdbd socket =
1552 Example: ctdbd socket = /tmp/ctdb.socket
1554 ctdb timeout (G)
1556 This parameter specifies a timeout in seconds for the connection
1558 between Samba and ctdb. It is only valid if you have compiled Samba
1559 with clustering and if you have set clustering=yes.
1560 When something in the cluster blocks, it can happen that we wait
1562 indefinitely long for ctdb, just adding to the blocking condition.
1563 In a well-running cluster this should never happen, but there are
1564 too many components in a cluster that might have hickups. Choosing
1565 the right balance for this value is very tricky, because on a busy
1566 cluster long service times to transfer something across the cluster
1567 might be valid. Setting it too short will degrade the service your
1568 cluster presents, setting it too long might make the cluster itself
1569 not recover from something severely broken for too long.
1570 Be aware that if you set this parameter, this needs to be in the
1572 file smb.conf, it is not really helpful to put this into a registry
1573 configuration (typical on a cluster), because to access the
1574 registry contact to ctdb is requred.
1575 Setting ctdb timeout to n makes any process waiting longer than n
1577 seconds for a reply by the cluster panic. Setting it to 0 (the
1578 default) makes Samba block forever, which is the highly recommended
1579 default.
1580 Default: ctdb timeout = 0
1582 cups connection timeout (G)
1584 This parameter is only applicable if printing is set to cups.
1586 If set, this option specifies the number of seconds that smbd will
1588 wait whilst trying to contact to the CUPS server. The connection
1589 will fail if it takes longer than this number of seconds.
1590 Default: cups connection timeout = 30
1592 Example: cups connection timeout = 60
1594 cups encrypt (G)
1596 This parameter is only applicable if printing is set to cups and if
1598 you use CUPS newer than 1.0.x.It is used to define whether or not
1599 Samba should use encryption when talking to the CUPS server.
1600 Possible values are auto, yes and no
1601 When set to auto we will try to do a TLS handshake on each CUPS
1603 connection setup. If that fails, we will fall back to unencrypted
1604 operation.
1605 Default: cups encrypt = "no"
1607 cups options (S)
1609 This parameter is only applicable if printing is set to cups. Its
1611 value is a free form string of options passed directly to the cups
1612 library.
1613 You can pass any generic print option known to CUPS (as listed in
1615 the CUPS "Software Users´ Manual"). You can also pass any printer
1616 specific option (as listed in "lpoptions -d printername -l") valid
1617 for the target queue. Multiple parameters should be space-delimited
1618 name/value pairs according to the PAPI text option ABNF
1619 specification. Collection values ("name={a=... b=... c=...}") are
1620 stored with the curley brackets intact.
1621 You should set this parameter to raw if your CUPS server error_log
1623 file contains messages such as "Unsupported format
1624 ´application/octet-stream´" when printing from a Windows client
1625 through Samba. It is no longer necessary to enable system wide raw
1626 printing in /etc/cups/mime.{convs,types}.
1627 Default: cups options = ""
1629 Example: cups options = "raw media=a4"
1631 cups server (G)
1633 This parameter is only applicable if printing is set to cups.
1635 If set, this option overrides the ServerName option in the CUPS
1637 client.conf. This is necessary if you have virtual samba servers
1638 that connect to different CUPS daemons.
1639 Optionally, a port can be specified by separating the server name
1641 and port number with a colon. If no port was specified, the default
1642 port for IPP (631) will be used.
1643 Default: cups server = ""
1645 Example: cups server = mycupsserver
1647 Example: cups server = mycupsserver:1631
1649 deadtime (G)
1651 The value of the parameter (a decimal integer) represents the
1653 number of minutes of inactivity before a connection is considered
1654 dead, and it is disconnected. The deadtime only takes effect if the
1655 number of open files is zero.
1656 This is useful to stop a server´s resources being exhausted by a
1658 large number of inactive connections.
1659 Most clients have an auto-reconnect feature when a connection is
1661 broken so in most cases this parameter should be transparent to
1662 users.
1663 Using this parameter with a timeout of a few minutes is recommended
1665 for most systems.
1666 A deadtime of zero indicates that no auto-disconnection should be
1668 performed.
1669 Default: deadtime = 0
1671 Example: deadtime = 15
1673 debug class (G)
1675 With this boolean parameter enabled, the debug class (DBGC_CLASS)
1677 will be displayed in the debug header.
1678 For more information about currently available debug classes, see
1680 section about log level.
1681 Default: debug class = no
1683 debug hires timestamp (G)
1685 Sometimes the timestamps in the log messages are needed with a
1687 resolution of higher that seconds, this boolean parameter adds
1688 microsecond resolution to the timestamp message header when turned
1689 on.
1690 Note that the parameter debug timestamp must be on for this to have
1692 an effect.
1693 Default: debug hires timestamp = yes
1695 debug pid (G)
1697 When using only one log file for more then one forked
1699 smbd(8)-process there may be hard to follow which process outputs
1700 which message. This boolean parameter is adds the process-id to the
1701 timestamp message headers in the logfile when turned on.
1702 Note that the parameter debug timestamp must be on for this to have
1704 an effect.
1705 Default: debug pid = no
1707 debug prefix timestamp (G)
1709 With this option enabled, the timestamp message header is prefixed
1711 to the debug message without the filename and function information
1712 that is included with the debug timestamp parameter. This gives
1713 timestamps to the messages without adding an additional line.
1714 Note that this parameter overrides the debug timestamp parameter.
1716 Default: debug prefix timestamp = no
1718 timestamp logs
1720 This parameter is a synonym for debug timestamp.
1722 debug timestamp (G)
1724 Samba debug log messages are timestamped by default. If you are
1726 running at a high debug level these timestamps can be distracting.
1727 This boolean parameter allows timestamping to be turned off.
1728 Default: debug timestamp = yes
1730 debug uid (G)
1732 Samba is sometimes run as root and sometime run as the connected
1734 user, this boolean parameter inserts the current euid, egid, uid
1735 and gid to the timestamp message headers in the log file if turned
1736 on.
1737 Note that the parameter debug timestamp must be on for this to have
1739 an effect.
1740 Default: debug uid = no
1742 dedicated keytab file (G)
1744 Specifies the path to the kerberos keytab file when kerberos method
1746 is set to "dedicated keytab".
1747 Default: dedicated keytab file =
1749 Example: dedicated keytab file = /usr/local/etc/krb5.keytab
1751 default case (S)
1753 See the section on name mangling. Also note the short preserve case
1755 parameter.
1756 Default: default case = lower
1758 default devmode (S)
1760 This parameter is only applicable to printable services. When smbd
1762 is serving Printer Drivers to Windows NT/2k/XP clients, each
1763 printer on the Samba server has a Device Mode which defines things
1764 such as paper size and orientation and duplex settings. The device
1765 mode can only correctly be generated by the printer driver itself
1766 (which can only be executed on a Win32 platform). Because smbd is
1767 unable to execute the driver code to generate the device mode, the
1768 default behavior is to set this field to NULL.
1769 Most problems with serving printer drivers to Windows NT/2k/XP
1771 clients can be traced to a problem with the generated device mode.
1772 Certain drivers will do things such as crashing the client´s
1773 Explorer.exe with a NULL devmode. However, other printer drivers
1774 can cause the client´s spooler service (spoolsv.exe) to die if the
1775 devmode was not created by the driver itself (i.e. smbd generates a
1776 default devmode).
1777 This parameter should be used with care and tested with the printer
1779 driver in question. It is better to leave the device mode to NULL
1780 and let the Windows client set the correct values. Because drivers
1781 do not do this all the time, setting default devmode = yes will
1782 instruct smbd to generate a default one.
1783 For more information on Windows NT/2k printing and Device Modes,
1785 see the MSDN documentation.
1786 Default: default devmode = yes
1788 default
1790 This parameter is a synonym for default service.
1792 default service (G)
1794 This parameter specifies the name of a service which will be
1796 connected to if the service actually requested cannot be found.
1797 Note that the square brackets are NOT given in the parameter value
1798 (see example below).
1799 There is no default value for this parameter. If this parameter is
1801 not given, attempting to connect to a nonexistent service results
1802 in an error.
1803 Typically the default service would be a guest ok, read-only
1805 service.
1806 Also note that the apparent service name will be changed to equal
1808 that of the requested service, this is very useful as it allows you
1809 to use macros like %S to make a wildcard service.
1810 Note also that any "_" characters in the name of the service used
1812 in the default service will get mapped to a "/". This allows for
1813 interesting things.
1814 Default: default service =
1816 Example: default service = pub
1818 defer sharing violations (G)
1820 Windows allows specifying how a file will be shared with other
1822 processes when it is opened. Sharing violations occur when a file
1823 is opened by a different process using options that violate the
1824 share settings specified by other processes. This parameter causes
1825 smbd to act as a Windows server does, and defer returning a
1826 "sharing violation" error message for up to one second, allowing
1827 the client to close the file causing the violation in the meantime.
1828 UNIX by default does not have this behaviour.
1830 There should be no reason to turn off this parameter, as it is
1832 designed to enable Samba to more correctly emulate Windows.
1833 Default: defer sharing violations = True
1835 delete group script (G)
1837 This is the full pathname to a script that will be run AS ROOT
1839 smbd(8) when a group is requested to be deleted. It will expand any
1840 %g to the group name passed. This script is only useful for
1841 installations using the Windows NT domain administration tools.
1842 Default: delete group script =
1844 deleteprinter command (G)
1846 With the introduction of MS-RPC based printer support for Windows
1848 NT/2000 clients in Samba 2.2, it is now possible to delete a
1849 printer at run time by issuing the DeletePrinter() RPC call.
1850 For a Samba host this means that the printer must be physically
1852 deleted from the underlying printing system. The deleteprinter
1853 command defines a script to be run which will perform the necessary
1854 operations for removing the printer from the print system and from
1855 smb.conf.
1856 The deleteprinter command is automatically called with only one
1858 parameter: printer name.
1859 Once the deleteprinter command has been executed, smbd will reparse
1861 the smb.conf to check that the associated printer no longer exists.
1862 If the sharename is still valid, then smbd will return an
1863 ACCESS_DENIED error to the client.
1864 Default: deleteprinter command =
1866 Example: deleteprinter command = /usr/bin/removeprinter
1868 delete readonly (S)
1870 This parameter allows readonly files to be deleted. This is not
1872 normal DOS semantics, but is allowed by UNIX.
1873 This option may be useful for running applications such as rcs,
1875 where UNIX file ownership prevents changing file permissions, and
1876 DOS semantics prevent deletion of a read only file.
1877 Default: delete readonly = no
1879 delete share command (G)
1881 Samba 2.2.0 introduced the ability to dynamically add and delete
1883 shares via the Windows NT 4.0 Server Manager. The delete share
1884 command is used to define an external program or script which will
1885 remove an existing service definition from smb.conf.
1886 In order to successfully execute the delete share command, smbd
1888 requires that the administrator connects using a root account (i.e.
1889 uid == 0) or has the SeDiskOperatorPrivilege. Scripts defined in
1890 the delete share command parameter are executed as root.
1891 When executed, smbd will automatically invoke the delete share
1893 command with two parameters.
1894 · configFile - the location of the global smb.conf file.
1896 · shareName - the name of the existing service.
1898 This parameter is only used to remove file shares. To delete
1900 printer shares, see the deleteprinter command.
1901 Default: delete share command =
1903 Example: delete share command = /usr/local/bin/delshare
1905 delete user from group script (G)
1907 Full path to the script that will be called when a user is removed
1909 from a group using the Windows NT domain administration tools. It
1910 will be run by smbd(8) AS ROOT. Any %g will be replaced with the
1911 group name and any %u will be replaced with the user name.
1912 Default: delete user from group script =
1914 Example: delete user from group script = /usr/sbin/deluser %u %g
1916 delete user script (G)
1918 This is the full pathname to a script that will be run by smbd(8)
1920 when managing users with remote RPC (NT) tools.
1921 This script is called when a remote client removes a user from the
1923 server, normally using ´User Manager for Domains´ or rpcclient.
1924 This script should delete the given UNIX username.
1926 Default: delete user script =
1928 Example: delete user script = /usr/local/samba/bin/del_user %u
1930 delete veto files (S)
1932 This option is used when Samba is attempting to delete a directory
1934 that contains one or more vetoed directories (see the veto files
1935 option). If this option is set to no (the default) then if a vetoed
1936 directory contains any non-vetoed files or directories then the
1937 directory delete will fail. This is usually what you want.
1938 If this option is set to yes, then Samba will attempt to
1940 recursively delete any files and directories within the vetoed
1941 directory. This can be useful for integration with file serving
1942 systems such as NetAtalk which create meta-files within directories
1943 you might normally veto DOS/Windows users from seeing (e.g.
1944 .AppleDouble)
1945 Setting delete veto files = yes allows these directories to be
1947 transparently deleted when the parent directory is deleted (so long
1948 as the user has permissions to do so).
1949 Default: delete veto files = no
1951 dfree cache time (S)
1953 The dfree cache time should only be used on systems where a problem
1955 occurs with the internal disk space calculations. This has been
1956 known to happen with Ultrix, but may occur with other operating
1957 systems. The symptom that was seen was an error of "Abort Retry
1958 Ignore" at the end of each directory listing.
1959 This is a new parameter introduced in Samba version 3.0.21. It
1961 specifies in seconds the time that smbd will cache the output of a
1962 disk free query. If set to zero (the default) no caching is done.
1963 This allows a heavily loaded server to prevent rapid spawning of
1964 dfree command scripts increasing the load.
1965 By default this parameter is zero, meaning no caching will be done.
1967 No default
1969 Example: dfree cache time = dfree cache time = 60
1971 dfree command (S)
1973 The dfree command setting should only be used on systems where a
1975 problem occurs with the internal disk space calculations. This has
1976 been known to happen with Ultrix, but may occur with other
1977 operating systems. The symptom that was seen was an error of "Abort
1978 Retry Ignore" at the end of each directory listing.
1979 This setting allows the replacement of the internal routines to
1981 calculate the total disk space and amount available with an
1982 external routine. The example below gives a possible script that
1983 might fulfill this function.
1984 In Samba version 3.0.21 this parameter has been changed to be a
1986 per-share parameter, and in addition the parameter dfree cache time
1987 was added to allow the output of this script to be cached for
1988 systems under heavy load.
1989 The external program will be passed a single parameter indicating a
1991 directory in the filesystem being queried. This will typically
1992 consist of the string ./. The script should return two integers in
1993 ASCII. The first should be the total disk space in blocks, and the
1994 second should be the number of available blocks. An optional third
1995 return value can give the block size in bytes. The default
1996 blocksize is 1024 bytes.
1997 Note: Your script should NOT be setuid or setgid and should be
1999 owned by (and writeable only by) root!
2000 Where the script dfree (which must be made executable) could be:
2002 #!/bin/sh
2005 df $1 | tail -1 | awk ´{print $(NF-4),$(NF-2)}´
2006 or perhaps (on Sys V based systems):
2008 #!/bin/sh
2011 /usr/bin/df -k $1 | tail -1 | awk ´{print $3" "$5}´
2012 Note that you may have to replace the command names with full path
2014 names on some systems.
2015 By default internal routines for determining the disk capacity and
2017 remaining space will be used.
2018 No default
2020 Example: dfree command = /usr/local/samba/bin/dfree
2022 directory mode
2024 This parameter is a synonym for directory mask.
2026 directory mask (S)
2028 This parameter is the octal modes which are used when converting
2030 DOS modes to UNIX modes when creating UNIX directories.
2031 When a directory is created, the necessary permissions are
2033 calculated according to the mapping from DOS modes to UNIX
2034 permissions, and the resulting UNIX mode is then bit-wise ´AND´ed
2035 with this parameter. This parameter may be thought of as a bit-wise
2036 MASK for the UNIX modes of a directory. Any bit not set here will
2037 be removed from the modes set on a directory when it is created.
2038 The default value of this parameter removes the ´group´ and ´other´
2040 write bits from the UNIX mode, allowing only the user who owns the
2041 directory to modify it.
2042 Following this Samba will bit-wise ´OR´ the UNIX mode created from
2044 this parameter with the value of the force directory mode
2045 parameter. This parameter is set to 000 by default (i.e. no extra
2046 mode bits are added).
2047 Note that this parameter does not apply to permissions set by
2049 Windows NT/2000 ACL editors. If the administrator wishes to enforce
2050 a mask on access control lists also, they need to set the directory
2051 security mask.
2052 Default: directory mask = 0755
2054 Example: directory mask = 0775
2056 directory name cache size (S)
2058 This parameter specifies the the size of the directory name cache.
2060 It will be needed to turn this off for *BSD systems.
2061 Default: directory name cache size = 100
2063 directory security mask (S)
2065 This parameter controls what UNIX permission bits will be set when
2067 a Windows NT client is manipulating the UNIX permission on a
2068 directory using the native NT security dialog box.
2069 This parameter is applied as a mask (AND´ed with) to the incoming
2071 permission bits, thus resetting any bits not in this mask. Make
2072 sure not to mix up this parameter with force directory security
2073 mode, which works similar like this one but uses logical OR instead
2074 of AND. Essentially, zero bits in this mask are a set of bits that
2075 will always be set to zero.
2076 Essentially, all bits set to zero in this mask will result in
2078 setting to zero the corresponding bits on the file permissions
2079 regardless of the previous status of this bits on the file.
2080 If not set explicitly this parameter is set to 0777 meaning a user
2082 is allowed to set all the user/group/world permissions on a
2083 directory.
2084 Note that users who can access the Samba server through other means
2086 can easily bypass this restriction, so it is primarily useful for
2087 standalone "appliance" systems. Administrators of most normal
2088 systems will probably want to leave it as the default of 0777.
2089 Default: directory security mask = 0777
2091 Example: directory security mask = 0700
2093 disable netbios (G)
2095 Enabling this parameter will disable netbios support in Samba.
2097 Netbios is the only available form of browsing in all windows
2098 versions except for 2000 and XP.
2099 Note
2101 Clients that only support netbios won´t be able to see your
2102 samba server when netbios support is disabled.
2103 Default: disable netbios = no
2104 disable spoolss (G)
2106 Enabling this parameter will disable Samba´s support for the
2108 SPOOLSS set of MS-RPC´s and will yield identical behavior as Samba
2109 2.0.x. Windows NT/2000 clients will downgrade to using Lanman style
2110 printing commands. Windows 9x/ME will be unaffected by the
2111 parameter. However, this will also disable the ability to upload
2112 printer drivers to a Samba server via the Windows NT Add Printer
2113 Wizard or by using the NT printer properties dialog window. It will
2114 also disable the capability of Windows NT/2000 clients to download
2115 print drivers from the Samba host upon demand. Be very careful
2116 about enabling this parameter.
2117 Default: disable spoolss = no
2119 display charset (G)
2121 Specifies the charset that samba will use to print messages to
2123 stdout and stderr. The default value is "LOCALE", which means
2124 automatically set, depending on the current locale. The value
2125 should generally be the same as the value of the parameter unix
2126 charset.
2127 Default: display charset = "LOCALE" or "ASCII" (depending on the
2129 system)
2130 Example: display charset = UTF8
2132 dmapi support (S)
2134 This parameter specifies whether Samba should use DMAPI to
2136 determine whether a file is offline or not. This would typically be
2137 used in conjunction with a hierarchical storage system that
2138 automatically migrates files to tape.
2139 Note that Samba infers the status of a file by examining the events
2141 that a DMAPI application has registered interest in. This heuristic
2142 is satisfactory for a number of hierarchical storage systems, but
2143 there may be system for which it will fail. In this case, Samba may
2144 erroneously report files to be offline.
2145 This parameter is only available if a supported DMAPI
2147 implementation was found at compilation time. It will only be used
2148 if DMAPI is found to enabled on the system at run time.
2149 Default: dmapi support = no
2151 dns proxy (G)
2153 Specifies that nmbd(8) when acting as a WINS server and finding
2155 that a NetBIOS name has not been registered, should treat the
2156 NetBIOS name word-for-word as a DNS name and do a lookup with the
2157 DNS server for that name on behalf of the name-querying client.
2158 Note that the maximum length for a NetBIOS name is 15 characters,
2160 so the DNS name (or DNS alias) can likewise only be 15 characters,
2161 maximum.
2162 nmbd spawns a second copy of itself to do the DNS name lookup
2164 requests, as doing a name lookup is a blocking action.
2165 Default: dns proxy = yes
2167 domain logons (G)
2169 If set to yes, the Samba server will provide the netlogon service
2171 for Windows 9X network logons for the workgroup it is in. This will
2172 also cause the Samba server to act as a domain controller for NT4
2173 style domain services. For more details on setting up this feature
2174 see the Domain Control chapter of the Samba HOWTO Collection.
2175 Default: domain logons = no
2177 domain master (G)
2179 Tell smbd(8) to enable WAN-wide browse list collation. Setting this
2181 option causes nmbd to claim a special domain specific NetBIOS name
2182 that identifies it as a domain master browser for its given
2183 workgroup. Local master browsers in the same workgroup on
2184 broadcast-isolated subnets will give this nmbd their local browse
2185 lists, and then ask smbd(8) for a complete copy of the browse list
2186 for the whole wide area network. Browser clients will then contact
2187 their local master browser, and will receive the domain-wide browse
2188 list, instead of just the list for their broadcast-isolated subnet.
2189 Note that Windows NT Primary Domain Controllers expect to be able
2191 to claim this workgroup specific special NetBIOS name that
2192 identifies them as domain master browsers for that workgroup by
2193 default (i.e. there is no way to prevent a Windows NT PDC from
2194 attempting to do this). This means that if this parameter is set
2195 and nmbd claims the special name for a workgroup before a Windows
2196 NT PDC is able to do so then cross subnet browsing will behave
2197 strangely and may fail.
2198 If domain logons = yes, then the default behavior is to enable the
2200 domain master parameter. If domain logons is not enabled (the
2201 default setting), then neither will domain master be enabled by
2202 default.
2203 When domain logons = Yes the default setting for this parameter is
2205 Yes, with the result that Samba will be a PDC. If domain master =
2206 No, Samba will function as a BDC. In general, this parameter should
2207 be set to ´No´ only on a BDC.
2208 Default: domain master = auto
2210 dont descend (S)
2212 There are certain directories on some systems (e.g., the /proc tree
2214 under Linux) that are either not of interest to clients or are
2215 infinitely deep (recursive). This parameter allows you to specify a
2216 comma-delimited list of directories that the server should always
2217 show as empty.
2218 Note that Samba can be very fussy about the exact format of the
2220 "dont descend" entries. For example you may need ./proc instead of
2221 just /proc. Experimentation is the best policy :-)
2222 Default: dont descend =
2224 Example: dont descend = /proc,/dev
2226 dos charset (G)
2228 DOS SMB clients assume the server has the same charset as they do.
2230 This option specifies which charset Samba should talk to DOS
2231 clients.
2232 The default depends on which charsets you have installed. Samba
2234 tries to use charset 850 but falls back to ASCII in case it is not
2235 available. Run testparm(1) to check the default on your system.
2236 No default
2238 dos filemode (S)
2240 The default behavior in Samba is to provide UNIX-like behavior
2242 where only the owner of a file/directory is able to change the
2243 permissions on it. However, this behavior is often confusing to
2244 DOS/Windows users. Enabling this parameter allows a user who has
2245 write access to the file (by whatever means, including an ACL
2246 permission) to modify the permissions (including ACL) on it. Note
2247 that a user belonging to the group owning the file will not be
2248 allowed to change permissions if the group is only granted read
2249 access. Ownership of the file/directory may also be changed. Note
2250 that using the VFS modules acl_xattr or acl_tdb which store native
2251 Windows as meta-data will automatically turn this option on for any
2252 share for which they are loaded, as they require this option to
2253 emulate Windows ACLs correctly.
2254 Default: dos filemode = no
2256 dos filetime resolution (S)
2258 Under the DOS and Windows FAT filesystem, the finest granularity on
2260 time resolution is two seconds. Setting this parameter for a share
2261 causes Samba to round the reported time down to the nearest two
2262 second boundary when a query call that requires one second
2263 resolution is made to smbd(8).
2264 This option is mainly used as a compatibility option for Visual C++
2266 when used against Samba shares. If oplocks are enabled on a share,
2267 Visual C++ uses two different time reading calls to check if a file
2268 has changed since it was last read. One of these calls uses a
2269 one-second granularity, the other uses a two second granularity. As
2270 the two second call rounds any odd second down, then if the file
2271 has a timestamp of an odd number of seconds then the two timestamps
2272 will not match and Visual C++ will keep reporting the file has
2273 changed. Setting this option causes the two timestamps to match,
2274 and Visual C++ is happy.
2275 Default: dos filetime resolution = no
2277 dos filetimes (S)
2279 Under DOS and Windows, if a user can write to a file they can
2281 change the timestamp on it. Under POSIX semantics, only the owner
2282 of the file or root may change the timestamp. By default, Samba
2283 emulates the DOS semantics and allows to change the timestamp on a
2284 file if the user smbd is acting on behalf has write permissions.
2285 Due to changes in Microsoft Office 2000 and beyond, the default for
2286 this parameter has been changed from "no" to "yes" in Samba 3.0.14
2287 and above. Microsoft Excel will display dialog box warnings about
2288 the file being changed by another user if this parameter is not set
2289 to "yes" and files are being shared between users.
2290 Default: dos filetimes = yes
2292 ea support (S)
2294 This boolean parameter controls whether smbd(8) will allow clients
2296 to attempt to store OS/2 style Extended attributes on a share. In
2297 order to enable this parameter the underlying filesystem exported
2298 by the share must support extended attributes (such as provided on
2299 XFS and EXT3 on Linux, with the correct kernel patches). On Linux
2300 the filesystem must have been mounted with the mount option
2301 user_xattr in order for extended attributes to work, also extended
2302 attributes must be compiled into the Linux kernel.
2303 Default: ea support = no
2305 enable asu support (G)
2307 Hosts running the "Advanced Server for Unix (ASU)" product require
2309 some special accomodations such as creating a builtin [ADMIN$]
2310 share that only supports IPC connections. The has been the default
2311 behavior in smbd for many years. However, certain Microsoft
2312 applications such as the Print Migrator tool require that the
2313 remote server support an [ADMIN$} file share. Disabling this
2314 parameter allows for creating an [ADMIN$] file share in smb.conf.
2315 Default: enable asu support = no
2317 enable core files (G)
2319 This parameter specifies whether core dumps should be written on
2321 internal exits. Normally set to yes. You should never need to
2322 change this.
2323 Default: enable core files = yes
2325 Example: enable core files = no
2327 enable privileges (G)
2329 This parameter controls whether or not smbd will honor privileges
2331 assigned to specific SIDs via either net rpc rights or one of the
2332 Windows user and group manager tools. This parameter is enabled by
2333 default. It can be disabled to prevent members of the Domain Admins
2334 group from being able to assign privileges to users or groups which
2335 can then result in certain smbd operations running as root that
2336 would normally run under the context of the connected user.
2337 An example of how privileges can be used is to assign the right to
2339 join clients to a Samba controlled domain without providing root
2340 access to the server via smbd.
2341 Please read the extended description provided in the Samba HOWTO
2343 documentation.
2344 Default: enable privileges = yes
2346 enable spoolss (G)
2348 Inverted synonym for disable spoolss.
2350 Default: enable spoolss = yes
2352 encrypt passwords (G)
2354 This boolean controls whether encrypted passwords will be
2356 negotiated with the client. Note that Windows NT 4.0 SP3 and above
2357 and also Windows 98 will by default expect encrypted passwords
2358 unless a registry entry is changed. To use encrypted passwords in
2359 Samba see the chapter "User Database" in the Samba HOWTO
2360 Collection.
2361 MS Windows clients that expect Microsoft encrypted passwords and
2363 that do not have plain text password support enabled will be able
2364 to connect only to a Samba server that has encrypted password
2365 support enabled and for which the user accounts have a valid
2366 encrypted password. Refer to the smbpasswd command man page for
2367 information regarding the creation of encrypted passwords for user
2368 accounts.
2369 The use of plain text passwords is NOT advised as support for this
2371 feature is no longer maintained in Microsoft Windows products. If
2372 you want to use plain text passwords you must set this parameter to
2373 no.
2374 In order for encrypted passwords to work correctly smbd(8) must
2376 either have access to a local smbpasswd(5) file (see the
2377 smbpasswd(8) program for information on how to set up and maintain
2378 this file), or set the security = [server|domain|ads] parameter
2379 which causes smbd to authenticate against another server.
2380 Default: encrypt passwords = yes
2382 enhanced browsing (G)
2384 This option enables a couple of enhancements to cross-subnet browse
2386 propagation that have been added in Samba but which are not
2387 standard in Microsoft implementations.
2388 The first enhancement to browse propagation consists of a regular
2390 wildcard query to a Samba WINS server for all Domain Master
2391 Browsers, followed by a browse synchronization with each of the
2392 returned DMBs. The second enhancement consists of a regular
2393 randomised browse synchronization with all currently known DMBs.
2394 You may wish to disable this option if you have a problem with
2396 empty workgroups not disappearing from browse lists. Due to the
2397 restrictions of the browse protocols, these enhancements can cause
2398 a empty workgroup to stay around forever which can be annoying.
2399 In general you should leave this option enabled as it makes
2401 cross-subnet browse propagation much more reliable.
2402 Default: enhanced browsing = yes
2404 enumports command (G)
2406 The concept of a "port" is fairly foreign to UNIX hosts. Under
2408 Windows NT/2000 print servers, a port is associated with a port
2409 monitor and generally takes the form of a local port (i.e. LPT1:,
2410 COM1:, FILE:) or a remote port (i.e. LPD Port Monitor, etc...). By
2411 default, Samba has only one port defined--"Samba Printer Port".
2412 Under Windows NT/2000, all printers must have a valid port name. If
2413 you wish to have a list of ports displayed (smbd does not use a
2414 port name for anything) other than the default "Samba Printer
2415 Port", you can define enumports command to point to a program which
2416 should generate a list of ports, one per line, to standard output.
2417 This listing will then be used in response to the level 1 and 2
2418 EnumPorts() RPC.
2419 Default: enumports command =
2421 Example: enumports command = /usr/bin/listports
2423 eventlog list (G)
2425 This option defines a list of log names that Samba will report to
2427 the Microsoft EventViewer utility. The listed eventlogs will be
2428 associated with tdb file on disk in the $(lockdir)/eventlog.
2429 The administrator must use an external process to parse the normal
2431 Unix logs such as /var/log/messages and write then entries to the
2432 eventlog tdb files. Refer to the eventlogadm(8) utility for how to
2433 write eventlog entries.
2434 Default: eventlog list =
2436 Example: eventlog list = Security Application Syslog Apache
2438 fake directory create times (S)
2440 NTFS and Windows VFAT file systems keep a create time for all files
2442 and directories. This is not the same as the ctime - status change
2443 time - that Unix keeps, so Samba by default reports the earliest of
2444 the various times Unix does keep. Setting this parameter for a
2445 share causes Samba to always report midnight 1-1-1980 as the create
2446 time for directories.
2447 This option is mainly used as a compatibility option for Visual C++
2449 when used against Samba shares. Visual C++ generated makefiles have
2450 the object directory as a dependency for each object file, and a
2451 make rule to create the directory. Also, when NMAKE compares
2452 timestamps it uses the creation time when examining a directory.
2453 Thus the object directory will be created if it does not exist, but
2454 once it does exist it will always have an earlier timestamp than
2455 the object files it contains.
2456 However, Unix time semantics mean that the create time reported by
2458 Samba will be updated whenever a file is created or or deleted in
2459 the directory. NMAKE finds all object files in the object
2460 directory. The timestamp of the last one built is then compared to
2461 the timestamp of the object directory. If the directory´s timestamp
2462 if newer, then all object files will be rebuilt. Enabling this
2463 option ensures directories always predate their contents and an
2464 NMAKE build will proceed as expected.
2465 Default: fake directory create times = no
2467 fake oplocks (S)
2469 Oplocks are the way that SMB clients get permission from a server
2471 to locally cache file operations. If a server grants an oplock
2472 (opportunistic lock) then the client is free to assume that it is
2473 the only one accessing the file and it will aggressively cache file
2474 data. With some oplock types the client may even cache file
2475 open/close operations. This can give enormous performance benefits.
2476 When you set fake oplocks = yes, smbd(8) will always grant oplock
2478 requests no matter how many clients are using the file.
2479 It is generally much better to use the real oplocks support rather
2481 than this parameter.
2482 If you enable this option on all read-only shares or shares that
2484 you know will only be accessed from one client at a time such as
2485 physically read-only media like CDROMs, you will see a big
2486 performance improvement on many operations. If you enable this
2487 option on shares where multiple clients may be accessing the files
2488 read-write at the same time you can get data corruption. Use this
2489 option carefully!
2490 Default: fake oplocks = no
2492 follow symlinks (S)
2494 This parameter allows the Samba administrator to stop smbd(8) from
2496 following symbolic links in a particular share. Setting this
2497 parameter to no prevents any file or directory that is a symbolic
2498 link from being followed (the user will get an error). This option
2499 is very useful to stop users from adding a symbolic link to
2500 /etc/passwd in their home directory for instance. However it will
2501 slow filename lookups down slightly.
2502 This option is enabled (i.e. smbd will follow symbolic links) by
2504 default.
2505 Default: follow symlinks = yes
2507 force create mode (S)
2509 This parameter specifies a set of UNIX mode bit permissions that
2511 will always be set on a file created by Samba. This is done by
2512 bitwise ´OR´ing these bits onto the mode bits of a file that is
2513 being created. The default for this parameter is (in octal) 000.
2514 The modes in this parameter are bitwise ´OR´ed onto the file mode
2515 after the mask set in the create mask parameter is applied.
2516 The example below would force all newly created files to have read
2518 and execute permissions set for ´group´ and ´other´ as well as the
2519 read/write/execute bits set for the ´user´.
2520 Default: force create mode = 000
2522 Example: force create mode = 0755
2524 force directory mode (S)
2526 This parameter specifies a set of UNIX mode bit permissions that
2528 will always be set on a directory created by Samba. This is done by
2529 bitwise ´OR´ing these bits onto the mode bits of a directory that
2530 is being created. The default for this parameter is (in octal) 0000
2531 which will not add any extra permission bits to a created
2532 directory. This operation is done after the mode mask in the
2533 parameter directory mask is applied.
2534 The example below would force all created directories to have read
2536 and execute permissions set for ´group´ and ´other´ as well as the
2537 read/write/execute bits set for the ´user´.
2538 Default: force directory mode = 000
2540 Example: force directory mode = 0755
2542 force directory security mode (S)
2544 This parameter controls what UNIX permission bits can be modified
2546 when a Windows NT client is manipulating the UNIX permission on a
2547 directory using the native NT security dialog box.
2548 This parameter is applied as a mask (OR´ed with) to the changed
2550 permission bits, thus forcing any bits in this mask that the user
2551 may have modified to be on. Make sure not to mix up this parameter
2552 with directory security mask, which works in a similar manner to
2553 this one, but uses a logical AND instead of an OR.
2554 Essentially, this mask may be treated as a set of bits that, when
2556 modifying security on a directory, to will enable (1) any flags
2557 that are off (0) but which the mask has set to on (1).
2558 If not set explicitly this parameter is 0000, which allows a user
2560 to modify all the user/group/world permissions on a directory
2561 without restrictions.
2562 Note
2564 Users who can access the Samba server through other means can
2565 easily bypass this restriction, so it is primarily useful for
2566 standalone "appliance" systems. Administrators of most normal
2567 systems will probably want to leave it set as 0000.
2568 Default: force directory security mode = 0
2569 Example: force directory security mode = 700
2571 group
2573 This parameter is a synonym for force group.
2575 force group (S)
2577 This specifies a UNIX group name that will be assigned as the
2579 default primary group for all users connecting to this service.
2580 This is useful for sharing files by ensuring that all access to
2581 files on service will use the named group for their permissions
2582 checking. Thus, by assigning permissions for this group to the
2583 files and directories within this service the Samba administrator
2584 can restrict or allow sharing of these files.
2585 In Samba 2.0.5 and above this parameter has extended functionality
2587 in the following way. If the group name listed here has a ´+´
2588 character prepended to it then the current user accessing the share
2589 only has the primary group default assigned to this group if they
2590 are already assigned as a member of that group. This allows an
2591 administrator to decide that only users who are already in a
2592 particular group will create files with group ownership set to that
2593 group. This gives a finer granularity of ownership assignment. For
2594 example, the setting force group = +sys means that only users who
2595 are already in group sys will have their default primary group
2596 assigned to sys when accessing this Samba share. All other users
2597 will retain their ordinary primary group.
2598 If the force user parameter is also set the group specified in
2600 force group will override the primary group set in force user.
2601 Default: force group =
2603 Example: force group = agroup
2605 force printername (S)
2607 When printing from Windows NT (or later), each printer in smb.conf
2609 has two associated names which can be used by the client. The first
2610 is the sharename (or shortname) defined in smb.conf. This is the
2611 only printername available for use by Windows 9x clients. The
2612 second name associated with a printer can be seen when browsing to
2613 the "Printers" (or "Printers and Faxes") folder on the Samba
2614 server. This is referred to simply as the printername (not to be
2615 confused with the printer name option).
2616 When assigning a new driver to a printer on a remote Windows
2618 compatible print server such as Samba, the Windows client will
2619 rename the printer to match the driver name just uploaded. This can
2620 result in confusion for users when multiple printers are bound to
2621 the same driver. To prevent Samba from allowing the printer´s
2622 printername to differ from the sharename defined in smb.conf, set
2623 force printername = yes.
2624 Be aware that enabling this parameter may affect migrating printers
2626 from a Windows server to Samba since Windows has no way to force
2627 the sharename and printername to match.
2628 It is recommended that this parameter´s value not be changed once
2630 the printer is in use by clients as this could cause a user not be
2631 able to delete printer connections from their local Printers
2632 folder.
2633 Default: force printername = no
2635 force security mode (S)
2637 This parameter controls what UNIX permission bits can be modified
2639 when a Windows NT client is manipulating the UNIX permission on a
2640 file using the native NT security dialog box.
2641 This parameter is applied as a mask (OR´ed with) to the changed
2643 permission bits, thus forcing any bits in this mask that the user
2644 may have modified to be on. Make sure not to mix up this parameter
2645 with security mask, which works similar like this one but uses
2646 logical AND instead of OR.
2647 Essentially, one bits in this mask may be treated as a set of bits
2649 that, when modifying security on a file, the user has always set to
2650 be on.
2651 If not set explicitly this parameter is set to 0, and allows a user
2653 to modify all the user/group/world permissions on a file, with no
2654 restrictions.
2655 Note that users who can access the Samba server through other
2657 means can easily bypass this restriction, so it is primarily useful
2658 for standalone "appliance" systems. Administrators of most normal
2659 systems will probably want to leave this set to 0000.
2660 Default: force security mode = 0
2662 Example: force security mode = 700
2664 force unknown acl user (S)
2666 If this parameter is set, a Windows NT ACL that contains an unknown
2668 SID (security descriptor, or representation of a user or group id)
2669 as the owner or group owner of the file will be silently mapped
2670 into the current UNIX uid or gid of the currently connected user.
2671 This is designed to allow Windows NT clients to copy files and
2673 folders containing ACLs that were created locally on the client
2674 machine and contain users local to that machine only (no domain
2675 users) to be copied to a Samba server (usually with XCOPY /O) and
2676 have the unknown userid and groupid of the file owner map to the
2677 current connected user. This can only be fixed correctly when
2678 winbindd allows arbitrary mapping from any Windows NT SID to a UNIX
2679 uid or gid.
2680 Try using this parameter when XCOPY /O gives an ACCESS_DENIED
2682 error.
2683 Default: force unknown acl user = no
2685 force user (S)
2687 This specifies a UNIX user name that will be assigned as the
2689 default user for all users connecting to this service. This is
2690 useful for sharing files. You should also use it carefully as using
2691 it incorrectly can cause security problems.
2692 This user name only gets used once a connection is established.
2694 Thus clients still need to connect as a valid user and supply a
2695 valid password. Once connected, all file operations will be
2696 performed as the "forced user", no matter what username the client
2697 connected as. This can be very useful.
2698 In Samba 2.0.5 and above this parameter also causes the primary
2700 group of the forced user to be used as the primary group for all
2701 file activity. Prior to 2.0.5 the primary group was left as the
2702 primary group of the connecting user (this was a bug).
2703 Default: force user =
2705 Example: force user = auser
2707 fstype (S)
2709 This parameter allows the administrator to configure the string
2711 that specifies the type of filesystem a share is using that is
2712 reported by smbd(8) when a client queries the filesystem type for a
2713 share. The default type is NTFS for compatibility with Windows NT
2714 but this can be changed to other strings such as Samba or FAT if
2715 required.
2716 Default: fstype = NTFS
2718 Example: fstype = Samba
2720 get quota command (G)
2722 The get quota command should only be used whenever there is no
2724 operating system API available from the OS that samba can use.
2725 This option is only available you have compiled Samba with the
2727 --with-sys-quotas option or on Linux with --with-quotas and a
2728 working quota api was found in the system.
2729 This parameter should specify the path to a script that queries the
2731 quota information for the specified user/group for the partition
2732 that the specified directory is on.
2733 Such a script should take 3 arguments:
2735 · directory
2737 · type of query
2739 · uid of user or gid of group
2741 The type of query can be one of :
2743 · 1 - user quotas
2745 · 2 - user default quotas (uid = -1)
2747 · 3 - group quotas
2749 · 4 - group default quotas (gid = -1)
2751 This script should print one line as output with spaces between the
2753 arguments. The arguments are:
2754 · Arg 1 - quota flags (0 = no quotas, 1 = quotas enabled, 2 =
2756 quotas enabled and enforced)
2757 · Arg 2 - number of currently used blocks
2759 · Arg 3 - the softlimit number of blocks
2761 · Arg 4 - the hardlimit number of blocks
2763 · Arg 5 - currently used number of inodes
2765 · Arg 6 - the softlimit number of inodes
2767 · Arg 7 - the hardlimit number of inodes
2769 · Arg 8(optional) - the number of bytes in a block(default is
2771 1024)
2772 Default: get quota command =
2774 Example: get quota command = /usr/local/sbin/query_quota
2776 getwd cache (G)
2778 This is a tuning option. When this is enabled a caching algorithm
2780 will be used to reduce the time taken for getwd() calls. This can
2781 have a significant impact on performance, especially when the wide
2782 smbconfoptions parameter is set to no.
2783 Default: getwd cache = yes
2785 guest account (G)
2787 This is a username which will be used for access to services which
2789 are specified as guest ok (see below). Whatever privileges this
2790 user has will be available to any client connecting to the guest
2791 service. This user must exist in the password file, but does not
2792 require a valid login. The user account "ftp" is often a good
2793 choice for this parameter.
2794 On some systems the default guest account "nobody" may not be able
2796 to print. Use another account in this case. You should test this by
2797 trying to log in as your guest user (perhaps by using the su -
2798 command) and trying to print using the system print command such as
2799 lpr(1) or lp(1).
2800 This parameter does not accept % macros, because many parts of the
2802 system require this value to be constant for correct operation.
2803 Default: guest account = nobody # default can be changed at
2805 compile-time
2806 Example: guest account = ftp
2808 public
2810 This parameter is a synonym for guest ok.
2812 guest ok (S)
2814 If this parameter is yes for a service, then no password is
2816 required to connect to the service. Privileges will be those of the
2817 guest account.
2818 This paramater nullifies the benifits of setting restrict anonymous
2820 = 2
2821 See the section below on security for more information about this
2823 option.
2824 Default: guest ok = no
2826 only guest
2828 This parameter is a synonym for guest only.
2830 guest only (S)
2832 If this parameter is yes for a service, then only guest connections
2834 to the service are permitted. This parameter will have no effect if
2835 guest ok is not set for the service.
2836 See the section below on security for more information about this
2838 option.
2839 Default: guest only = no
2841 hide dot files (S)
2843 This is a boolean parameter that controls whether files starting
2845 with a dot appear as hidden files.
2846 Default: hide dot files = yes
2848 hide files (S)
2850 This is a list of files or directories that are not visible but are
2852 accessible. The DOS ´hidden´ attribute is applied to any files or
2853 directories that match.
2854 Each entry in the list must be separated by a ´/´, which allows
2856 spaces to be included in the entry. ´*´ and ´?´ can be used to
2857 specify multiple files or directories as in DOS wildcards.
2858 Each entry must be a Unix path, not a DOS path and must not include
2860 the Unix directory separator ´/´.
2861 Note that the case sensitivity option is applicable in hiding
2863 files.
2864 Setting this parameter will affect the performance of Samba, as it
2866 will be forced to check all files and directories for a match as
2867 they are scanned.
2868 The example shown above is based on files that the Macintosh SMB
2870 client (DAVE) available from Thursby creates for internal use, and
2871 also still hides all files beginning with a dot.
2872 An example of us of this parameter is:
2874 hide files = /.*/DesktopFolderDB/TrashFor%m/resource.frk/
2876 Default: hide files = # no file are hidden
2878 hide special files (S)
2880 This parameter prevents clients from seeing special files such as
2882 sockets, devices and fifo´s in directory listings.
2883 Default: hide special files = no
2885 hide unreadable (S)
2887 This parameter prevents clients from seeing the existance of files
2889 that cannot be read. Defaults to off.
2890 Default: hide unreadable = no
2892 hide unwriteable files (S)
2894 This parameter prevents clients from seeing the existance of files
2896 that cannot be written to. Defaults to off. Note that unwriteable
2897 directories are shown as usual.
2898 Default: hide unwriteable files = no
2900 homedir map (G)
2902 If nis homedir is yes, and smbd(8) is also acting as a Win95/98
2904 logon server then this parameter specifies the NIS (or YP) map from
2905 which the server for the user´s home directory should be extracted.
2906 At present, only the Sun auto.home map format is understood. The
2907 form of the map is:
2908 username server:/some/file/system
2910 and the program will extract the servername from before the first
2912 ´:´. There should probably be a better parsing system that copes
2913 with different map formats and also Amd (another automounter) maps.
2914 Note
2916 A working NIS client is required on the system for this option
2917 to work.
2918 Default: homedir map =
2919 Example: homedir map = amd.homedir
2921 host msdfs (G)
2923 If set to yes, Samba will act as a Dfs server, and allow Dfs-aware
2925 clients to browse Dfs trees hosted on the server.
2926 See also the msdfs root share level parameter. For more information
2928 on setting up a Dfs tree on Samba, refer to the MSFDS chapter in
2929 the book Samba3-HOWTO.
2930 Default: host msdfs = yes
2932 hostname lookups (G)
2934 Specifies whether samba should use (expensive) hostname lookups or
2936 use the ip addresses instead. An example place where hostname
2937 lookups are currently used is when checking the hosts deny and
2938 hosts allow.
2939 Default: hostname lookups = no
2941 Example: hostname lookups = yes
2943 allow hosts
2945 This parameter is a synonym for hosts allow.
2947 hosts allow (S)
2949 A synonym for this parameter is allow hosts.
2951 This parameter is a comma, space, or tab delimited set of hosts
2953 which are permitted to access a service.
2954 If specified in the [global] section then it will apply to all
2956 services, regardless of whether the individual service has a
2957 different setting.
2958 You can specify the hosts by name or IP number. For example, you
2960 could restrict access to only the hosts on a Class C subnet with
2961 something like allow hosts = 150.203.5.. The full syntax of the
2962 list is described in the man page hosts_access(5). Note that this
2963 man page may not be present on your system, so a brief description
2964 will be given here also.
2965 Note that the localhost address 127.0.0.1 will always be allowed
2967 access unless specifically denied by a hosts deny option.
2968 You can also specify hosts by network/netmask pairs and by netgroup
2970 names if your system supports netgroups. The EXCEPT keyword can
2971 also be used to limit a wildcard list. The following examples may
2972 provide some help:
2973 Example 1: allow all IPs in 150.203.*.*; except one
2975 hosts allow = 150.203. EXCEPT 150.203.6.66
2977 Example 2: allow hosts that match the given network/netmask
2979 hosts allow = 150.203.15.0/255.255.255.0
2981 Example 3: allow a couple of hosts
2983 hosts allow = lapland, arvidsjaur
2985 Example 4: allow only hosts in NIS netgroup "foonet", but deny
2987 access from one particular host
2988 hosts allow = @foonet
2990 hosts deny = pirate
2992 Note
2994 Note that access still requires suitable user-level passwords.
2995 See testparm(1) for a way of testing your host access to see if it
2996 does what you expect.
2997 Default: hosts allow = # none (i.e., all hosts permitted access)
2999 Example: hosts allow = 150.203.5. myhost.mynet.edu.au
3001 deny hosts
3003 This parameter is a synonym for hosts deny.
3005 hosts deny (S)
3007 The opposite of hosts allow - hosts listed here are NOT permitted
3009 access to services unless the specific services have their own
3010 lists to override this one. Where the lists conflict, the allow
3011 list takes precedence.
3012 In the event that it is necessary to deny all by default, use the
3014 keyword ALL (or the netmask 0.0.0.0/0) and then explicitly specify
3015 to the hosts allow = hosts allow parameter those hosts that should
3016 be permitted access.
3017 Default: hosts deny = # none (i.e., no hosts specifically
3019 excluded)
3020 Example: hosts deny = 150.203.4. badhost.mynet.edu.au
3022 idmap alloc backend (G)
3024 The idmap alloc backend provides a plugin interface for Winbind to
3026 use when allocating Unix uids/gids for Windows SIDs. This option
3027 refers to the name of the idmap module which will provide the id
3028 allocation functionality. Please refer to the man page for each
3029 idmap plugin to determine whether or not the module implements the
3030 allocation feature. The most common plugins are the tdb
3031 (idmap_tdb(8)) and ldap (idmap_ldap(8)) libraries.
3032 This parameter defaults to the value idmap backend was set to, so
3034 by default winbind will allocate Unix IDs from the default backend.
3035 You will only need to set this parameter explicitly if you have an
3036 external source for Unix IDs, like a central database service
3037 somewhere in your company.
3038 Also refer to the idmap alloc config option.
3040 No default
3042 Example: idmap alloc backend = tdb
3044 idmap alloc config (G)
3046 The idmap alloc config prefix provides a means of managing settings
3048 for the backend defined by the idmap alloc backend parameter. Refer
3049 to the man page for each idmap plugin regarding specific
3050 configuration details.
3051 No default
3053 idmap backend (G)
3055 The idmap backend provides a plugin interface for Winbind to use
3057 varying backends to store SID/uid/gid mapping tables.
3058 This option specifies the default backend that is used when no
3060 special configuration set by idmap config matches the specific
3061 request.
3062 This default backend also specifies the place where
3064 winbind-generated idmap entries will be stored. So it is highly
3065 recommended that you specify a writable backend like idmap_tdb(8)
3066 or idmap_ldap(8) as the idmap backend. The idmap_rid(8) and
3067 idmap_ad(8) backends are not writable and thus will generate
3068 unexpected results if set as idmap backend.
3069 To use the rid and ad backends, please specify them via the idmap
3071 config parameter, possibly also for the domain your machine is
3072 member of, specified by workgroup.
3073 Examples of SID/uid/gid backends include tdb (idmap_tdb(8)), ldap
3075 (idmap_ldap(8)), rid (idmap_rid(8)), and ad (idmap_ad(8)).
3076 Default: idmap backend = tdb
3078 idmap cache time (G)
3080 This parameter specifies the number of seconds that Winbind´s idmap
3082 interface will cache positive SID/uid/gid query results.
3083 Default: idmap cache time = 604800 (one week)
3085 idmap config (G)
3087 The idmap config prefix provides a means of managing each trusted
3089 domain separately. The idmap config prefix should be followed by
3090 the name of the domain, a colon, and a setting specific to the
3091 chosen backend. There are three options available for all domains:
3092 backend = backend_name
3094 Specifies the name of the idmap plugin to use as the
3095 SID/uid/gid backend for this domain.
3096 range = low - high
3098 Defines the available matching uid and gid range for which the
3099 backend is authoritative. Note that the range commonly matches
3100 the allocation range due to the fact that the same backend will
3101 store and retrieve SID/uid/gid mapping entries.
3102 winbind uses this parameter to find the backend that is
3104 authoritative for a unix ID to SID mapping, so it must be set
3105 for each individually configured domain, and it must be
3106 disjoint from the ranges set via idmap uid and idmap gid.
3107 The following example illustrates how to configure the idmap_ad(8)
3109 for the CORP domain and the idmap_tdb(8) backend for all other
3110 domains. This configuration assumes that the admin of CORP assigns
3111 unix ids below 1000000 via the SFU extensions, and winbind is
3112 supposed to use the next million entries for its own mappings from
3113 trusted domains and for local groups for example.
3114 idmap backend = tdb
3116 idmap uid = 1000000-1999999
3117 idmap gid = 1000000-1999999
3118 idmap config CORP : backend = ad
3120 idmap config CORP : range = 1000-999999
3121 No default
3124 winbind gid
3126 This parameter is a synonym for idmap gid.
3128 idmap gid (G)
3130 The idmap gid parameter specifies the range of group ids that are
3132 allocated for the purpose of mapping UNX groups to NT group SIDs.
3133 This range of group ids should have no existing local or NIS groups
3134 within it as strange conflicts can occur otherwise.
3135 See also the idmap backend, and idmap config options.
3137 Default: idmap gid =
3139 Example: idmap gid = 10000-20000
3141 idmap negative cache time (G)
3143 This parameter specifies the number of seconds that Winbind´s idmap
3145 interface will cache negative SID/uid/gid query results.
3146 Default: idmap negative cache time = 120
3148 winbind uid
3150 This parameter is a synonym for idmap uid.
3152 idmap uid (G)
3154 The idmap uid parameter specifies the range of user ids that are
3156 allocated for use in mapping UNIX users to NT user SIDs. This range
3157 of ids should have no existing local or NIS users within it as
3158 strange conflicts can occur otherwise.
3159 See also the idmap backend and idmap config options.
3161 Default: idmap uid =
3163 Example: idmap uid = 10000-20000
3165 include (G)
3167 This allows you to include one config file inside another. The file
3169 is included literally, as though typed in place.
3170 It takes the standard substitutions, except %u, %P and %S.
3172 The parameter include = registry has a special meaning: It does not
3174 include a file named registry from the current working directory,
3175 but instead reads the global configuration options from the
3176 registry. See the section on registry-based configuration for
3177 details. Note that this option automatically activates registry
3178 shares.
3179 Default: include =
3181 Example: include = /usr/local/samba/lib/admin_smb.conf
3183 inherit acls (S)
3185 This parameter can be used to ensure that if default acls exist on
3187 parent directories, they are always honored when creating a new
3188 file or subdirectory in these parent directories. The default
3189 behavior is to use the unix mode specified when creating the
3190 directory. Enabling this option sets the unix mode to 0777, thus
3191 guaranteeing that default directory acls are propagated. Note that
3192 using the VFS modules acl_xattr or acl_tdb which store native
3193 Windows as meta-data will automatically turn this option on for any
3194 share for which they are loaded, as they require this option to
3195 emulate Windows ACLs correctly.
3196 Default: inherit acls = no
3198 inherit owner (S)
3200 The ownership of new files and directories is normally governed by
3202 effective uid of the connected user. This option allows the Samba
3203 administrator to specify that the ownership for new files and
3204 directories should be controlled by the ownership of the parent
3205 directory.
3206 Common scenarios where this behavior is useful is in implementing
3208 drop-boxes where users can create and edit files but not delete
3209 them and to ensure that newly create files in a user´s roaming
3210 profile directory are actually owner by the user.
3211 Default: inherit owner = no
3213 inherit permissions (S)
3215 The permissions on new files and directories are normally governed
3217 by create mask, directory mask, force create mode and force
3218 directory mode but the boolean inherit permissions parameter
3219 overrides this.
3220 New directories inherit the mode of the parent directory, including
3222 bits such as setgid.
3223 New files inherit their read/write bits from the parent directory.
3225 Their execute bits continue to be determined by map archive, map
3226 hidden and map system as usual.
3227 Note that the setuid bit is never set via inheritance (the code
3229 explicitly prohibits this).
3230 This can be particularly useful on large systems with many users,
3232 perhaps several thousand, to allow a single [homes] share to be
3233 used flexibly by each user.
3234 Default: inherit permissions = no
3236 init logon delayed hosts (G)
3238 This parameter takes a list of host names, addresses or networks
3240 for which the initial samlogon reply should be delayed (so other
3241 DCs get preferred by XP workstations if there are any).
3242 The length of the delay can be specified with the init logon delay
3244 parameter.
3245 Default: init logon delayed hosts =
3247 Example: init logon delayed hosts = 150.203.5. myhost.mynet.de
3249 init logon delay (G)
3251 This parameter specifies a delay in milliseconds for the hosts
3253 configured for delayed initial samlogon with init logon delayed
3254 hosts.
3255 Default: init logon delay = 100
3257 interfaces (G)
3259 This option allows you to override the default network interfaces
3261 list that Samba will use for browsing, name registration and other
3262 NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT) traffic. By default Samba will query the
3263 kernel for the list of all active interfaces and use any interfaces
3264 except 127.0.0.1 that are broadcast capable.
3265 The option takes a list of interface strings. Each string can be in
3267 any of the following forms:
3268 · a network interface name (such as eth0). This may include
3270 shell-like wildcards so eth* will match any interface starting
3271 with the substring "eth"
3272 · an IP address. In this case the netmask is determined from the
3274 list of interfaces obtained from the kernel
3275 · an IP/mask pair.
3277 · a broadcast/mask pair.
3279 The "mask" parameters can either be a bit length (such as 24 for a
3281 C class network) or a full netmask in dotted decimal form.
3282 The "IP" parameters above can either be a full dotted decimal IP
3284 address or a hostname which will be looked up via the OS´s normal
3285 hostname resolution mechanisms.
3286 By default Samba enables all active interfaces that are broadcast
3288 capable except the loopback adaptor (IP address 127.0.0.1).
3289 The example below configures three network interfaces corresponding
3291 to the eth0 device and IP addresses 192.168.2.10 and 192.168.3.10.
3292 The netmasks of the latter two interfaces would be set to
3293 255.255.255.0.
3294 Default: interfaces =
3296 Example: interfaces = eth0 192.168.2.10/24
3298 192.168.3.10/255.255.255.0
3299 invalid users (S)
3301 This is a list of users that should not be allowed to login to this
3303 service. This is really a paranoid check to absolutely ensure an
3304 improper setting does not breach your security.
3305 A name starting with a ´@´ is interpreted as an NIS netgroup first
3307 (if your system supports NIS), and then as a UNIX group if the name
3308 was not found in the NIS netgroup database.
3309 A name starting with ´+´ is interpreted only by looking in the UNIX
3311 group database via the NSS getgrnam() interface. A name starting
3312 with ´&´ is interpreted only by looking in the NIS netgroup
3313 database (this requires NIS to be working on your system). The
3314 characters ´+´ and ´&´ may be used at the start of the name in
3315 either order so the value +&group means check the UNIX group
3316 database, followed by the NIS netgroup database, and the value
3317 &+group means check the NIS netgroup database, followed by the UNIX
3318 group database (the same as the ´@´ prefix).
3319 The current servicename is substituted for %S. This is useful in
3321 the [homes] section.
3322 Default: invalid users = # no invalid users
3324 Example: invalid users = root fred admin @wheel
3326 iprint server (G)
3328 This parameter is only applicable if printing is set to iprint.
3330 If set, this option overrides the ServerName option in the CUPS
3332 client.conf. This is necessary if you have virtual samba servers
3333 that connect to different CUPS daemons.
3334 Default: iprint server = ""
3336 Example: iprint server = MYCUPSSERVER
3338 keepalive (G)
3340 The value of the parameter (an integer) represents the number of
3342 seconds between keepalive packets. If this parameter is zero, no
3343 keepalive packets will be sent. Keepalive packets, if sent, allow
3344 the server to tell whether a client is still present and
3345 responding.
3346 Keepalives should, in general, not be needed if the socket has the
3348 SO_KEEPALIVE attribute set on it by default. (see socket options).
3349 Basically you should only use this option if you strike
3350 difficulties.
3351 Default: keepalive = 300
3353 Example: keepalive = 600
3355 kerberos method (G)
3357 Controls how kerberos tickets are verified.
3359 Valid options are:
3361 · secrets only - use only the secrets.tdb for ticket verification
3363 (default)
3364 · system keytab - use only the system keytab for ticket
3366 verification
3367 · dedicated keytab - use a dedicated keytab for ticket
3369 verification
3370 · secrets and keytab - use the secrets.tdb first, then the system
3372 keytab
3373 The major difference between "system keytab" and "dedicated keytab"
3375 is that the latter method relies on kerberos to find the correct
3376 keytab entry instead of filtering based on expected principals.
3377 When the kerberos method is in "dedicated keytab" mode, dedicated
3379 keytab file must be set to specify the location of the keytab file.
3380 Default: kerberos method = secrets only
3382 kernel change notify (S)
3384 This parameter specifies whether Samba should ask the kernel for
3386 change notifications in directories so that SMB clients can refresh
3387 whenever the data on the server changes.
3388 This parameter is only used when your kernel supports change
3390 notification to user programs using the inotify interface.
3391 Default: kernel change notify = yes
3393 kernel oplocks (G)
3395 For UNIXes that support kernel based oplocks (currently only IRIX
3397 and the Linux 2.4 kernel), this parameter allows the use of them to
3398 be turned on or off.
3399 Kernel oplocks support allows Samba oplocks to be broken whenever a
3401 local UNIX process or NFS operation accesses a file that smbd(8)
3402 has oplocked. This allows complete data consistency between
3403 SMB/CIFS, NFS and local file access (and is a very cool feature
3404 :-).
3405 This parameter defaults to on, but is translated to a no-op on
3407 systems that no not have the necessary kernel support. You should
3408 never need to touch this parameter.
3409 Default: kernel oplocks = yes
3411 lanman auth (G)
3413 This parameter determines whether or not smbd(8) will attempt to
3415 authenticate users or permit password changes using the LANMAN
3416 password hash. If disabled, only clients which support NT password
3417 hashes (e.g. Windows NT/2000 clients, smbclient, but not Windows
3418 95/98 or the MS DOS network client) will be able to connect to the
3419 Samba host.
3420 The LANMAN encrypted response is easily broken, due to its
3422 case-insensitive nature, and the choice of algorithm. Servers
3423 without Windows 95/98/ME or MS DOS clients are advised to disable
3424 this option.
3425 When this parameter is set to no this will also result in
3427 sambaLMPassword in Samba´s passdb being blanked after the next
3428 password change. As a result of that lanman clients won´t be able
3429 to authenticate, even if lanman auth is reenabled later on.
3430 Unlike the encrypt passwords option, this parameter cannot alter
3432 client behaviour, and the LANMAN response will still be sent over
3433 the network. See the client lanman auth to disable this for Samba´s
3434 clients (such as smbclient)
3435 If this option, and ntlm auth are both disabled, then only NTLMv2
3437 logins will be permited. Not all clients support NTLMv2, and most
3438 will require special configuration to use it.
3439 Default: lanman auth = no
3441 large readwrite (G)
3443 This parameter determines whether or not smbd(8) supports the new
3445 64k streaming read and write variant SMB requests introduced with
3446 Windows 2000. Note that due to Windows 2000 client redirector bugs
3447 this requires Samba to be running on a 64-bit capable operating
3448 system such as IRIX, Solaris or a Linux 2.4 kernel. Can improve
3449 performance by 10% with Windows 2000 clients. Defaults to on. Not
3450 as tested as some other Samba code paths.
3451 Default: large readwrite = yes
3453 ldap admin dn (G)
3455 The ldap admin dn defines the Distinguished Name (DN) name used by
3457 Samba to contact the ldap server when retreiving user account
3458 information. The ldap admin dn is used in conjunction with the
3459 admin dn password stored in the private/secrets.tdb file. See the
3460 smbpasswd(8) man page for more information on how to accomplish
3461 this.
3462 The ldap admin dn requires a fully specified DN. The ldap suffix is
3464 not appended to the ldap admin dn.
3465 No default
3467 ldap connection timeout (G)
3469 This parameter tells the LDAP library calls which timeout in
3471 seconds they should honor during initial connection establishments
3472 to LDAP servers. It is very useful in failover scenarios in
3473 particular. If one or more LDAP servers are not reachable at all,
3474 we do not have to wait until TCP timeouts are over. This feature
3475 must be supported by your LDAP library.
3476 This parameter is different from ldap timeout which affects
3478 operations on LDAP servers using an existing connection and not
3479 establishing an initial connection.
3480 Default: ldap connection timeout = 2
3482 ldap debug level (G)
3484 This parameter controls the debug level of the LDAP library calls.
3486 In the case of OpenLDAP, it is the same bit-field as understood by
3487 the server and documented in the slapd.conf(5) manpage. A typical
3488 useful value will be 1 for tracing function calls.
3489 The debug ouput from the LDAP libraries appears with the prefix
3491 [LDAP] in Samba´s logging output. The level at which LDAP logging
3492 is printed is controlled by the parameter ldap debug threshold.
3493 Default: ldap debug level = 0
3495 Example: ldap debug level = 1
3497 ldap debug threshold (G)
3499 This parameter controls the Samba debug level at which the ldap
3501 library debug output is printed in the Samba logs. See the
3502 description of ldap debug level for details.
3503 Default: ldap debug threshold = 10
3505 Example: ldap debug threshold = 5
3507 ldap delete dn (G)
3509 This parameter specifies whether a delete operation in the ldapsam
3511 deletes the complete entry or only the attributes specific to
3512 Samba.
3513 Default: ldap delete dn = no
3515 ldap deref (G)
3517 This option controls whether Samba should tell the LDAP library to
3519 use a certain alias dereferencing method. The default is auto,
3520 which means that the default setting of the ldap client library
3521 will be kept. Other possible values are never, finding, searching
3522 and always. Grab your LDAP manual for more information.
3523 Default: ldap deref = auto
3525 Example: ldap deref = searching
3527 ldap follow referral (G)
3529 This option controls whether to follow LDAP referrals or not when
3531 searching for entries in the LDAP database. Possible values are on
3532 to enable following referrals, off to disable this, and auto, to
3533 use the libldap default settings. libldap´s choice of following
3534 referrals or not is set in /etc/openldap/ldap.conf with the
3535 REFERRALS parameter as documented in ldap.conf(5).
3536 Default: ldap follow referral = auto
3538 Example: ldap follow referral = off
3540 ldap group suffix (G)
3542 This parameter specifies the suffix that is used for groups when
3544 these are added to the LDAP directory. If this parameter is unset,
3545 the value of ldap suffix will be used instead. The suffix string is
3546 pre-pended to the ldap suffix string so use a partial DN.
3547 Default: ldap group suffix =
3549 Example: ldap group suffix = ou=Groups
3551 ldap idmap suffix (G)
3553 This parameters specifies the suffix that is used when storing
3555 idmap mappings. If this parameter is unset, the value of ldap
3556 suffix will be used instead. The suffix string is pre-pended to the
3557 ldap suffix string so use a partial DN.
3558 Default: ldap idmap suffix =
3560 Example: ldap idmap suffix = ou=Idmap
3562 ldap machine suffix (G)
3564 It specifies where machines should be added to the ldap tree. If
3566 this parameter is unset, the value of ldap suffix will be used
3567 instead. The suffix string is pre-pended to the ldap suffix string
3568 so use a partial DN.
3569 Default: ldap machine suffix =
3571 Example: ldap machine suffix = ou=Computers
3573 ldap page size (G)
3575 This parameter specifies the number of entries per page.
3577 If the LDAP server supports paged results, clients can request
3579 subsets of search results (pages) instead of the entire list. This
3580 parameter specifies the size of these pages.
3581 Default: ldap page size = 1024
3583 Example: ldap page size = 512
3585 ldap passwd sync (G)
3587 This option is used to define whether or not Samba should sync the
3589 LDAP password with the NT and LM hashes for normal accounts (NOT
3590 for workstation, server or domain trusts) on a password change via
3591 SAMBA.
3592 The ldap passwd sync can be set to one of three values:
3594 · Yes = Try to update the LDAP, NT and LM passwords and update
3596 the pwdLastSet time.
3597 · No = Update NT and LM passwords and update the pwdLastSet time.
3599 · Only = Only update the LDAP password and let the LDAP server do
3601 the rest.
3602 Default: ldap passwd sync = no
3604 ldap replication sleep (G)
3606 When Samba is asked to write to a read-only LDAP replica, we are
3608 redirected to talk to the read-write master server. This server
3609 then replicates our changes back to the ´local´ server, however the
3610 replication might take some seconds, especially over slow links.
3611 Certain client activities, particularly domain joins, can become
3612 confused by the ´success´ that does not immediately change the LDAP
3613 back-end´s data.
3614 This option simply causes Samba to wait a short time, to allow the
3616 LDAP server to catch up. If you have a particularly high-latency
3617 network, you may wish to time the LDAP replication with a network
3618 sniffer, and increase this value accordingly. Be aware that no
3619 checking is performed that the data has actually replicated.
3620 The value is specified in milliseconds, the maximum value is 5000
3622 (5 seconds).
3623 Default: ldap replication sleep = 1000
3625 ldapsam:editposix (G)
3627 Editposix is an option that leverages ldapsam:trusted to make it
3629 simpler to manage a domain controller eliminating the need to set
3630 up custom scripts to add and manage the posix users and groups.
3631 This option will instead directly manipulate the ldap tree to
3632 create, remove and modify user and group entries. This option also
3633 requires a running winbindd as it is used to allocate new uids/gids
3634 on user/group creation. The allocation range must be therefore
3635 configured.
3636 To use this option, a basic ldap tree must be provided and the ldap
3638 suffix parameters must be properly configured. On virgin servers
3639 the default users and groups (Administrator, Guest, Domain Users,
3640 Domain Admins, Domain Guests) can be precreated with the command
3641 net sam provision. To run this command the ldap server must be
3642 running, Winindd must be running and the smb.conf ldap options must
3643 be properly configured. The typical ldap setup used with the
3644 ldapsam:trusted = yes option is usually sufficient to use
3645 ldapsam:editposix = yes as well.
3646 An example configuration can be the following:
3648 encrypt passwords = true
3650 passdb backend = ldapsam
3651 ldapsam:trusted=yes
3653 ldapsam:editposix=yes
3654 ldap admin dn = cn=admin,dc=samba,dc=org
3656 ldap delete dn = yes
3657 ldap group suffix = ou=groups
3658 ldap idmap suffix = ou=idmap
3659 ldap machine suffix = ou=computers
3660 ldap user suffix = ou=users
3661 ldap suffix = dc=samba,dc=org
3662 idmap backend = ldap:"ldap://localhost"
3664 idmap uid = 5000-50000
3666 idmap gid = 5000-50000
3667 This configuration assumes a directory layout like described in the
3670 following ldif:
3671 dn: dc=samba,dc=org
3673 objectClass: top
3674 objectClass: dcObject
3675 objectClass: organization
3676 o: samba.org
3677 dc: samba
3678 dn: cn=admin,dc=samba,dc=org
3680 objectClass: simpleSecurityObject
3681 objectClass: organizationalRole
3682 cn: admin
3683 description: LDAP administrator
3684 userPassword: secret
3685 dn: ou=users,dc=samba,dc=org
3687 objectClass: top
3688 objectClass: organizationalUnit
3689 ou: users
3690 dn: ou=groups,dc=samba,dc=org
3692 objectClass: top
3693 objectClass: organizationalUnit
3694 ou: groups
3695 dn: ou=idmap,dc=samba,dc=org
3697 objectClass: top
3698 objectClass: organizationalUnit
3699 ou: idmap
3700 dn: ou=computers,dc=samba,dc=org
3702 objectClass: top
3703 objectClass: organizationalUnit
3704 ou: computers
3705 Default: ldapsam:editposix = no
3708 ldapsam:trusted (G)
3710 By default, Samba as a Domain Controller with an LDAP backend needs
3712 to use the Unix-style NSS subsystem to access user and group
3713 information. Due to the way Unix stores user information in
3714 /etc/passwd and /etc/group this inevitably leads to inefficiencies.
3715 One important question a user needs to know is the list of groups
3716 he is member of. The plain UNIX model involves a complete
3717 enumeration of the file /etc/group and its NSS counterparts in
3718 LDAP. UNIX has optimized functions to enumerate group membership.
3719 Sadly, other functions that are used to deal with user and group
3720 attributes lack such optimization.
3721 To make Samba scale well in large environments, the ldapsam:trusted
3723 = yes option assumes that the complete user and group database that
3724 is relevant to Samba is stored in LDAP with the standard
3725 posixAccount/posixGroup attributes. It further assumes that the
3726 Samba auxiliary object classes are stored together with the POSIX
3727 data in the same LDAP object. If these assumptions are met,
3728 ldapsam:trusted = yes can be activated and Samba can bypass the NSS
3729 system to query user group memberships. Optimized LDAP queries can
3730 greatly speed up domain logon and administration tasks. Depending
3731 on the size of the LDAP database a factor of 100 or more for common
3732 queries is easily achieved.
3733 Default: ldapsam:trusted = no
3735 ldap ssl ads (G)
3737 This option is used to define whether or not Samba should use SSL
3739 when connecting to the ldap server using ads methods. Rpc methods
3740 are not affected by this parameter. Please note, that this
3741 parameter won´t have any effect if ldap ssl is set to no.
3742 See smb.conf(5) for more information on ldap ssl.
3744 Default: ldap ssl ads = no
3746 ldap ssl (G)
3748 This option is used to define whether or not Samba should use SSL
3750 when connecting to the ldap server This is NOT related to Samba´s
3751 previous SSL support which was enabled by specifying the --with-ssl
3752 option to the configure script.
3753 LDAP connections should be secured where possible. This may be done
3755 setting either this parameter to Start_tls or by specifying
3756 ldaps:// in the URL argument of passdb backend.
3757 The ldap ssl can be set to one of two values:
3759 · Off = Never use SSL when querying the directory.
3761 · start tls = Use the LDAPv3 StartTLS extended operation
3763 (RFC2830) for communicating with the directory server.
3764 Please note that this parameter does only affect rpc methods. To
3766 enable the LDAPv3 StartTLS extended operation (RFC2830) for ads,
3767 set ldap ssl = yes and ldap ssl ads = yes. See smb.conf(5) for more
3768 information on ldap ssl ads.
3769 Default: ldap ssl = start tls
3771 ldap suffix (G)
3773 Specifies the base for all ldap suffixes and for storing the
3775 sambaDomain object.
3776 The ldap suffix will be appended to the values specified for the
3778 ldap user suffix, ldap group suffix, ldap machine suffix, and the
3779 ldap idmap suffix. Each of these should be given only a DN relative
3780 to the ldap suffix.
3781 Default: ldap suffix =
3783 Example: ldap suffix = dc=samba,dc=org
3785 ldap timeout (G)
3787 This parameter defines the number of seconds that Samba should use
3789 as timeout for LDAP operations.
3790 Default: ldap timeout = 15
3792 ldap user suffix (G)
3794 This parameter specifies where users are added to the tree. If this
3796 parameter is unset, the value of ldap suffix will be used instead.
3797 The suffix string is pre-pended to the ldap suffix string so use a
3798 partial DN.
3799 Default: ldap user suffix =
3801 Example: ldap user suffix = ou=people
3803 level2 oplocks (S)
3805 This parameter controls whether Samba supports level2 (read-only)
3807 oplocks on a share.
3808 Level2, or read-only oplocks allow Windows NT clients that have an
3810 oplock on a file to downgrade from a read-write oplock to a
3811 read-only oplock once a second client opens the file (instead of
3812 releasing all oplocks on a second open, as in traditional,
3813 exclusive oplocks). This allows all openers of the file that
3814 support level2 oplocks to cache the file for read-ahead only (ie.
3815 they may not cache writes or lock requests) and increases
3816 performance for many accesses of files that are not commonly
3817 written (such as application .EXE files).
3818 Once one of the clients which have a read-only oplock writes to the
3820 file all clients are notified (no reply is needed or waited for)
3821 and told to break their oplocks to "none" and delete any read-ahead
3822 caches.
3823 It is recommended that this parameter be turned on to speed access
3825 to shared executables.
3826 For more discussions on level2 oplocks see the CIFS spec.
3828 Currently, if kernel oplocks are supported then level2 oplocks are
3830 not granted (even if this parameter is set to yes). Note also, the
3831 oplocks parameter must be set to yes on this share in order for
3832 this parameter to have any effect.
3833 Default: level2 oplocks = yes
3835 lm announce (G)
3837 This parameter determines if nmbd(8) will produce Lanman announce
3839 broadcasts that are needed by OS/2 clients in order for them to see
3840 the Samba server in their browse list. This parameter can have
3841 three values, yes, no, or auto. The default is auto. If set to no
3842 Samba will never produce these broadcasts. If set to yes Samba will
3843 produce Lanman announce broadcasts at a frequency set by the
3844 parameter lm interval. If set to auto Samba will not send Lanman
3845 announce broadcasts by default but will listen for them. If it
3846 hears such a broadcast on the wire it will then start sending them
3847 at a frequency set by the parameter lm interval.
3848 Default: lm announce = auto
3850 Example: lm announce = yes
3852 lm interval (G)
3854 If Samba is set to produce Lanman announce broadcasts needed by
3856 OS/2 clients (see the lm announce parameter) then this parameter
3857 defines the frequency in seconds with which they will be made. If
3858 this is set to zero then no Lanman announcements will be made
3859 despite the setting of the lm announce parameter.
3860 Default: lm interval = 60
3862 Example: lm interval = 120
3864 load printers (G)
3866 A boolean variable that controls whether all printers in the
3868 printcap will be loaded for browsing by default. See the printers
3869 section for more details.
3870 Default: load printers = yes
3872 local master (G)
3874 This option allows nmbd(8) to try and become a local master browser
3876 on a subnet. If set to no then nmbd will not attempt to become a
3877 local master browser on a subnet and will also lose in all browsing
3878 elections. By default this value is set to yes. Setting this value
3879 to yes doesn´t mean that Samba will become the local master browser
3880 on a subnet, just that nmbd will participate in elections for local
3881 master browser.
3882 Setting this value to no will cause nmbd never to become a local
3884 master browser.
3885 Default: local master = yes
3887 lock dir
3889 This parameter is a synonym for lock directory.
3891 lock directory (G)
3893 This option specifies the directory where lock files will be
3895 placed. The lock files are used to implement the max connections
3896 option.
3897 Note: This option can not be set inside registry configurations.
3899 Default: lock directory = ${prefix}/var/locks
3901 Example: lock directory = /var/run/samba/locks
3903 locking (S)
3905 This controls whether or not locking will be performed by the
3907 server in response to lock requests from the client.
3908 If locking = no, all lock and unlock requests will appear to
3910 succeed and all lock queries will report that the file in question
3911 is available for locking.
3912 If locking = yes, real locking will be performed by the server.
3914 This option may be useful for read-only filesystems which may not
3916 need locking (such as CDROM drives), although setting this
3917 parameter of no is not really recommended even in this case.
3918 Be careful about disabling locking either globally or in a specific
3920 service, as lack of locking may result in data corruption. You
3921 should never need to set this parameter.
3922 No default
3924 lock spin count (G)
3926 This parameter has been made inoperative in Samba 3.0.24. The
3928 functionality it contolled is now controlled by the parameter lock
3929 spin time.
3930 Default: lock spin count = 0
3932 lock spin time (G)
3934 The time in milliseconds that smbd should keep waiting to see if a
3936 failed lock request can be granted. This parameter has changed in
3937 default value from Samba 3.0.23 from 10 to 200. The associated lock
3938 spin count parameter is no longer used in Samba 3.0.24. You should
3939 not need to change the value of this parameter.
3940 Default: lock spin time = 200
3942 log file (G)
3944 This option allows you to override the name of the Samba log file
3946 (also known as the debug file).
3947 This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have
3949 separate log files for each user or machine.
3950 No default
3952 Example: log file = /usr/local/samba/var/log.%m
3954 debuglevel
3956 This parameter is a synonym for log level.
3958 log level (G)
3960 The value of the parameter (a astring) allows the debug level
3962 (logging level) to be specified in the smb.conf file.
3963 This parameter has been extended since the 2.2.x series, now it
3965 allows to specify the debug level for multiple debug classes. This
3966 is to give greater flexibility in the configuration of the system.
3967 The following debug classes are currently implemented:
3968 · all
3970 · tdb
3972 · printdrivers
3974 · lanman
3976 · smb
3978 · rpc_parse
3980 · rpc_srv
3982 · rpc_cli
3984 · passdb
3986 · sam
3988 · auth
3990 · winbind
3992 · vfs
3994 · idmap
3996 · quota
3998 · acls
4000 · locking
4002 · msdfs
4004 · dmapi
4006 · registry
4008 Default: log level = 0
4010 Example: log level = 3 passdb:5 auth:10 winbind:2
4012 logon drive (G)
4014 This parameter specifies the local path to which the home directory
4016 will be connected (see logon home) and is only used by NT
4017 Workstations.
4018 Note that this option is only useful if Samba is set up as a logon
4020 server.
4021 Default: logon drive =
4023 Example: logon drive = h:
4025 logon home (G)
4027 This parameter specifies the home directory location when a
4029 Win95/98 or NT Workstation logs into a Samba PDC. It allows you to
4030 do
4031 C:\>NET USE H: /HOME
4034 from a command prompt, for example.
4036 This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have
4038 separate logon scripts for each user or machine.
4039 This parameter can be used with Win9X workstations to ensure that
4041 roaming profiles are stored in a subdirectory of the user´s home
4042 directory. This is done in the following way:
4043 logon home = \\%N\%U\profile
4046 This tells Samba to return the above string, with substitutions
4048 made when a client requests the info, generally in a NetUserGetInfo
4049 request. Win9X clients truncate the info to \\server\share when a
4050 user does net use /home but use the whole string when dealing with
4051 profiles.
4052 Note that in prior versions of Samba, the logon path was returned
4054 rather than logon home. This broke net use /home but allowed
4055 profiles outside the home directory. The current implementation is
4056 correct, and can be used for profiles if you use the above trick.
4057 Disable this feature by setting logon home = "" - using the empty
4059 string.
4060 This option is only useful if Samba is set up as a logon server.
4062 Default: logon home = \\%N\%U
4064 Example: logon home = \\remote_smb_server\%U
4066 logon path (G)
4068 This parameter specifies the directory where roaming profiles
4070 (Desktop, NTuser.dat, etc) are stored. Contrary to previous
4071 versions of these manual pages, it has nothing to do with Win 9X
4072 roaming profiles. To find out how to handle roaming profiles for
4073 Win 9X system, see the logon home parameter.
4074 This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have
4076 separate logon scripts for each user or machine. It also specifies
4077 the directory from which the "Application Data", desktop, start
4078 menu, network neighborhood, programs and other folders, and their
4079 contents, are loaded and displayed on your Windows NT client.
4080 The share and the path must be readable by the user for the
4082 preferences and directories to be loaded onto the Windows NT
4083 client. The share must be writeable when the user logs in for the
4084 first time, in order that the Windows NT client can create the
4085 NTuser.dat and other directories. Thereafter, the directories and
4086 any of the contents can, if required, be made read-only. It is not
4087 advisable that the NTuser.dat file be made read-only - rename it to
4088 NTuser.man to achieve the desired effect (a MANdatory profile).
4089 Windows clients can sometimes maintain a connection to the [homes]
4091 share, even though there is no user logged in. Therefore, it is
4092 vital that the logon path does not include a reference to the homes
4093 share (i.e. setting this parameter to \\%N\homes\profile_path will
4094 cause problems).
4095 This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have
4097 separate logon scripts for each user or machine.
4098 Warning
4100 Do not quote the value. Setting this as “\\%N\profile\%U” will
4101 break profile handling. Where the tdbsam or ldapsam passdb
4102 backend is used, at the time the user account is created the
4103 value configured for this parameter is written to the passdb
4104 backend and that value will over-ride the parameter value
4105 present in the smb.conf file. Any error present in the passdb
4106 backend account record must be editted using the appropriate
4107 tool (pdbedit on the command-line, or any other locally
4108 provided system tool).
4109 Note that this option is only useful if Samba is set up as a domain
4110 controller.
4111 Disable the use of roaming profiles by setting the value of this
4113 parameter to the empty string. For example, logon path = "". Take
4114 note that even if the default setting in the smb.conf file is the
4115 empty string, any value specified in the user account settings in
4116 the passdb backend will over-ride the effect of setting this
4117 parameter to null. Disabling of all roaming profile use requires
4118 that the user account settings must also be blank.
4119 An example of use is:
4121 logon path = \\PROFILESERVER\PROFILE\%U
4123 Default: logon path = \\%N\%U\profile
4125 logon script (G)
4127 This parameter specifies the batch file (.bat) or NT command file
4129 (.cmd) to be downloaded and run on a machine when a user
4130 successfully logs in. The file must contain the DOS style CR/LF
4131 line endings. Using a DOS-style editor to create the file is
4132 recommended.
4133 The script must be a relative path to the [netlogon] service. If
4135 the [netlogon] service specifies a path of
4136 /usr/local/samba/netlogon, and logon script = STARTUP.BAT, then the
4137 file that will be downloaded is:
4138 /usr/local/samba/netlogon/STARTUP.BAT
4140 The contents of the batch file are entirely your choice. A
4142 suggested command would be to add NET TIME \\SERVER /SET /YES, to
4143 force every machine to synchronize clocks with the same time
4144 server. Another use would be to add NET USE U: \\SERVER\UTILS for
4145 commonly used utilities, or
4146 NET USE Q: \\SERVER\ISO9001_QA
4148 for example.
4150 Note that it is particularly important not to allow write access to
4152 the [netlogon] share, or to grant users write permission on the
4153 batch files in a secure environment, as this would allow the batch
4154 files to be arbitrarily modified and security to be breached.
4155 This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have
4157 separate logon scripts for each user or machine.
4158 This option is only useful if Samba is set up as a logon server.
4160 Default: logon script =
4162 Example: logon script = scripts\%U.bat
4164 lppause command (S)
4166 This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server
4168 host in order to stop printing or spooling a specific print job.
4169 This command should be a program or script which takes a printer
4171 name and job number to pause the print job. One way of implementing
4172 this is by using job priorities, where jobs having a too low
4173 priority won´t be sent to the printer.
4174 If a %p is given then the printer name is put in its place. A %j is
4176 replaced with the job number (an integer). On HPUX (see
4177 printing=hpux ), if the -p%p option is added to the lpq command,
4178 the job will show up with the correct status, i.e. if the job
4179 priority is lower than the set fence priority it will have the
4180 PAUSED status, whereas if the priority is equal or higher it will
4181 have the SPOOLED or PRINTING status.
4182 Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the
4184 lppause command as the PATH may not be available to the server.
4185 Default: lppause command = # Currently no default value is given
4187 to this string, unless the value of the printing parameter is SYSV,
4188 in which case the default is : lp -i %p-%j -H hold or if the value
4189 of the printing parameter is SOFTQ, then the default is: qstat -s
4190 -j%j -h.
4191 Example: lppause command = /usr/bin/lpalt %p-%j -p0
4193 lpq cache time (G)
4195 This controls how long lpq info will be cached for to prevent the
4197 lpq command being called too often. A separate cache is kept for
4198 each variation of the lpq command used by the system, so if you use
4199 different lpq commands for different users then they won´t share
4200 cache information.
4201 The cache files are stored in /tmp/lpq.xxxx where xxxx is a hash of
4203 the lpq command in use.
4204 The default is 30 seconds, meaning that the cached results of a
4206 previous identical lpq command will be used if the cached data is
4207 less than 30 seconds old. A large value may be advisable if your
4208 lpq command is very slow.
4209 A value of 0 will disable caching completely.
4211 Default: lpq cache time = 30
4213 Example: lpq cache time = 10
4215 lpq command (S)
4217 This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server
4219 host in order to obtain lpq-style printer status information.
4220 This command should be a program or script which takes a printer
4222 name as its only parameter and outputs printer status information.
4223 Currently nine styles of printer status information are supported;
4225 BSD, AIX, LPRNG, PLP, SYSV, HPUX, QNX, CUPS, and SOFTQ. This covers
4226 most UNIX systems. You control which type is expected using the
4227 printing = option.
4228 Some clients (notably Windows for Workgroups) may not correctly
4230 send the connection number for the printer they are requesting
4231 status information about. To get around this, the server reports on
4232 the first printer service connected to by the client. This only
4233 happens if the connection number sent is invalid.
4234 If a %p is given then the printer name is put in its place.
4236 Otherwise it is placed at the end of the command.
4237 Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the
4239 lpq command as the $PATH may not be available to the server. When
4240 compiled with the CUPS libraries, no lpq command is needed because
4241 smbd will make a library call to obtain the print queue listing.
4242 Default: lpq command =
4244 Example: lpq command = /usr/bin/lpq -P%p
4246 lpresume command (S)
4248 This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server
4250 host in order to restart or continue printing or spooling a
4251 specific print job.
4252 This command should be a program or script which takes a printer
4254 name and job number to resume the print job. See also the lppause
4255 command parameter.
4256 If a %p is given then the printer name is put in its place. A %j is
4258 replaced with the job number (an integer).
4259 Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the
4261 lpresume command as the PATH may not be available to the server.
4262 See also the printing parameter.
4264 Default: Currently no default value is given to this string, unless
4266 the value of the printing parameter is SYSV, in which case the
4267 default is:
4268 lp -i %p-%j -H resume
4270 or if the value of the printing parameter is SOFTQ, then the
4272 default is:
4273 qstat -s -j%j -r
4275 No default
4277 Example: lpresume command = /usr/bin/lpalt %p-%j -p2
4279 lprm command (S)
4281 This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server
4283 host in order to delete a print job.
4284 This command should be a program or script which takes a printer
4286 name and job number, and deletes the print job.
4287 If a %p is given then the printer name is put in its place. A %j is
4289 replaced with the job number (an integer).
4290 Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the
4292 lprm command as the PATH may not be available to the server.
4293 Examples of use are:
4295 lprm command = /usr/bin/lprm -P%p %j
4297 or
4299 lprm command = /usr/bin/cancel %p-%j
4301 Default: lprm command = determined by printing parameter
4303 machine password timeout (G)
4305 If a Samba server is a member of a Windows NT Domain (see the
4307 security = domain parameter) then periodically a running smbd
4308 process will try and change the MACHINE ACCOUNT PASSWORD stored in
4309 the TDB called private/secrets.tdb. This parameter specifies how
4310 often this password will be changed, in seconds. The default is one
4311 week (expressed in seconds), the same as a Windows NT Domain member
4312 server.
4313 See also smbpasswd(8), and the security = domain parameter.
4315 Default: machine password timeout = 604800
4317 magic output (S)
4319 This parameter specifies the name of a file which will contain
4321 output created by a magic script (see the magic script parameter
4322 below).
4323 Warning
4325 If two clients use the same magic script in the same directory
4326 the output file content is undefined.
4327 Default: magic output = <magic script name>.out
4328 Example: magic output = myfile.txt
4330 magic script (S)
4332 This parameter specifies the name of a file which, if opened, will
4334 be executed by the server when the file is closed. This allows a
4335 UNIX script to be sent to the Samba host and executed on behalf of
4336 the connected user.
4337 Scripts executed in this way will be deleted upon completion
4339 assuming that the user has the appropriate level of privilege and
4340 the file permissions allow the deletion.
4341 If the script generates output, output will be sent to the file
4343 specified by the magic output parameter (see above).
4344 Note that some shells are unable to interpret scripts containing
4346 CR/LF instead of CR as the end-of-line marker. Magic scripts must
4347 be executable as is on the host, which for some hosts and some
4348 shells will require filtering at the DOS end.
4349 Magic scripts are EXPERIMENTAL and should NOT be relied upon.
4351 Default: magic script =
4353 Example: magic script = user.csh
4355 mangled names (S)
4357 This controls whether non-DOS names under UNIX should be mapped to
4359 DOS-compatible names ("mangled") and made visible, or whether
4360 non-DOS names should simply be ignored.
4361 See the section on name mangling for details on how to control the
4363 mangling process.
4364 If mangling is used then the mangling method is as follows:
4366 · The first (up to) five alphanumeric characters before the
4368 rightmost dot of the filename are preserved, forced to upper
4369 case, and appear as the first (up to) five characters of the
4370 mangled name.
4371 · A tilde "~" is appended to the first part of the mangled name,
4373 followed by a two-character unique sequence, based on the
4374 original root name (i.e., the original filename minus its final
4375 extension). The final extension is included in the hash
4376 calculation only if it contains any upper case characters or is
4377 longer than three characters.
4378 Note that the character to use may be specified using the
4380 mangling char option, if you don´t like ´~´.
4381 · Files whose UNIX name begins with a dot will be presented as
4383 DOS hidden files. The mangled name will be created as for other
4384 filenames, but with the leading dot removed and "___" as its
4385 extension regardless of actual original extension (that´s three
4386 underscores).
4387 The two-digit hash value consists of upper case alphanumeric
4389 characters.
4390 This algorithm can cause name collisions only if files in a
4392 directory share the same first five alphanumeric characters. The
4393 probability of such a clash is 1/1300.
4394 The name mangling (if enabled) allows a file to be copied between
4396 UNIX directories from Windows/DOS while retaining the long UNIX
4397 filename. UNIX files can be renamed to a new extension from
4398 Windows/DOS and will retain the same basename. Mangled names do not
4399 change between sessions.
4400 Default: mangled names = yes
4402 mangle prefix (G)
4404 controls the number of prefix characters from the original name
4406 used when generating the mangled names. A larger value will give a
4407 weaker hash and therefore more name collisions. The minimum value
4408 is 1 and the maximum value is 6.
4409 mangle prefix is effective only when mangling method is hash2.
4411 Default: mangle prefix = 1
4413 Example: mangle prefix = 4
4415 mangling char (S)
4417 This controls what character is used as the magic character in name
4419 mangling. The default is a ´~´ but this may interfere with some
4420 software. Use this option to set it to whatever you prefer. This is
4421 effective only when mangling method is hash.
4422 Default: mangling char = ~
4424 Example: mangling char = ^
4426 mangling method (G)
4428 controls the algorithm used for the generating the mangled names.
4430 Can take two different values, "hash" and "hash2". "hash" is the
4431 algorithm that was used used in Samba for many years and was the
4432 default in Samba 2.2.x "hash2" is now the default and is newer and
4433 considered a better algorithm (generates less collisions) in the
4434 names. Many Win32 applications store the mangled names and so
4435 changing to algorithms must not be done lightly as these
4436 applications may break unless reinstalled.
4437 Default: mangling method = hash2
4439 Example: mangling method = hash
4441 map acl inherit (S)
4443 This boolean parameter controls whether smbd(8) will attempt to map
4445 the ´inherit´ and ´protected´ access control entry flags stored in
4446 Windows ACLs into an extended attribute called user.SAMBA_PAI. This
4447 parameter only takes effect if Samba is being run on a platform
4448 that supports extended attributes (Linux and IRIX so far) and
4449 allows the Windows 2000 ACL editor to correctly use inheritance
4450 with the Samba POSIX ACL mapping code.
4451 Default: map acl inherit = no
4453 map archive (S)
4455 This controls whether the DOS archive attribute should be mapped to
4457 the UNIX owner execute bit. The DOS archive bit is set when a file
4458 has been modified since its last backup. One motivation for this
4459 option is to keep Samba/your PC from making any file it touches
4460 from becoming executable under UNIX. This can be quite annoying for
4461 shared source code, documents, etc...
4462 Note that this requires the create mask parameter to be set such
4464 that owner execute bit is not masked out (i.e. it must include
4465 100). See the parameter create mask for details.
4466 Default: map archive = yes
4468 map hidden (S)
4470 This controls whether DOS style hidden files should be mapped to
4472 the UNIX world execute bit.
4473 Note that this requires the create mask to be set such that the
4475 world execute bit is not masked out (i.e. it must include 001). See
4476 the parameter create mask for details.
4477 No default
4479 map readonly (S)
4481 This controls how the DOS read only attribute should be mapped from
4483 a UNIX filesystem.
4484 This parameter can take three different values, which tell smbd(8)
4486 how to display the read only attribute on files, where either store
4487 dos attributes is set to No, or no extended attribute is present.
4488 If store dos attributes is set to yes then this parameter is
4489 ignored. This is a new parameter introduced in Samba version
4490 3.0.21.
4491 The three settings are :
4493 · Yes - The read only DOS attribute is mapped to the inverse of
4495 the user or owner write bit in the unix permission mode set. If
4496 the owner write bit is not set, the read only attribute is
4497 reported as being set on the file. If the read only DOS
4498 attribute is set, Samba sets the owner, group and others write
4499 bits to zero. Write bits set in an ACL are ignored by Samba. If
4500 the read only DOS attribute is unset, Samba simply sets the
4501 write bit of the owner to one.
4502 · Permissions - The read only DOS attribute is mapped to the
4504 effective permissions of the connecting user, as evaluated by
4505 smbd(8) by reading the unix permissions and POSIX ACL (if
4506 present). If the connecting user does not have permission to
4507 modify the file, the read only attribute is reported as being
4508 set on the file.
4509 · No - The read only DOS attribute is unaffected by permissions,
4511 and can only be set by the store dos attributes method. This
4512 may be useful for exporting mounted CDs.
4513 Default: map readonly = yes
4515 map system (S)
4517 This controls whether DOS style system files should be mapped to
4519 the UNIX group execute bit.
4520 Note that this requires the create mask to be set such that the
4522 group execute bit is not masked out (i.e. it must include 010). See
4523 the parameter create mask for details.
4524 Default: map system = no
4526 map to guest (G)
4528 This parameter is only useful in SECURITY = security modes other
4530 than security = share and security = server - i.e. user, and
4531 domain.
4532 This parameter can take four different values, which tell smbd(8)
4534 what to do with user login requests that don´t match a valid UNIX
4535 user in some way.
4536 The four settings are :
4538 · Never - Means user login requests with an invalid password are
4540 rejected. This is the default.
4541 · Bad User - Means user logins with an invalid password are
4543 rejected, unless the username does not exist, in which case it
4544 is treated as a guest login and mapped into the guest account.
4545 · Bad Password - Means user logins with an invalid password are
4547 treated as a guest login and mapped into the guest account.
4548 Note that this can cause problems as it means that any user
4549 incorrectly typing their password will be silently logged on as
4550 "guest" - and will not know the reason they cannot access files
4551 they think they should - there will have been no message given
4552 to them that they got their password wrong. Helpdesk services
4553 will hate you if you set the map to guest parameter this way
4554 :-).
4555 · Bad Uid - Is only applicable when Samba is configured in some
4557 type of domain mode security (security = {domain|ads}) and
4558 means that user logins which are successfully authenticated but
4559 which have no valid Unix user account (and smbd is unable to
4560 create one) should be mapped to the defined guest account. This
4561 was the default behavior of Samba 2.x releases. Note that if a
4562 member server is running winbindd, this option should never be
4563 required because the nss_winbind library will export the
4564 Windows domain users and groups to the underlying OS via the
4565 Name Service Switch interface.
4566 Note that this parameter is needed to set up "Guest" share services
4568 when using security modes other than share and server. This is
4569 because in these modes the name of the resource being requested is
4570 not sent to the server until after the server has successfully
4571 authenticated the client so the server cannot make authentication
4572 decisions at the correct time (connection to the share) for "Guest"
4573 shares. This parameter is not useful with security = server as in
4574 this security mode no information is returned about whether a user
4575 logon failed due to a bad username or bad password, the same error
4576 is returned from a modern server in both cases.
4577 For people familiar with the older Samba releases, this parameter
4579 maps to the old compile-time setting of the
4580 GUEST_SESSSETUP value in local.h.
4581 Default: map to guest = Never
4583 Example: map to guest = Bad User
4585 map untrusted to domain (G)
4587 If a client connects to smbd using an untrusted domain name, such
4589 as BOGUS\user, smbd replaces the BOGUS domain with it´s SAM name
4590 before attempting to authenticate that user. In the case where smbd
4591 is acting as a PDC this will be DOMAIN\user. In the case where smbd
4592 is acting as a domain member server or a standalone server this
4593 will be WORKSTATION\user.
4594 In previous versions of Samba (pre 3.4), if smbd was acting as a
4596 domain member server, the BOGUS domain name would instead be
4597 replaced by the primary domain which smbd was a member of. In this
4598 case authentication would be deferred off to a DC using the
4599 credentials DOMAIN\user.
4600 When this parameter is set to yes smbd provides the legacy behavior
4602 of mapping untrusted domain names to the primary domain. When smbd
4603 is not acting as a domain member server, this parameter has no
4604 effect.
4605 Default: map untrusted to domain = no
4607 max connections (S)
4609 This option allows the number of simultaneous connections to a
4611 service to be limited. If max connections is greater than 0 then
4612 connections will be refused if this number of connections to the
4613 service are already open. A value of zero mean an unlimited number
4614 of connections may be made.
4615 Record lock files are used to implement this feature. The lock
4617 files will be stored in the directory specified by the lock
4618 directory option.
4619 Default: max connections = 0
4621 Example: max connections = 10
4623 max disk size (G)
4625 This option allows you to put an upper limit on the apparent size
4627 of disks. If you set this option to 100 then all shares will appear
4628 to be not larger than 100 MB in size.
4629 Note that this option does not limit the amount of data you can put
4631 on the disk. In the above case you could still store much more than
4632 100 MB on the disk, but if a client ever asks for the amount of
4633 free disk space or the total disk size then the result will be
4634 bounded by the amount specified in max disk size.
4635 This option is primarily useful to work around bugs in some pieces
4637 of software that can´t handle very large disks, particularly disks
4638 over 1GB in size.
4639 A max disk size of 0 means no limit.
4641 Default: max disk size = 0
4643 Example: max disk size = 1000
4645 max log size (G)
4647 This option (an integer in kilobytes) specifies the max size the
4649 log file should grow to. Samba periodically checks the size and if
4650 it is exceeded it will rename the file, adding a .old extension.
4651 A size of 0 means no limit.
4653 Default: max log size = 5000
4655 Example: max log size = 1000
4657 max mux (G)
4659 This option controls the maximum number of outstanding simultaneous
4661 SMB operations that Samba tells the client it will allow. You
4662 should never need to set this parameter.
4663 Default: max mux = 50
4665 max open files (G)
4667 This parameter limits the maximum number of open files that one
4669 smbd(8) file serving process may have open for a client at any one
4670 time. The This parameter can be set very high (16404) as Samba uses
4671 only one bit per unopened file. Setting this parameter lower than
4672 16404 will cause Samba to complain and set this value back to the
4673 minimum of 16404, as Windows 7 depends on this number of open file
4674 handles being available.
4675 The limit of the number of open files is usually set by the UNIX
4677 per-process file descriptor limit rather than this parameter so you
4678 should never need to touch this parameter.
4679 Default: max open files = 16404
4681 max print jobs (S)
4683 This parameter limits the maximum number of jobs allowable in a
4685 Samba printer queue at any given moment. If this number is
4686 exceeded, smbd(8) will remote "Out of Space" to the client.
4687 Default: max print jobs = 1000
4689 Example: max print jobs = 5000
4691 protocol
4693 This parameter is a synonym for max protocol.
4695 max protocol (G)
4697 The value of the parameter (a string) is the highest protocol level
4699 that will be supported by the server.
4700 Possible values are :
4702 · CORE: Earliest version. No concept of user names.
4704 · COREPLUS: Slight improvements on CORE for efficiency.
4706 · LANMAN1: First
4708 modern version of the protocol. Long filename support.
4709 · LANMAN2: Updates to Lanman1 protocol.
4711 · NT1: Current up to date version of the protocol. Used by
4713 Windows NT. Known as CIFS.
4714 · SMB2: Re-implementation of the SMB protocol. Used by Windows
4716 Vista and newer. The Samba implementation of SMB2 is currently
4717 marked experimental!
4718 Normally this option should not be set as the automatic negotiation
4720 phase in the SMB protocol takes care of choosing the appropriate
4721 protocol.
4722 Default: max protocol = NT1
4724 Example: max protocol = LANMAN1
4726 max reported print jobs (S)
4728 This parameter limits the maximum number of jobs displayed in a
4730 port monitor for Samba printer queue at any given moment. If this
4731 number is exceeded, the excess jobs will not be shown. A value of
4732 zero means there is no limit on the number of print jobs reported.
4733 Default: max reported print jobs = 0
4735 Example: max reported print jobs = 1000
4737 max smbd processes (G)
4739 This parameter limits the maximum number of smbd(8) processes
4741 concurrently running on a system and is intended as a stopgap to
4742 prevent degrading service to clients in the event that the server
4743 has insufficient resources to handle more than this number of
4744 connections. Remember that under normal operating conditions, each
4745 user will have an smbd(8) associated with him or her to handle
4746 connections to all shares from a given host.
4747 Default: max smbd processes = 0
4749 Example: max smbd processes = 1000
4751 max stat cache size (G)
4753 This parameter limits the size in memory of any stat cache being
4755 used to speed up case insensitive name mappings. It represents the
4756 number of kilobyte (1024) units the stat cache can use. A value of
4757 zero, meaning unlimited, is not advisable due to increased memory
4758 useage. You should not need to change this parameter.
4759 Default: max stat cache size = 256
4761 Example: max stat cache size = 100
4763 max ttl (G)
4765 This option tells nmbd(8) what the default ´time to live´ of
4767 NetBIOS names should be (in seconds) when nmbd is requesting a name
4768 using either a broadcast packet or from a WINS server. You should
4769 never need to change this parameter. The default is 3 days.
4770 Default: max ttl = 259200
4772 max wins ttl (G)
4774 This option tells smbd(8) when acting as a WINS server (wins
4776 support = yes) what the maximum ´time to live´ of NetBIOS names
4777 that nmbd will grant will be (in seconds). You should never need to
4778 change this parameter. The default is 6 days (518400 seconds).
4779 Default: max wins ttl = 518400
4781 max xmit (G)
4783 This option controls the maximum packet size that will be
4785 negotiated by Samba. The default is 16644, which matches the
4786 behavior of Windows 2000. A value below 2048 is likely to cause
4787 problems. You should never need to change this parameter from its
4788 default value.
4789 Default: max xmit = 16644
4791 Example: max xmit = 8192
4793 message command (G)
4795 This specifies what command to run when the server receives a
4797 WinPopup style message.
4798 This would normally be a command that would deliver the message
4800 somehow. How this is to be done is up to your imagination.
4801 An example is:
4803 message command = csh -c ´xedit %s;rm %s´ &
4805 This delivers the message using xedit, then removes it afterwards.
4807 NOTE THAT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS COMMAND RETURN
4808 IMMEDIATELY. That´s why I have the ´&´ on the end. If it doesn´t
4809 return immediately then your PCs may freeze when sending messages
4810 (they should recover after 30 seconds, hopefully).
4811 All messages are delivered as the global guest user. The command
4813 takes the standard substitutions, although
4814 %u won´t work (%U may be better in this case).
4815 Apart from the standard substitutions, some additional ones apply.
4817 In particular:
4818 · %s = the filename containing the message.
4820 · %t = the destination that the message was sent to (probably the
4822 server name).
4823 · %f = who the message is from.
4825 You could make this command send mail, or whatever else takes your
4827 fancy. Please let us know of any really interesting ideas you have.
4828 Here´s a way of sending the messages as mail to root:
4830 message command = /bin/mail -s ´message from %f on %m´ root < %s; rm %s
4832 If you don´t have a message command then the message won´t be
4834 delivered and Samba will tell the sender there was an error.
4835 Unfortunately WfWg totally ignores the error code and carries on
4836 regardless, saying that the message was delivered.
4837 If you want to silently delete it then try:
4839 message command = rm %s
4841 Default: message command =
4843 Example: message command = csh -c ´xedit %s; rm %s´ &
4845 min print space (S)
4847 This sets the minimum amount of free disk space that must be
4849 available before a user will be able to spool a print job. It is
4850 specified in kilobytes. The default is 0, which means a user can
4851 always spool a print job.
4852 Default: min print space = 0
4854 Example: min print space = 2000
4856 min protocol (G)
4858 The value of the parameter (a string) is the lowest SMB protocol
4860 dialect than Samba will support. Please refer to the max protocol
4861 parameter for a list of valid protocol names and a brief
4862 description of each. You may also wish to refer to the C source
4863 code in source/smbd/negprot.c for a listing of known protocol
4864 dialects supported by clients.
4865 If you are viewing this parameter as a security measure, you should
4867 also refer to the lanman auth parameter. Otherwise, you should
4868 never need to change this parameter.
4869 Default: min protocol = CORE
4871 Example: min protocol = NT1
4873 min receivefile size (G)
4875 This option changes the behavior of smbd(8) when processing
4877 SMBwriteX calls. Any incoming SMBwriteX call on a non-signed
4878 SMB/CIFS connection greater than this value will not be processed
4879 in the normal way but will be passed to any underlying kernel
4880 recvfile or splice system call (if there is no such call Samba will
4881 emulate in user space). This allows zero-copy writes directly from
4882 network socket buffers into the filesystem buffer cache, if
4883 available. It may improve performance but user testing is
4884 recommended. If set to zero Samba processes SMBwriteX calls in the
4885 normal way. To enable POSIX large write support (SMB/CIFS writes up
4886 to 16Mb) this option must be nonzero. The maximum value is 128k.
4887 Values greater than 128k will be silently set to 128k.
4888 Note this option will have NO EFFECT if set on a SMB signed
4890 connection.
4891 The default is zero, which diables this option.
4893 Default: min receivefile size = 0
4895 min wins ttl (G)
4897 This option tells nmbd(8) when acting as a WINS server (wins
4899 support = yes) what the minimum ´time to live´ of NetBIOS names
4900 that nmbd will grant will be (in seconds). You should never need to
4901 change this parameter. The default is 6 hours (21600 seconds).
4902 Default: min wins ttl = 21600
4904 msdfs proxy (S)
4906 This parameter indicates that the share is a stand-in for another
4908 CIFS share whose location is specified by the value of the
4909 parameter. When clients attempt to connect to this share, they are
4910 redirected to the proxied share using the SMB-Dfs protocol.
4911 Only Dfs roots can act as proxy shares. Take a look at the msdfs
4913 root and host msdfs options to find out how to set up a Dfs root
4914 share.
4915 No default
4917 Example: msdfs proxy = \otherserver\someshare
4919 msdfs root (S)
4921 If set to yes, Samba treats the share as a Dfs root and allows
4923 clients to browse the distributed file system tree rooted at the
4924 share directory. Dfs links are specified in the share directory by
4925 symbolic links of the form msdfs:serverA\\shareA,serverB\\shareB
4926 and so on. For more information on setting up a Dfs tree on Samba,
4927 refer to the MSDFS chapter in the Samba3-HOWTO book.
4928 Default: msdfs root = no
4930 name cache timeout (G)
4932 Specifies the number of seconds it takes before entries in samba´s
4934 hostname resolve cache time out. If the timeout is set to 0. the
4935 caching is disabled.
4936 Default: name cache timeout = 660
4938 Example: name cache timeout = 0
4940 name resolve order (G)
4942 This option is used by the programs in the Samba suite to determine
4944 what naming services to use and in what order to resolve host names
4945 to IP addresses. Its main purpose to is to control how netbios name
4946 resolution is performed. The option takes a space separated string
4947 of name resolution options.
4948 The options are: "lmhosts", "host", "wins" and "bcast". They cause
4950 names to be resolved as follows:
4951 · lmhosts : Lookup an IP address in the Samba lmhosts file. If
4953 the line in lmhosts has no name type attached to the NetBIOS
4954 name (see the manpage for lmhosts for details) then any name
4955 type matches for lookup.
4956 · host : Do a standard host name to IP address resolution, using
4958 the system /etc/hosts, NIS, or DNS lookups. This method of name
4959 resolution is operating system depended for instance on IRIX or
4960 Solaris this may be controlled by the /etc/nsswitch.conf file.
4961 Note that this method is used only if the NetBIOS name type
4962 being queried is the 0x20 (server) name type or 0x1c (domain
4963 controllers). The latter case is only useful for active
4964 directory domains and results in a DNS query for the SRV RR
4965 entry matching _ldap._tcp.domain.
4966 · wins : Query a name with the IP address listed in the
4968 WINSSERVER parameter. If no WINS server has been specified this
4969 method will be ignored.
4970 · bcast : Do a broadcast on each of the known local interfaces
4972 listed in the interfaces parameter. This is the least reliable
4973 of the name resolution methods as it depends on the target host
4974 being on a locally connected subnet.
4975 The example below will cause the local lmhosts file to be examined
4977 first, followed by a broadcast attempt, followed by a normal system
4978 hostname lookup.
4979 When Samba is functioning in ADS security mode (security = ads) it
4981 is advised to use following settings for name resolve order:
4982 name resolve order = wins bcast
4984 DC lookups will still be done via DNS, but fallbacks to netbios
4986 names will not inundate your DNS servers with needless querys for
4987 DOMAIN<0x1c> lookups.
4988 Default: name resolve order = lmhosts host wins bcast
4990 Example: name resolve order = lmhosts bcast host
4992 netbios aliases (G)
4994 This is a list of NetBIOS names that nmbd will advertise as
4996 additional names by which the Samba server is known. This allows
4997 one machine to appear in browse lists under multiple names. If a
4998 machine is acting as a browse server or logon server none of these
4999 names will be advertised as either browse server or logon servers,
5000 only the primary name of the machine will be advertised with these
5001 capabilities.
5002 Default: netbios aliases = # empty string (no additional names)
5004 Example: netbios aliases = TEST TEST1 TEST2
5006 netbios name (G)
5008 This sets the NetBIOS name by which a Samba server is known. By
5010 default it is the same as the first component of the host´s DNS
5011 name. If a machine is a browse server or logon server this name (or
5012 the first component of the hosts DNS name) will be the name that
5013 these services are advertised under.
5014 There is a bug in Samba-3 that breaks operation of browsing and
5016 access to shares if the netbios name is set to the literal name
5017 PIPE. To avoid this problem, do not name your Samba-3 server PIPE.
5018 Default: netbios name = # machine DNS name
5020 Example: netbios name = MYNAME
5022 netbios scope (G)
5024 This sets the NetBIOS scope that Samba will operate under. This
5026 should not be set unless every machine on your LAN also sets this
5027 value.
5028 Default: netbios scope =
5030 nis homedir (G)
5032 Get the home share server from a NIS map. For UNIX systems that use
5034 an automounter, the user´s home directory will often be mounted on
5035 a workstation on demand from a remote server.
5036 When the Samba logon server is not the actual home directory
5038 server, but is mounting the home directories via NFS then two
5039 network hops would be required to access the users home directory
5040 if the logon server told the client to use itself as the SMB server
5041 for home directories (one over SMB and one over NFS). This can be
5042 very slow.
5043 This option allows Samba to return the home share as being on a
5045 different server to the logon server and as long as a Samba daemon
5046 is running on the home directory server, it will be mounted on the
5047 Samba client directly from the directory server. When Samba is
5048 returning the home share to the client, it will consult the NIS map
5049 specified in homedir map and return the server listed there.
5050 Note that for this option to work there must be a working NIS
5052 system and the Samba server with this option must also be a logon
5053 server.
5054 Default: nis homedir = no
5056 nmbd bind explicit broadcast (G)
5058 This option causes nmbd(8) to explicitly bind to the broadcast
5060 address of the local subnets. This is needed to make nmbd work
5061 correctly in combination with the socket address option. You should
5062 not need to unset this option.
5063 Default: nmbd bind explicit broadcast = yes
5065 nt acl support (S)
5067 This boolean parameter controls whether smbd(8) will attempt to map
5069 UNIX permissions into Windows NT access control lists. The UNIX
5070 permissions considered are the the traditional UNIX owner and group
5071 permissions, as well as POSIX ACLs set on any files or directories.
5072 This parameter was formally a global parameter in releases prior to
5073 2.2.2.
5074 Default: nt acl support = yes
5076 ntlm auth (G)
5078 This parameter determines whether or not smbd(8) will attempt to
5080 authenticate users using the NTLM encrypted password response. If
5081 disabled, either the lanman password hash or an NTLMv2 response
5082 will need to be sent by the client.
5083 If this option, and lanman auth are both disabled, then only NTLMv2
5085 logins will be permited. Not all clients support NTLMv2, and most
5086 will require special configuration to use it.
5087 Default: ntlm auth = yes
5089 nt pipe support (G)
5091 This boolean parameter controls whether smbd(8) will allow Windows
5093 NT clients to connect to the NT SMB specific IPC$ pipes. This is a
5094 developer debugging option and can be left alone.
5095 Default: nt pipe support = yes
5097 nt status support (G)
5099 This boolean parameter controls whether smbd(8) will negotiate NT
5101 specific status support with Windows NT/2k/XP clients. This is a
5102 developer debugging option and should be left alone. If this option
5103 is set to no then Samba offers exactly the same DOS error codes
5104 that versions prior to Samba 2.2.3 reported.
5105 You should not need to ever disable this parameter.
5107 Default: nt status support = yes
5109 null passwords (G)
5111 Allow or disallow client access to accounts that have null
5113 passwords.
5114 See also smbpasswd(5).
5116 Default: null passwords = no
5118 obey pam restrictions (G)
5120 When Samba 3.0 is configured to enable PAM support (i.e.
5122 --with-pam), this parameter will control whether or not Samba
5123 should obey PAM´s account and session management directives. The
5124 default behavior is to use PAM for clear text authentication only
5125 and to ignore any account or session management. Note that Samba
5126 always ignores PAM for authentication in the case of encrypt
5127 passwords = yes. The reason is that PAM modules cannot support the
5128 challenge/response authentication mechanism needed in the presence
5129 of SMB password encryption.
5130 Default: obey pam restrictions = no
5132 only user (S)
5134 This is a boolean option that controls whether connections with
5136 usernames not in the user list will be allowed. By default this
5137 option is disabled so that a client can supply a username to be
5138 used by the server. Enabling this parameter will force the server
5139 to only use the login names from the user list and is only really
5140 useful in security = share level security.
5141 Note that this also means Samba won´t try to deduce usernames from
5143 the service name. This can be annoying for the [homes] section. To
5144 get around this you could use user = %S which means your user list
5145 will be just the service name, which for home directories is the
5146 name of the user.
5147 Default: only user = no
5149 oplock break wait time (G)
5151 This is a tuning parameter added due to bugs in both Windows 9x and
5153 WinNT. If Samba responds to a client too quickly when that client
5154 issues an SMB that can cause an oplock break request, then the
5155 network client can fail and not respond to the break request. This
5156 tuning parameter (which is set in milliseconds) is the amount of
5157 time Samba will wait before sending an oplock break request to such
5158 (broken) clients.
5159 Warning
5161 DO NOT CHANGE THIS PARAMETER UNLESS YOU HAVE READ AND
5162 UNDERSTOOD THE SAMBA OPLOCK CODE.
5163 Default: oplock break wait time = 0
5164 oplock contention limit (S)
5166 This is a very advanced smbd(8) tuning option to improve the
5168 efficiency of the granting of oplocks under multiple client
5169 contention for the same file.
5170 In brief it specifies a number, which causes smbd(8)not to grant an
5172 oplock even when requested if the approximate number of clients
5173 contending for an oplock on the same file goes over this limit.
5174 This causes smbd to behave in a similar way to Windows NT.
5175 Warning
5177 DO NOT CHANGE THIS PARAMETER UNLESS YOU HAVE READ AND
5178 UNDERSTOOD THE SAMBA OPLOCK CODE.
5179 Default: oplock contention limit = 2
5180 oplocks (S)
5182 This boolean option tells smbd whether to issue oplocks
5184 (opportunistic locks) to file open requests on this share. The
5185 oplock code can dramatically (approx. 30% or more) improve the
5186 speed of access to files on Samba servers. It allows the clients to
5187 aggressively cache files locally and you may want to disable this
5188 option for unreliable network environments (it is turned on by
5189 default in Windows NT Servers).
5190 Oplocks may be selectively turned off on certain files with a
5192 share. See the veto oplock files parameter. On some systems oplocks
5193 are recognized by the underlying operating system. This allows data
5194 synchronization between all access to oplocked files, whether it be
5195 via Samba or NFS or a local UNIX process. See the kernel oplocks
5196 parameter for details.
5197 Default: oplocks = yes
5199 os2 driver map (G)
5201 The parameter is used to define the absolute path to a file
5203 containing a mapping of Windows NT printer driver names to OS/2
5204 printer driver names. The format is:
5205 <nt driver name> = <os2 driver name>.<device name>
5207 For example, a valid entry using the HP LaserJet 5 printer driver
5209 would appear as HP LaserJet 5L = LASERJET.HP LaserJet 5L.
5210 The need for the file is due to the printer driver namespace
5212 problem described in the chapter on Classical Printing in the
5213 Samba3-HOWTO book. For more details on OS/2 clients, please refer
5214 to chapter on other clients in the Samba3-HOWTO book.
5215 Default: os2 driver map =
5217 os level (G)
5219 This integer value controls what level Samba advertises itself as
5221 for browse elections. The value of this parameter determines
5222 whether nmbd(8) has a chance of becoming a local master browser for
5223 the workgroup in the local broadcast area.
5224 Note: By default, Samba will win a local master browsing election
5226 over all Microsoft operating systems except a Windows NT 4.0/2000
5227 Domain Controller. This means that a misconfigured Samba host can
5228 effectively isolate a subnet for browsing purposes. This parameter
5229 is largely auto-configured in the Samba-3 release series and it is
5230 seldom necessary to manually override the default setting. Please
5231 refer to the chapter on Network Browsing in the Samba-3 HOWTO
5232 document for further information regarding the use of this
5233 parameter. Note: The maximum value for this parameter is 255. If
5234 you use higher values, counting will start at 0!
5235 Default: os level = 20
5237 Example: os level = 65
5239 pam password change (G)
5241 With the addition of better PAM support in Samba 2.2, this
5243 parameter, it is possible to use PAM´s password change control flag
5244 for Samba. If enabled, then PAM will be used for password changes
5245 when requested by an SMB client instead of the program listed in
5246 passwd program. It should be possible to enable this without
5247 changing your passwd chat parameter for most setups.
5248 Default: pam password change = no
5250 panic action (G)
5252 This is a Samba developer option that allows a system command to be
5254 called when either smbd(8) or nmbd(8) crashes. This is usually used
5255 to draw attention to the fact that a problem occurred.
5256 Default: panic action =
5258 Example: panic action = "/bin/sleep 90000"
5260 paranoid server security (G)
5262 Some version of NT 4.x allow non-guest users with a bad passowrd.
5264 When this option is enabled, samba will not use a broken NT 4.x
5265 server as password server, but instead complain to the logs and
5266 exit.
5267 Disabling this option prevents Samba from making this check, which
5269 involves deliberatly attempting a bad logon to the remote server.
5270 Default: paranoid server security = yes
5272 passdb backend (G)
5274 This option allows the administrator to chose which backend will be
5276 used for storing user and possibly group information. This allows
5277 you to swap between different storage mechanisms without recompile.
5278 The parameter value is divided into two parts, the backend´s name,
5280 and a ´location´ string that has meaning only to that particular
5281 backed. These are separated by a : character.
5282 Available backends can include:
5284 · smbpasswd - The old plaintext passdb backend. Some Samba
5286 features will not work if this passdb backend is used. Takes a
5287 path to the smbpasswd file as an optional argument.
5288 · tdbsam - The TDB based password storage backend. Takes a path
5290 to the TDB as an optional argument (defaults to passdb.tdb in
5291 the private dir directory.
5292 · ldapsam - The LDAP based passdb backend. Takes an LDAP URL as
5294 an optional argument (defaults to ldap://localhost)
5295 LDAP connections should be secured where possible. This may be
5297 done using either Start-TLS (see ldap ssl) or by specifying
5298 ldaps:// in the URL argument.
5299 Multiple servers may also be specified in double-quotes.
5301 Whether multiple servers are supported or not and the exact
5302 syntax depends on the LDAP library you use.
5303 Examples of use are:
5306 passdb backend = tdbsam:/etc/samba/private/passdb.tdb
5308 or multi server LDAP URL with OpenLDAP library:
5310 passdb backend = ldapsam:"ldap://ldap-1.example.com ldap://ldap-2.example.com"
5312 or multi server LDAP URL with Netscape based LDAP library:
5314 passdb backend = ldapsam:"ldap://ldap-1.example.com ldap-2.example.com"
5316 Default: passdb backend = tdbsam
5318 passdb expand explicit (G)
5320 This parameter controls whether Samba substitutes %-macros in the
5322 passdb fields if they are explicitly set. We used to expand macros
5323 here, but this turned out to be a bug because the Windows client
5324 can expand a variable %G_osver% in which %G would have been
5325 substituted by the user´s primary group.
5326 Default: passdb expand explicit = no
5328 passwd chat debug (G)
5330 This boolean specifies if the passwd chat script parameter is run
5332 in debug mode. In this mode the strings passed to and received from
5333 the passwd chat are printed in the smbd(8) log with a debug level
5334 of 100. This is a dangerous option as it will allow plaintext
5335 passwords to be seen in the smbd log. It is available to help Samba
5336 admins debug their passwd chat scripts when calling the passwd
5337 program and should be turned off after this has been done. This
5338 option has no effect if the pam password change parameter is set.
5339 This parameter is off by default.
5340 Default: passwd chat debug = no
5342 passwd chat timeout (G)
5344 This integer specifies the number of seconds smbd will wait for an
5346 initial answer from a passwd chat script being run. Once the
5347 initial answer is received the subsequent answers must be received
5348 in one tenth of this time. The default it two seconds.
5349 Default: passwd chat timeout = 2
5351 passwd chat (G)
5353 This string controls the "chat" conversation that takes places
5355 between smbd(8) and the local password changing program to change
5356 the user´s password. The string describes a sequence of
5357 response-receive pairs that smbd(8) uses to determine what to send
5358 to the passwd program and what to expect back. If the expected
5359 output is not received then the password is not changed.
5360 This chat sequence is often quite site specific, depending on what
5362 local methods are used for password control (such as NIS etc).
5363 Note that this parameter only is used if the unix password sync
5365 parameter is set to yes. This sequence is then called AS ROOT when
5366 the SMB password in the smbpasswd file is being changed, without
5367 access to the old password cleartext. This means that root must be
5368 able to reset the user´s password without knowing the text of the
5369 previous password. In the presence of NIS/YP, this means that the
5370 passwd program must be executed on the NIS master.
5371 The string can contain the macro %n which is substituted for the
5373 new password. The old passsword (%o) is only available when encrypt
5374 passwords has been disabled. The chat sequence can also contain the
5375 standard macros \n, \r, \t and \s to give line-feed,
5376 carriage-return, tab and space. The chat sequence string can also
5377 contain a ´*´ which matches any sequence of characters. Double
5378 quotes can be used to collect strings with spaces in them into a
5379 single string.
5380 If the send string in any part of the chat sequence is a full stop
5382 ".", then no string is sent. Similarly, if the expect string is a
5383 full stop then no string is expected.
5384 If the pam password change parameter is set to yes, the chat pairs
5386 may be matched in any order, and success is determined by the PAM
5387 result, not any particular output. The \n macro is ignored for PAM
5388 conversions.
5389 Default: passwd chat = *new*password* %n\n*new*password* %n\n
5391 *changed*
5392 Example: passwd chat = "*Enter NEW password*" %n\n "*Reenter NEW
5394 password*" %n\n "*Password changed*"
5395 passwd program (G)
5397 The name of a program that can be used to set UNIX user passwords.
5399 Any occurrences of %u will be replaced with the user name. The user
5400 name is checked for existence before calling the password changing
5401 program.
5402 Also note that many passwd programs insist in reasonable passwords,
5404 such as a minimum length, or the inclusion of mixed case chars and
5405 digits. This can pose a problem as some clients (such as Windows
5406 for Workgroups) uppercase the password before sending it.
5407 Note that if the unix password sync parameter is set to yes then
5409 this program is called AS ROOT before the SMB password in the
5410 smbpasswd file is changed. If this UNIX password change fails, then
5411 smbd will fail to change the SMB password also (this is by design).
5412 If the unix password sync parameter is set this parameter MUST USE
5414 ABSOLUTE PATHS for ALL programs called, and must be examined for
5415 security implications. Note that by default unix password sync is
5416 set to no.
5417 Default: passwd program =
5419 Example: passwd program = /bin/passwd %u
5421 password level (G)
5423 Some client/server combinations have difficulty with mixed-case
5425 passwords. One offending client is Windows for Workgroups, which
5426 for some reason forces passwords to upper case when using the
5427 LANMAN1 protocol, but leaves them alone when using COREPLUS!
5428 Another problem child is the Windows 95/98 family of operating
5429 systems. These clients upper case clear text passwords even when NT
5430 LM 0.12 selected by the protocol negotiation request/response.
5431 This parameter defines the maximum number of characters that may be
5433 upper case in passwords.
5434 For example, say the password given was "FRED". If
5436 password level is set to 1, the following combinations would be
5437 tried if "FRED" failed:
5438 "Fred", "fred", "fRed", "frEd","freD"
5440 If password level was set to 2, the following combinations would
5442 also be tried:
5443 "FRed", "FrEd", "FreD", "fREd", "fReD", "frED", ..
5445 And so on.
5447 The higher value this parameter is set to the more likely it is
5449 that a mixed case password will be matched against a single case
5450 password. However, you should be aware that use of this parameter
5451 reduces security and increases the time taken to process a new
5452 connection.
5453 A value of zero will cause only two attempts to be made - the
5455 password as is and the password in all-lower case.
5456 This parameter is used only when using plain-text passwords. It is
5458 not at all used when encrypted passwords as in use (that is the
5459 default since samba-3.0.0). Use this only when encrypt passwords =
5460 No.
5461 Default: password level = 0
5463 Example: password level = 4
5465 password server (G)
5467 By specifying the name of another SMB server or Active Directory
5469 domain controller with this option, and using security =
5470 [ads|domain|server] it is possible to get Samba to do all its
5471 username/password validation using a specific remote server.
5472 This option sets the name or IP address of the password server to
5474 use. New syntax has been added to support defining the port to use
5475 when connecting to the server the case of an ADS realm. To define a
5476 port other than the default LDAP port of 389, add the port number
5477 using a colon after the name or IP address (e.g.
5478 192.168.1.100:389). If you do not specify a port, Samba will use
5479 the standard LDAP port of tcp/389. Note that port numbers have no
5480 effect on password servers for Windows NT 4.0 domains or netbios
5481 connections.
5482 If parameter is a name, it is looked up using the parameter name
5484 resolve order and so may resolved by any method and order described
5485 in that parameter.
5486 The password server must be a machine capable of using the
5488 "LM1.2X002" or the "NT LM 0.12" protocol, and it must be in user
5489 level security mode.
5490 Note
5492 Using a password server means your UNIX box (running Samba) is
5493 only as secure as your password server. DO NOT CHOOSE A
5494 PASSWORD SERVER THAT YOU DON´T COMPLETELY TRUST.
5495 Never point a Samba server at itself for password serving. This
5496 will cause a loop and could lock up your Samba server!
5497 The name of the password server takes the standard substitutions,
5499 but probably the only useful one is %m , which means the Samba
5500 server will use the incoming client as the password server. If you
5501 use this then you better trust your clients, and you had better
5502 restrict them with hosts allow!
5503 If the security parameter is set to domain or ads, then the list of
5505 machines in this option must be a list of Primary or Backup Domain
5506 controllers for the Domain or the character ´*´, as the Samba
5507 server is effectively in that domain, and will use
5508 cryptographically authenticated RPC calls to authenticate the user
5509 logging on. The advantage of using security = domain is that if you
5510 list several hosts in the password server option then smbd will try
5511 each in turn till it finds one that responds. This is useful in
5512 case your primary server goes down.
5513 If the password server option is set to the character ´*´, then
5515 Samba will attempt to auto-locate the Primary or Backup Domain
5516 controllers to authenticate against by doing a query for the name
5517 WORKGROUP<1C> and then contacting each server returned in the list
5518 of IP addresses from the name resolution source.
5519 If the list of servers contains both names/IP´s and the ´*´
5521 character, the list is treated as a list of preferred domain
5522 controllers, but an auto lookup of all remaining DC´s will be added
5523 to the list as well. Samba will not attempt to optimize this list
5524 by locating the closest DC.
5525 If the security parameter is set to server, then there are
5527 different restrictions that security = domain doesn´t suffer from:
5528 · You may list several password servers in the password server
5530 parameter, however if an smbd makes a connection to a password
5531 server, and then the password server fails, no more users will
5532 be able to be authenticated from this smbd. This is a
5533 restriction of the SMB/CIFS protocol when in security = server
5534 mode and cannot be fixed in Samba.
5535 · If you are using a Windows NT server as your password server
5537 then you will have to ensure that your users are able to login
5538 from the Samba server, as when in security = server mode the
5539 network logon will appear to come from there rather than from
5540 the users workstation.
5541 Default: password server = *
5543 Example: password server = NT-PDC, NT-BDC1, NT-BDC2, *
5545 Example: password server = windc.mydomain.com:389 192.168.1.101 *
5547 directory
5549 This parameter is a synonym for path.
5551 path (S)
5553 This parameter specifies a directory to which the user of the
5555 service is to be given access. In the case of printable services,
5556 this is where print data will spool prior to being submitted to the
5557 host for printing.
5558 For a printable service offering guest access, the service should
5560 be readonly and the path should be world-writeable and have the
5561 sticky bit set. This is not mandatory of course, but you probably
5562 won´t get the results you expect if you do otherwise.
5563 Any occurrences of %u in the path will be replaced with the UNIX
5565 username that the client is using on this connection. Any
5566 occurrences of %m will be replaced by the NetBIOS name of the
5567 machine they are connecting from. These replacements are very
5568 useful for setting up pseudo home directories for users.
5569 Note that this path will be based on root dir if one was specified.
5571 Default: path =
5573 Example: path = /home/fred
5575 perfcount module (G)
5577 This parameter specifies the perfcount backend to be used when
5579 monitoring SMB operations. Only one perfcount module may be used,
5580 and it must implement all of the apis contained in the
5581 smb_perfcount_handler structure defined in smb.h.
5582 No default
5584 pid directory (G)
5586 This option specifies the directory where pid files will be placed.
5588 Default: pid directory = ${prefix}/var/locks
5590 Example: pid directory = pid directory = /var/run/
5592 posix locking (S)
5594 The smbd(8) daemon maintains an database of file locks obtained by
5596 SMB clients. The default behavior is to map this internal database
5597 to POSIX locks. This means that file locks obtained by SMB clients
5598 are consistent with those seen by POSIX compliant applications
5599 accessing the files via a non-SMB method (e.g. NFS or local file
5600 access). You should never need to disable this parameter.
5601 Default: posix locking = yes
5603 postexec (S)
5605 This option specifies a command to be run whenever the service is
5607 disconnected. It takes the usual substitutions. The command may be
5608 run as the root on some systems.
5609 An interesting example may be to unmount server resources:
5611 postexec = /etc/umount /cdrom
5613 Default: postexec =
5615 Example: postexec = echo \"%u disconnected from %S from %m (%I)\"
5617 >> /tmp/log
5618 preexec close (S)
5620 This boolean option controls whether a non-zero return code from
5622 preexec should close the service being connected to.
5623 Default: preexec close = no
5625 exec
5627 This parameter is a synonym for preexec.
5629 preexec (S)
5631 This option specifies a command to be run whenever the service is
5633 connected to. It takes the usual substitutions.
5634 An interesting example is to send the users a welcome message every
5636 time they log in. Maybe a message of the day? Here is an example:
5637 preexec = csh -c ´echo \"Welcome to %S!\" |
5640 /usr/local/samba/bin/smbclient -M %m -I %I´ &
5641 Of course, this could get annoying after a while :-)
5643 See also preexec close and postexec.
5645 Default: preexec =
5647 Example: preexec = echo \"%u connected to %S from %m (%I)\" >>
5649 /tmp/log
5650 prefered master
5652 This parameter is a synonym for preferred master.
5654 preferred master (G)
5656 This boolean parameter controls if nmbd(8) is a preferred master
5658 browser for its workgroup.
5659 If this is set to yes, on startup, nmbd will force an election, and
5661 it will have a slight advantage in winning the election. It is
5662 recommended that this parameter is used in conjunction with domain
5663 master = yes, so that nmbd can guarantee becoming a domain master.
5664 Use this option with caution, because if there are several hosts
5666 (whether Samba servers, Windows 95 or NT) that are preferred master
5667 browsers on the same subnet, they will each periodically and
5668 continuously attempt to become the local master browser. This will
5669 result in unnecessary broadcast traffic and reduced browsing
5670 capabilities.
5671 Default: preferred master = auto
5673 preload modules (G)
5675 This is a list of paths to modules that should be loaded into smbd
5677 before a client connects. This improves the speed of smbd when
5678 reacting to new connections somewhat.
5679 Default: preload modules =
5681 Example: preload modules = /usr/lib/samba/passdb/mysql.so
5683 auto services
5685 This parameter is a synonym for preload.
5687 preload (G)
5689 This is a list of services that you want to be automatically added
5691 to the browse lists. This is most useful for homes and printers
5692 services that would otherwise not be visible.
5693 Note that if you just want all printers in your printcap file
5695 loaded then the load printers option is easier.
5696 Default: preload =
5698 Example: preload = fred lp colorlp
5700 preserve case (S)
5702 This controls if new filenames are created with the case that the
5704 client passes, or if they are forced to be the default case.
5705 See the section on NAME MANGLING for a fuller discussion.
5707 Default: preserve case = yes
5709 print ok
5711 This parameter is a synonym for printable.
5713 printable (S)
5715 If this parameter is yes, then clients may open, write to and
5717 submit spool files on the directory specified for the service.
5718 Note that a printable service will ALWAYS allow writing to the
5720 service path (user privileges permitting) via the spooling of print
5721 data. The read only parameter controls only non-printing access to
5722 the resource.
5723 Default: printable = no
5725 printcap cache time (G)
5727 This option specifies the number of seconds before the printing
5729 subsystem is again asked for the known printers. If the value is
5730 greater than 60 the initial waiting time is set to 60 seconds to
5731 allow an earlier first rescan of the printing subsystem.
5732 Setting this parameter to 0 disables any rescanning for new or
5734 removed printers after the initial startup.
5735 Default: printcap cache time = 750
5737 Example: printcap cache time = 600
5739 printcap
5741 This parameter is a synonym for printcap name.
5743 printcap name (G)
5745 This parameter may be used to override the compiled-in default
5747 printcap name used by the server (usually /etc/printcap). See the
5748 discussion of the [printers] section above for reasons why you
5749 might want to do this.
5750 To use the CUPS printing interface set printcap name = cups. This
5752 should be supplemented by an addtional setting printing = cups in
5753 the [global] section. printcap name = cups will use the "dummy"
5754 printcap created by CUPS, as specified in your CUPS configuration
5755 file.
5756 On System V systems that use lpstat to list available printers you
5758 can use printcap name = lpstat to automatically obtain lists of
5759 available printers. This is the default for systems that define
5760 SYSV at configure time in Samba (this includes most System V based
5761 systems). If
5762 printcap name is set to lpstat on these systems then Samba will
5763 launch lpstat -v and attempt to parse the output to obtain a
5764 printer list.
5765 A minimal printcap file would look something like this:
5767 print1|My Printer 1
5769 print2|My Printer 2
5770 print3|My Printer 3
5771 print4|My Printer 4
5772 print5|My Printer 5
5773 where the ´|´ separates aliases of a printer. The fact that the
5775 second alias has a space in it gives a hint to Samba that it´s a
5776 comment.
5777 Note
5779 Under AIX the default printcap name is /etc/qconfig. Samba will
5780 assume the file is in AIX qconfig format if the string qconfig
5781 appears in the printcap filename.
5782 Default: printcap name = /etc/printcap
5783 Example: printcap name = /etc/myprintcap
5785 print command (S)
5787 After a print job has finished spooling to a service, this command
5789 will be used via a system() call to process the spool file.
5790 Typically the command specified will submit the spool file to the
5791 host´s printing subsystem, but there is no requirement that this be
5792 the case. The server will not remove the spool file, so whatever
5793 command you specify should remove the spool file when it has been
5794 processed, otherwise you will need to manually remove old spool
5795 files.
5796 The print command is simply a text string. It will be used verbatim
5798 after macro substitutions have been made:
5799 %s, %f - the path to the spool file name
5801 %p - the appropriate printer name
5803 %J - the job name as transmitted by the client.
5805 %c - The number of printed pages of the spooled job (if known).
5807 %z - the size of the spooled print job (in bytes)
5809 The print command MUST contain at least one occurrence of %s or %f
5811 - the %p is optional. At the time a job is submitted, if no printer
5812 name is supplied the %p will be silently removed from the printer
5813 command.
5814 If specified in the [global] section, the print command given will
5816 be used for any printable service that does not have its own print
5817 command specified.
5818 If there is neither a specified print command for a printable
5820 service nor a global print command, spool files will be created but
5821 not processed and (most importantly) not removed.
5822 Note that printing may fail on some UNIXes from the nobody account.
5824 If this happens then create an alternative guest account that can
5825 print and set the guest account in the [global] section.
5826 You can form quite complex print commands by realizing that they
5828 are just passed to a shell. For example the following will log a
5829 print job, print the file, then remove it. Note that ´;´ is the
5830 usual separator for command in shell scripts.
5831 print command = echo Printing %s >> /tmp/print.log; lpr -P %p %s;
5833 rm %s
5834 You may have to vary this command considerably depending on how you
5836 normally print files on your system. The default for the parameter
5837 varies depending on the setting of the printing parameter.
5838 Default: For printing = BSD, AIX, QNX, LPRNG or PLP :
5840 print command = lpr -r -P%p %s
5842 For printing = SYSV or HPUX :
5844 print command = lp -c -d%p %s; rm %s
5846 For printing = SOFTQ :
5848 print command = lp -d%p -s %s; rm %s
5850 For printing = CUPS : If SAMBA is compiled against libcups, then
5852 printcap = cups uses the CUPS API to submit jobs, etc. Otherwise it
5853 maps to the System V commands with the -oraw option for printing,
5854 i.e. it uses lp -c -d%p -oraw; rm %s. With printing = cups, and if
5855 SAMBA is compiled against libcups, any manually set print command
5856 will be ignored.
5857 No default
5859 Example: print command = /usr/local/samba/bin/myprintscript %p %s
5861 printer admin (S)
5863 This lists users who can do anything to printers via the remote
5865 administration interfaces offered by MS-RPC (usually using a NT
5866 workstation). This parameter can be set per-share or globally.
5867 Note: The root user always has admin rights. Use caution with use
5868 in the global stanza as this can cause side effects.
5869 This parameter has been marked deprecated in favor of using the
5871 SePrintOperatorPrivilege and individual print security descriptors.
5872 It will be removed in a future release.
5873 Default: printer admin =
5875 Example: printer admin = admin, @staff
5877 printer
5879 This parameter is a synonym for printer name.
5881 printer name (S)
5883 This parameter specifies the name of the printer to which print
5885 jobs spooled through a printable service will be sent.
5886 If specified in the [global] section, the printer name given will
5888 be used for any printable service that does not have its own
5889 printer name specified.
5890 The default value of the printer name may be lp on many systems.
5892 Default: printer name = none
5894 Example: printer name = laserwriter
5896 printing (S)
5898 This parameters controls how printer status information is
5900 interpreted on your system. It also affects the default values for
5901 the print command, lpq command, lppause command , lpresume command,
5902 and lprm command if specified in the [global] section.
5903 Currently nine printing styles are supported. They are BSD, AIX,
5905 LPRNG, PLP, SYSV, HPUX, QNX, SOFTQ, and CUPS.
5906 To see what the defaults are for the other print commands when
5908 using the various options use the testparm(1) program.
5909 This option can be set on a per printer basis. Please be aware
5911 however, that you must place any of the various printing commands
5912 (e.g. print command, lpq command, etc...) after defining the value
5913 for the printing option since it will reset the printing commands
5914 to default values.
5915 See also the discussion in the [printers] section.
5917 Default: printing = Depends on the operating system, see testparm
5919 -v.
5920 printjob username (S)
5922 This parameter specifies which user information will be passed to
5924 the printing system. Usually, the username is sent, but in some
5925 cases, e.g. the domain prefix is useful, too.
5926 Default: printjob username = %U
5928 Example: printjob username = %D\%U
5930 private dir (G)
5932 This parameters defines the directory smbd will use for storing
5934 such files as smbpasswd and secrets.tdb.
5935 Default: private dir = ${prefix}/private
5937 profile acls (S)
5939 This boolean parameter was added to fix the problems that people
5941 have been having with storing user profiles on Samba shares from
5942 Windows 2000 or Windows XP clients. New versions of Windows 2000 or
5943 Windows XP service packs do security ACL checking on the owner and
5944 ability to write of the profile directory stored on a local
5945 workstation when copied from a Samba share.
5946 When not in domain mode with winbindd then the security info copied
5948 onto the local workstation has no meaning to the logged in user
5949 (SID) on that workstation so the profile storing fails. Adding this
5950 parameter onto a share used for profile storage changes two things
5951 about the returned Windows ACL. Firstly it changes the owner and
5952 group owner of all reported files and directories to be
5953 BUILTIN\\Administrators, BUILTIN\\Users respectively (SIDs
5954 S-1-5-32-544, S-1-5-32-545). Secondly it adds an ACE entry of "Full
5955 Control" to the SID BUILTIN\\Users to every returned ACL. This will
5956 allow any Windows 2000 or XP workstation user to access the
5957 profile.
5958 Note that if you have multiple users logging on to a workstation
5960 then in order to prevent them from being able to access each others
5961 profiles you must remove the "Bypass traverse checking" advanced
5962 user right. This will prevent access to other users profile
5963 directories as the top level profile directory (named after the
5964 user) is created by the workstation profile code and has an ACL
5965 restricting entry to the directory tree to the owning user.
5966 Default: profile acls = no
5968 queuepause command (S)
5970 This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server
5972 host in order to pause the printer queue.
5973 This command should be a program or script which takes a printer
5975 name as its only parameter and stops the printer queue, such that
5976 no longer jobs are submitted to the printer.
5977 This command is not supported by Windows for Workgroups, but can be
5979 issued from the Printers window under Windows 95 and NT.
5980 If a %p is given then the printer name is put in its place.
5982 Otherwise it is placed at the end of the command.
5983 Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the
5985 command as the PATH may not be available to the server.
5986 No default
5988 Example: queuepause command = disable %p
5990 queueresume command (S)
5992 This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server
5994 host in order to resume the printer queue. It is the command to
5995 undo the behavior that is caused by the previous parameter
5996 (queuepause command).
5997 This command should be a program or script which takes a printer
5999 name as its only parameter and resumes the printer queue, such that
6000 queued jobs are resubmitted to the printer.
6001 This command is not supported by Windows for Workgroups, but can be
6003 issued from the Printers window under Windows 95 and NT.
6004 If a %p is given then the printer name is put in its place.
6006 Otherwise it is placed at the end of the command.
6007 Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the
6009 command as the PATH may not be available to the server.
6010 Default: queueresume command =
6012 Example: queueresume command = enable %p
6014 read list (S)
6016 This is a list of users that are given read-only access to a
6018 service. If the connecting user is in this list then they will not
6019 be given write access, no matter what the read only option is set
6020 to. The list can include group names using the syntax described in
6021 the invalid users parameter.
6022 This parameter will not work with the security = share in Samba
6024 3.0. This is by design.
6025 Default: read list =
6027 Example: read list = mary, @students
6029 read only (S)
6031 An inverted synonym is writeable.
6033 If this parameter is yes, then users of a service may not create or
6035 modify files in the service´s directory.
6036 Note that a printable service (printable = yes) will ALWAYS allow
6038 writing to the directory (user privileges permitting), but only via
6039 spooling operations.
6040 Default: read only = yes
6042 read raw (G)
6044 This parameter controls whether or not the server will support the
6046 raw read SMB requests when transferring data to clients.
6047 If enabled, raw reads allow reads of 65535 bytes in one packet.
6049 This typically provides a major performance benefit.
6050 However, some clients either negotiate the allowable block size
6052 incorrectly or are incapable of supporting larger block sizes, and
6053 for these clients you may need to disable raw reads.
6054 In general this parameter should be viewed as a system tuning tool
6056 and left severely alone.
6057 Default: read raw = yes
6059 realm (G)
6061 This option specifies the kerberos realm to use. The realm is used
6063 as the ADS equivalent of the NT4 domain. It is usually set to the
6064 DNS name of the kerberos server.
6065 Default: realm =
6067 Example: realm = mysambabox.mycompany.com
6069 registry shares (G)
6071 This turns on or off support for share definitions read from
6073 registry. Shares defined in smb.conf take precedence over shares
6074 with the same name defined in registry. See the section on
6075 registry-based configuration for details.
6076 Note that this parameter defaults to no, but it is set to yes when
6078 config backend is set to registry.
6079 Default: registry shares = no
6081 Example: registry shares = yes
6083 remote announce (G)
6085 This option allows you to setup nmbd(8) to periodically announce
6087 itself to arbitrary IP addresses with an arbitrary workgroup name.
6088 This is useful if you want your Samba server to appear in a remote
6090 workgroup for which the normal browse propagation rules don´t work.
6091 The remote workgroup can be anywhere that you can send IP packets
6092 to.
6093 For example:
6095 remote announce = 192.168.2.255/SERVERS 192.168.4.255/STAFF
6097 the above line would cause nmbd to announce itself to the two given
6099 IP addresses using the given workgroup names. If you leave out the
6100 workgroup name, then the one given in the workgroup parameter is
6101 used instead.
6102 The IP addresses you choose would normally be the broadcast
6104 addresses of the remote networks, but can also be the IP addresses
6105 of known browse masters if your network config is that stable.
6106 See the chapter on Network Browsing in the Samba-HOWTO book.
6108 Default: remote announce =
6110 remote browse sync (G)
6112 This option allows you to setup nmbd(8) to periodically request
6114 synchronization of browse lists with the master browser of a Samba
6115 server that is on a remote segment. This option will allow you to
6116 gain browse lists for multiple workgroups across routed networks.
6117 This is done in a manner that does not work with any non-Samba
6118 servers.
6119 This is useful if you want your Samba server and all local clients
6121 to appear in a remote workgroup for which the normal browse
6122 propagation rules don´t work. The remote workgroup can be anywhere
6123 that you can send IP packets to.
6124 For example:
6126 remote browse sync = 192.168.2.255 192.168.4.255
6128 the above line would cause nmbd to request the master browser on
6130 the specified subnets or addresses to synchronize their browse
6131 lists with the local server.
6132 The IP addresses you choose would normally be the broadcast
6134 addresses of the remote networks, but can also be the IP addresses
6135 of known browse masters if your network config is that stable. If a
6136 machine IP address is given Samba makes NO attempt to validate that
6137 the remote machine is available, is listening, nor that it is in
6138 fact the browse master on its segment.
6139 The remote browse sync may be used on networks where there is no
6141 WINS server, and may be used on disjoint networks where each
6142 network has its own WINS server.
6143 Default: remote browse sync =
6145 rename user script (G)
6147 This is the full pathname to a script that will be run as root by
6149 smbd(8) under special circumstances described below.
6150 When a user with admin authority or SeAddUserPrivilege rights
6152 renames a user (e.g.: from the NT4 User Manager for Domains), this
6153 script will be run to rename the POSIX user. Two variables, %uold
6154 and %unew, will be substituted with the old and new usernames,
6155 respectively. The script should return 0 upon successful
6156 completion, and nonzero otherwise.
6157 Note
6159 The script has all responsibility to rename all the necessary
6160 data that is accessible in this posix method. This can mean
6161 different requirements for different backends. The tdbsam and
6162 smbpasswd backends will take care of the contents of their
6163 respective files, so the script is responsible only for
6164 changing the POSIX username, and other data that may required
6165 for your circumstances, such as home directory. Please also
6166 consider whether or not you need to rename the actual home
6167 directories themselves. The ldapsam backend will not make any
6168 changes, because of the potential issues with renaming the LDAP
6169 naming attribute. In this case the script is responsible for
6170 changing the attribute that samba uses (uid) for locating
6171 users, as well as any data that needs to change for other
6172 applications using the same directory.
6173 Default: rename user script = no
6174 reset on zero vc (G)
6176 This boolean option controls whether an incoming session setup
6178 should kill other connections coming from the same IP. This matches
6179 the default Windows 2003 behaviour. Setting this parameter to yes
6180 becomes necessary when you have a flaky network and windows decides
6181 to reconnect while the old connection still has files with share
6182 modes open. These files become inaccessible over the new
6183 connection. The client sends a zero VC on the new connection, and
6184 Windows 2003 kills all other connections coming from the same IP.
6185 This way the locked files are accessible again. Please be aware
6186 that enabling this option will kill connections behind a
6187 masquerading router.
6188 Default: reset on zero vc = no
6190 restrict anonymous (G)
6192 The setting of this parameter determines whether user and group
6194 list information is returned for an anonymous connection. and
6195 mirrors the effects of the
6196 HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
6198 Control\LSA\RestrictAnonymous
6199 registry key in Windows 2000 and Windows NT. When set to 0, user
6201 and group list information is returned to anyone who asks. When set
6202 to 1, only an authenticated user can retrive user and group list
6203 information. For the value 2, supported by Windows 2000/XP and
6204 Samba, no anonymous connections are allowed at all. This can break
6205 third party and Microsoft applications which expect to be allowed
6206 to perform operations anonymously.
6207 The security advantage of using restrict anonymous = 1 is dubious,
6209 as user and group list information can be obtained using other
6210 means.
6211 Note
6213 The security advantage of using restrict anonymous = 2 is
6214 removed by setting guest ok = yes on any share.
6215 Default: restrict anonymous = 0
6216 root
6218 This parameter is a synonym for root directory.
6220 root dir
6222 This parameter is a synonym for root directory.
6224 root directory (G)
6226 The server will chroot() (i.e. Change its root directory) to this
6228 directory on startup. This is not strictly necessary for secure
6229 operation. Even without it the server will deny access to files not
6230 in one of the service entries. It may also check for, and deny
6231 access to, soft links to other parts of the filesystem, or attempts
6232 to use ".." in file names to access other directories (depending on
6233 the setting of the wide smbconfoptions parameter).
6234 Adding a root directory entry other than "/" adds an extra level of
6236 security, but at a price. It absolutely ensures that no access is
6237 given to files not in the sub-tree specified in the root directory
6238 option, including some files needed for complete operation of the
6239 server. To maintain full operability of the server you will need to
6240 mirror some system files into the root directory tree. In
6241 particular you will need to mirror /etc/passwd (or a subset of it),
6242 and any binaries or configuration files needed for printing (if
6243 required). The set of files that must be mirrored is operating
6244 system dependent.
6245 Default: root directory = /
6247 Example: root directory = /homes/smb
6249 root postexec (S)
6251 This is the same as the postexec parameter except that the command
6253 is run as root. This is useful for unmounting filesystems (such as
6254 CDROMs) after a connection is closed.
6255 Default: root postexec =
6257 root preexec close (S)
6259 This is the same as the preexec close parameter except that the
6261 command is run as root.
6262 Default: root preexec close = no
6264 root preexec (S)
6266 This is the same as the preexec parameter except that the command
6268 is run as root. This is useful for mounting filesystems (such as
6269 CDROMs) when a connection is opened.
6270 Default: root preexec =
6272 security mask (S)
6274 This parameter controls what UNIX permission bits will be set when
6276 a Windows NT client is manipulating the UNIX permission on a file
6277 using the native NT security dialog box.
6278 This parameter is applied as a mask (AND´ed with) to the incoming
6280 permission bits, thus resetting any bits not in this mask. Make
6281 sure not to mix up this parameter with force security mode, which
6282 works in a manner similar to this one but uses a logical OR instead
6283 of an AND.
6284 Essentially, all bits set to zero in this mask will result in
6286 setting to zero the corresponding bits on the file permissions
6287 regardless of the previous status of this bits on the file.
6288 If not set explicitly this parameter is 0777, allowing a user to
6290 set all the user/group/world permissions on a file.
6291 Note that users who can access the Samba server through other
6293 means can easily bypass this restriction, so it is primarily useful
6294 for standalone "appliance" systems. Administrators of most normal
6295 systems will probably want to leave it set to 0777.
6296 Default: security mask = 0777
6298 Example: security mask = 0770
6300 security (G)
6302 This option affects how clients respond to Samba and is one of the
6304 most important settings in the smb.conf file.
6305 The option sets the "security mode bit" in replies to protocol
6307 negotiations with smbd(8) to turn share level security on or off.
6308 Clients decide based on this bit whether (and how) to transfer user
6309 and password information to the server.
6310 The default is security = user, as this is the most common setting
6312 needed when talking to Windows 98 and Windows NT.
6313 The alternatives are security = share, security = server or
6315 security = domain.
6316 In versions of Samba prior to 2.0.0, the default was security =
6318 share mainly because that was the only option at one stage.
6319 There is a bug in WfWg that has relevance to this setting. When in
6321 user or server level security a WfWg client will totally ignore the
6322 username and password you type in the "connect drive" dialog box.
6323 This makes it very difficult (if not impossible) to connect to a
6324 Samba service as anyone except the user that you are logged into
6325 WfWg as.
6326 If your PCs use usernames that are the same as their usernames on
6328 the UNIX machine then you will want to use security = user. If you
6329 mostly use usernames that don´t exist on the UNIX box then use
6330 security = share.
6331 You should also use security = share if you want to mainly setup
6333 shares without a password (guest shares). This is commonly used for
6334 a shared printer server. It is more difficult to setup guest shares
6335 with security = user, see the map to guest parameter for details.
6336 It is possible to use smbd in a
6338 hybrid mode where it is offers both user and share level security
6339 under different NetBIOS aliases.
6340 The different settings will now be explained.
6342 SECURITY = SHARE
6344 When clients connect to a share level security server, they need
6346 not log onto the server with a valid username and password before
6347 attempting to connect to a shared resource (although modern clients
6348 such as Windows 95/98 and Windows NT will send a logon request with
6349 a username but no password when talking to a security = share
6350 server). Instead, the clients send authentication information
6351 (passwords) on a per-share basis, at the time they attempt to
6352 connect to that share.
6353 Note that smbd ALWAYS uses a valid UNIX user to act on behalf of
6355 the client, even in security = share level security.
6356 As clients are not required to send a username to the server in
6358 share level security, smbd uses several techniques to determine the
6359 correct UNIX user to use on behalf of the client.
6360 A list of possible UNIX usernames to match with the given client
6362 password is constructed using the following methods :
6363 · If the guest only parameter is set, then all the other stages
6365 are missed and only the guest account username is checked.
6366 · Is a username is sent with the share connection request, then
6368 this username (after mapping - see username map), is added as a
6369 potential username.
6370 · If the client did a previous logon request (the SessionSetup
6372 SMB call) then the username sent in this SMB will be added as a
6373 potential username.
6374 · The name of the service the client requested is added as a
6376 potential username.
6377 · The NetBIOS name of the client is added to the list as a
6379 potential username.
6380 · Any users on the user list are added as potential usernames.
6382 If the guest only parameter is not set, then this list is then
6384 tried with the supplied password. The first user for whom the
6385 password matches will be used as the UNIX user.
6386 If the guest only parameter is set, or no username can be
6388 determined then if the share is marked as available to the guest
6389 account, then this guest user will be used, otherwise access is
6390 denied.
6391 Note that it can be very confusing in share-level security as to
6393 which UNIX username will eventually be used in granting access.
6394 See also the section NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION.
6396 SECURITY = USER
6398 This is the default security setting in Samba 3.0. With user-level
6400 security a client must first "log-on" with a valid username and
6401 password (which can be mapped using the username map parameter).
6402 Encrypted passwords (see the encrypted passwords parameter) can
6403 also be used in this security mode. Parameters such as user and
6404 guest only if set are then applied and may change the UNIX user to
6405 use on this connection, but only after the user has been
6406 successfully authenticated.
6407 Note that the name of the resource being requested is not sent to
6409 the server until after the server has successfully authenticated
6410 the client. This is why guest shares don´t work in user level
6411 security without allowing the server to automatically map unknown
6412 users into the guest account. See the map to guest parameter for
6413 details on doing this.
6414 See also the section NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION.
6416 SECURITY = DOMAIN
6418 This mode will only work correctly if net(8) has been used to add
6420 this machine into a Windows NT Domain. It expects the encrypted
6421 passwords parameter to be set to yes. In this mode Samba will try
6422 to validate the username/password by passing it to a Windows NT
6423 Primary or Backup Domain Controller, in exactly the same way that a
6424 Windows NT Server would do.
6425 Note that a valid UNIX user must still exist as well as the account
6427 on the Domain Controller to allow Samba to have a valid UNIX
6428 account to map file access to.
6429 Note that from the client´s point of view security = domain is the
6431 same as security = user. It only affects how the server deals with
6432 the authentication, it does not in any way affect what the client
6433 sees.
6434 Note that the name of the resource being requested is not sent to
6436 the server until after the server has successfully authenticated
6437 the client. This is why guest shares don´t work in user level
6438 security without allowing the server to automatically map unknown
6439 users into the guest account. See the map to guest parameter for
6440 details on doing this.
6441 See also the section NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION.
6443 See also the password server parameter and the encrypted passwords
6445 parameter.
6446 SECURITY = SERVER
6448 In this mode Samba will try to validate the username/password by
6450 passing it to another SMB server, such as an NT box. If this fails
6451 it will revert to security = user. It expects the encrypted
6452 passwords parameter to be set to yes, unless the remote server does
6453 not support them. However note that if encrypted passwords have
6454 been negotiated then Samba cannot revert back to checking the UNIX
6455 password file, it must have a valid smbpasswd file to check users
6456 against. See the chapter about the User Database in the Samba HOWTO
6457 Collection for details on how to set this up.
6458 Note
6460 This mode of operation has significant pitfalls since it is
6461 more vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks and server
6462 impersonation. In particular, this mode of operation can cause
6463 significant resource consuption on the PDC, as it must maintain
6464 an active connection for the duration of the user´s session.
6465 Furthermore, if this connection is lost, there is no way to
6466 reestablish it, and futher authentications to the Samba server
6467 may fail (from a single client, till it disconnects).
6468 Note
6470 From the client´s point of view, security = server is the same
6471 as security = user. It only affects how the server deals with
6472 the authentication, it does not in any way affect what the
6473 client sees.
6474 Note that the name of the resource being requested is not sent to
6475 the server until after the server has successfully authenticated
6476 the client. This is why guest shares don´t work in user level
6477 security without allowing the server to automatically map unknown
6478 users into the guest account. See the map to guest parameter for
6479 details on doing this.
6480 See also the section NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION.
6482 See also the password server parameter and the encrypted passwords
6484 parameter.
6485 SECURITY = ADS
6487 In this mode, Samba will act as a domain member in an ADS realm. To
6489 operate in this mode, the machine running Samba will need to have
6490 Kerberos installed and configured and Samba will need to be joined
6491 to the ADS realm using the net utility.
6492 Note that this mode does NOT make Samba operate as a Active
6494 Directory Domain Controller.
6495 Read the chapter about Domain Membership in the HOWTO for details.
6497 Default: security = USER
6499 Example: security = DOMAIN
6501 server schannel (G)
6503 This controls whether the server offers or even demands the use of
6505 the netlogon schannel. server schannel = no does not offer the
6506 schannel, server schannel = auto offers the schannel but does not
6507 enforce it, and server schannel = yes denies access if the client
6508 is not able to speak netlogon schannel. This is only the case for
6509 Windows NT4 before SP4.
6510 Please note that with this set to no, you will have to apply the
6512 WindowsXP WinXP_SignOrSeal.reg registry patch found in the
6513 docs/registry subdirectory of the Samba distribution tarball.
6514 Default: server schannel = auto
6516 Example: server schannel = yes
6518 server signing (G)
6520 This controls whether the client is allowed or required to use SMB
6522 signing. Possible values are auto, mandatory and disabled.
6523 When set to auto, SMB signing is offered, but not enforced. When
6525 set to mandatory, SMB signing is required and if set to disabled,
6526 SMB signing is not offered either.
6527 Default: server signing = Disabled
6529 server string (G)
6531 This controls what string will show up in the printer comment box
6533 in print manager and next to the IPC connection in net view. It can
6534 be any string that you wish to show to your users.
6535 It also sets what will appear in browse lists next to the machine
6537 name.
6538 A %v will be replaced with the Samba version number.
6540 A %h will be replaced with the hostname.
6542 Default: server string = Samba %v
6544 Example: server string = University of GNUs Samba Server
6546 set directory (S)
6548 If set directory = no, then users of the service may not use the
6550 setdir command to change directory.
6551 The setdir command is only implemented in the Digital Pathworks
6553 client. See the Pathworks documentation for details.
6554 Default: set directory = no
6556 set primary group script (G)
6558 Thanks to the Posix subsystem in NT a Windows User has a primary
6560 group in addition to the auxiliary groups. This script sets the
6561 primary group in the unix userdatase when an administrator sets the
6562 primary group from the windows user manager or when fetching a SAM
6563 with net rpc vampire. %u will be replaced with the user whose
6564 primary group is to be set. %g will be replaced with the group to
6565 set.
6566 Default: set primary group script =
6568 Example: set primary group script = /usr/sbin/usermod -g ´%g´ ´%u´
6570 set quota command (G)
6572 The set quota command should only be used whenever there is no
6574 operating system API available from the OS that samba can use.
6575 This option is only available if Samba was configured with the
6577 argument --with-sys-quotas or on linux when ./configure
6578 --with-quotas was used and a working quota api was found in the
6579 system. Most packages are configured with these options already.
6580 This parameter should specify the path to a script that can set
6582 quota for the specified arguments.
6583 The specified script should take the following arguments:
6585 · 1 - quota type
6587 · 1 - user quotas
6589 · 2 - user default quotas (uid = -1)
6591 · 3 - group quotas
6593 · 4 - group default quotas (gid = -1)
6595 · 2 - id (uid for user, gid for group, -1 if N/A)
6598 · 3 - quota state (0 = disable, 1 = enable, 2 = enable and
6600 enforce)
6601 · 4 - block softlimit
6603 · 5 - block hardlimit
6605 · 6 - inode softlimit
6607 · 7 - inode hardlimit
6609 · 8(optional) - block size, defaults to 1024
6611 The script should output at least one line of data on success. And
6613 nothing on failure.
6614 Default: set quota command =
6616 Example: set quota command = /usr/local/sbin/set_quota
6618 share:fake_fscaps (G)
6620 This is needed to support some special application that makes
6622 QFSINFO calls to check whether we set the SPARSE_FILES bit (0x40).
6623 If this bit is not set that particular application refuses to work
6624 against Samba. With share:fake_fscaps = 64 the SPARSE_FILES file
6625 system capability flag is set. Use other decimal values to specify
6626 the bitmask you need to fake.
6627 Default: share:fake_fscaps = 0
6629 share modes (S)
6631 This enables or disables the honoring of the share modes during a
6633 file open. These modes are used by clients to gain exclusive read
6634 or write access to a file.
6635 This is a deprecated option from old versions of Samba, and will be
6637 removed in the next major release.
6638 These open modes are not directly supported by UNIX, so they are
6640 simulated using shared memory.
6641 The share modes that are enabled by this option are the standard
6643 Windows share modes.
6644 This option gives full share compatibility and is enabled by
6646 default.
6647 You should NEVER turn this parameter off as many Windows
6649 applications will break if you do so.
6650 Default: share modes = yes
6652 short preserve case (S)
6654 This boolean parameter controls if new files which conform to 8.3
6656 syntax, that is all in upper case and of suitable length, are
6657 created upper case, or if they are forced to be the default case.
6658 This option can be use with preserve case = yes to permit long
6659 filenames to retain their case, while short names are lowered.
6660 See the section on NAME MANGLING.
6662 Default: short preserve case = yes
6664 show add printer wizard (G)
6666 With the introduction of MS-RPC based printing support for Windows
6668 NT/2000 client in Samba 2.2, a "Printers..." folder will appear on
6669 Samba hosts in the share listing. Normally this folder will contain
6670 an icon for the MS Add Printer Wizard (APW). However, it is
6671 possible to disable this feature regardless of the level of
6672 privilege of the connected user.
6673 Under normal circumstances, the Windows NT/2000 client will open a
6675 handle on the printer server with OpenPrinterEx() asking for
6676 Administrator privileges. If the user does not have administrative
6677 access on the print server (i.e is not root or a member of the
6678 printer admin group), the OpenPrinterEx() call fails and the client
6679 makes another open call with a request for a lower privilege level.
6680 This should succeed, however the APW icon will not be displayed.
6681 Disabling the show add printer wizard parameter will always cause
6683 the OpenPrinterEx() on the server to fail. Thus the APW icon will
6684 never be displayed.
6685 Note
6687 This does not prevent the same user from having administrative
6688 privilege on an individual printer.
6689 Default: show add printer wizard = yes
6690 shutdown script (G)
6692 This a full path name to a script called by smbd(8) that should
6694 start a shutdown procedure.
6695 If the connected user posseses the SeRemoteShutdownPrivilege,
6697 right, this command will be run as root.
6698 The %z %t %r %f variables are expanded as follows:
6700 · %z will be substituted with the shutdown message sent to the
6702 server.
6703 · %t will be substituted with the number of seconds to wait
6705 before effectively starting the shutdown procedure.
6706 · %r will be substituted with the switch -r. It means reboot
6708 after shutdown for NT.
6709 · %f will be substituted with the switch -f. It means force the
6711 shutdown even if applications do not respond for NT.
6712 Shutdown script example:
6714 #!/bin/bash
6716 time=$2
6718 let time="${time} / 60"
6719 let time="${time} + 1"
6720 /sbin/shutdown $3 $4 +$time $1 &
6722 Shutdown does not return so we need to launch it in background.
6725 Default: shutdown script =
6727 Example: shutdown script = /usr/local/samba/sbin/shutdown %m %t %r
6729 %f
6730 smb encrypt (S)
6732 This is a new feature introduced with Samba 3.2 and above. It is an
6734 extension to the SMB/CIFS protocol negotiated as part of the UNIX
6735 extensions. SMB encryption uses the GSSAPI (SSPI on Windows)
6736 ability to encrypt and sign every request/response in a SMB
6737 protocol stream. When enabled it provides a secure method of
6738 SMB/CIFS communication, similar to an ssh protected session, but
6739 using SMB/CIFS authentication to negotiate encryption and signing
6740 keys. Currently this is only supported by Samba 3.2 smbclient, and
6741 hopefully soon Linux CIFSFS and MacOS/X clients. Windows clients do
6742 not support this feature.
6743 This controls whether the remote client is allowed or required to
6745 use SMB encryption. Possible values are auto, mandatory and
6746 disabled. This may be set on a per-share basis, but clients may
6747 chose to encrypt the entire session, not just traffic to a specific
6748 share. If this is set to mandatory then all traffic to a share must
6749 must be encrypted once the connection has been made to the share.
6750 The server would return "access denied" to all non-encrypted
6751 requests on such a share. Selecting encrypted traffic reduces
6752 throughput as smaller packet sizes must be used (no huge UNIX style
6753 read/writes allowed) as well as the overhead of encrypting and
6754 signing all the data.
6755 If SMB encryption is selected, Windows style SMB signing (see the
6757 server signing option) is no longer necessary, as the GSSAPI flags
6758 use select both signing and sealing of the data.
6759 When set to auto, SMB encryption is offered, but not enforced. When
6761 set to mandatory, SMB encryption is required and if set to
6762 disabled, SMB encryption can not be negotiated.
6763 Default: smb encrypt = auto
6765 smb passwd file (G)
6767 This option sets the path to the encrypted smbpasswd file. By
6769 default the path to the smbpasswd file is compiled into Samba.
6770 An example of use is:
6772 smb passwd file = /etc/samba/smbpasswd
6774 Default: smb passwd file = ${prefix}/private/smbpasswd
6776 smb ports (G)
6778 Specifies which ports the server should listen on for SMB traffic.
6780 Default: smb ports = 445 139
6782 socket address (G)
6784 This option allows you to control what address Samba will listen
6786 for connections on. This is used to support multiple virtual
6787 interfaces on the one server, each with a different configuration.
6788 Setting this option should never be necessary on usual Samba
6790 servers running only one nmbd.
6791 By default Samba will accept connections on any address.
6793 Default: socket address =
6795 Example: socket address = 192.168.2.20
6797 socket options (G)
6799 This option allows you to set socket options to be used when
6801 talking with the client.
6802 Socket options are controls on the networking layer of the
6804 operating systems which allow the connection to be tuned.
6805 This option will typically be used to tune your Samba server for
6807 optimal performance for your local network. There is no way that
6808 Samba can know what the optimal parameters are for your net, so you
6809 must experiment and choose them yourself. We strongly suggest you
6810 read the appropriate documentation for your operating system first
6811 (perhaps man setsockopt will help).
6812 You may find that on some systems Samba will say "Unknown socket
6814 option" when you supply an option. This means you either
6815 incorrectly typed it or you need to add an include file to
6816 includes.h for your OS. If the latter is the case please send the
6817 patch to samba-technical@samba.org.
6818 Any of the supported socket options may be combined in any way you
6820 like, as long as your OS allows it.
6821 This is the list of socket options currently settable using this
6823 option:
6824 · SO_KEEPALIVE
6826 · SO_REUSEADDR
6828 · SO_BROADCAST
6830 · TCP_NODELAY
6832 · IPTOS_LOWDELAY
6834 · IPTOS_THROUGHPUT
6836 · SO_SNDBUF *
6838 · SO_RCVBUF *
6840 · SO_SNDLOWAT *
6842 · SO_RCVLOWAT *
6844 Those marked with a ´*´ take an integer argument. The others can
6846 optionally take a 1 or 0 argument to enable or disable the option,
6847 by default they will be enabled if you don´t specify 1 or 0.
6848 To specify an argument use the syntax SOME_OPTION = VALUE for
6850 example SO_SNDBUF = 8192. Note that you must not have any spaces
6851 before or after the = sign.
6852 If you are on a local network then a sensible option might be:
6854 socket options = IPTOS_LOWDELAY
6856 If you have a local network then you could try:
6858 socket options = IPTOS_LOWDELAY TCP_NODELAY
6860 If you are on a wide area network then perhaps try setting
6862 IPTOS_THROUGHPUT.
6863 Note that several of the options may cause your Samba server to
6865 fail completely. Use these options with caution!
6866 Default: socket options = TCP_NODELAY
6868 Example: socket options = IPTOS_LOWDELAY
6870 stat cache (G)
6872 This parameter determines if smbd(8) will use a cache in order to
6874 speed up case insensitive name mappings. You should never need to
6875 change this parameter.
6876 Default: stat cache = yes
6878 state directory (G)
6880 Usually, most of the TDB files are stored in the lock directory.
6882 Since Samba 3.4.0, it is possible to differentiate between TDB
6883 files with persistent data and TDB files with non-persistent data
6884 using the state directory and the cache directory options.
6885 This option specifies the directory where TDB files containing
6887 persistent data will be stored.
6888 Default: state directory = ${prefix}/var/locks
6890 Example: state directory = /var/run/samba/locks/state
6892 store dos attributes (S)
6894 If this parameter is set Samba attempts to first read DOS
6896 attributes (SYSTEM, HIDDEN, ARCHIVE or READ-ONLY) from a filesystem
6897 extended attribute, before mapping DOS attributes to UNIX
6898 permission bits (such as occurs with map hidden and map readonly).
6899 When set, DOS attributes will be stored onto an extended attribute
6900 in the UNIX filesystem, associated with the file or directory. For
6901 no other mapping to occur as a fall-back, the parameters map
6902 hidden, map system, map archive and map readonly must be set to
6903 off. This parameter writes the DOS attributes as a string into the
6904 extended attribute named "user.DOSATTRIB". This extended attribute
6905 is explicitly hidden from smbd clients requesting an EA list. On
6906 Linux the filesystem must have been mounted with the mount option
6907 user_xattr in order for extended attributes to work, also extended
6908 attributes must be compiled into the Linux kernel. In Samba 3.5.0
6909 and above the "user.DOSATTRIB" extended attribute has been extended
6910 to store the create time for a file as well as the DOS attributes.
6911 This is done in a backwards compatible way so files created by
6912 Samba 3.5.0 and above can still have the DOS attribute read from
6913 this extended attribute by earlier versions of Samba, but they will
6914 not be able to read the create time stored there. Storing the
6915 create time separately from the normal filesystem meta-data allows
6916 Samba to faithfully reproduce NTFS semantics on top of a POSIX
6917 filesystem.
6918 Default: store dos attributes = no
6920 strict allocate (S)
6922 This is a boolean that controls the handling of disk space
6924 allocation in the server. When this is set to yes the server will
6925 change from UNIX behaviour of not committing real disk storage
6926 blocks when a file is extended to the Windows behaviour of actually
6927 forcing the disk system to allocate real storage blocks when a file
6928 is created or extended to be a given size. In UNIX terminology this
6929 means that Samba will stop creating sparse files. This can be slow
6930 on some systems. When you work with large files like >100MB or so
6931 you may even run into problems with clients running into timeouts.
6932 When you have an extent based filesystem it´s likely that we can
6934 make use of unwritten extents which allows Samba to allocate even
6935 large amounts of space very fast and you will not see any timeout
6936 problems caused by strict allocate. With strict allocate in use you
6937 will also get much better out of quota messages in case you use
6938 quotas. Another advantage of activating this setting is that it
6939 will help to reduce file fragmentation.
6940 To give you an idea on which filesystems this setting might
6942 currently be a good option for you: XFS, ext4, btrfs, ocfs2 on
6943 Linux and JFS2 on AIX support unwritten extents. On Filesystems
6944 that do not support it, preallocation is probably an expensive
6945 operation where you will see reduced performance and risk to let
6946 clients run into timeouts when creating large files. Examples are
6947 ext3, ZFS, HFS+ and most others, so be aware if you activate this
6948 setting on those filesystems.
6949 Default: strict allocate = no
6951 strict locking (S)
6953 This is an enumerated type that controls the handling of file
6955 locking in the server. When this is set to yes, the server will
6956 check every read and write access for file locks, and deny access
6957 if locks exist. This can be slow on some systems.
6958 When strict locking is set to Auto (the default), the server
6960 performs file lock checks only on non-oplocked files. As most
6961 Windows redirectors perform file locking checks locally on oplocked
6962 files this is a good trade off for improved performance.
6963 When strict locking is disabled, the server performs file lock
6965 checks only when the client explicitly asks for them.
6966 Well-behaved clients always ask for lock checks when it is
6968 important. So in the vast majority of cases, strict locking = Auto
6969 or strict locking = no is acceptable.
6970 Default: strict locking = Auto
6972 strict sync (S)
6974 Many Windows applications (including the Windows 98 explorer shell)
6976 seem to confuse flushing buffer contents to disk with doing a sync
6977 to disk. Under UNIX, a sync call forces the process to be suspended
6978 until the kernel has ensured that all outstanding data in kernel
6979 disk buffers has been safely stored onto stable storage. This is
6980 very slow and should only be done rarely. Setting this parameter to
6981 no (the default) means that smbd(8) ignores the Windows
6982 applications requests for a sync call. There is only a possibility
6983 of losing data if the operating system itself that Samba is running
6984 on crashes, so there is little danger in this default setting. In
6985 addition, this fixes many performance problems that people have
6986 reported with the new Windows98 explorer shell file copies.
6987 Default: strict sync = no
6989 svcctl list (G)
6991 This option defines a list of init scripts that smbd will use for
6993 starting and stopping Unix services via the Win32 ServiceControl
6994 API. This allows Windows administrators to utilize the MS
6995 Management Console plug-ins to manage a Unix server running Samba.
6996 The administrator must create a directory name svcctl in Samba´s
6998 $(libdir) and create symbolic links to the init scripts in
6999 /etc/init.d/. The name of the links must match the names given as
7000 part of the svcctl list.
7001 Default: svcctl list =
7003 Example: svcctl list = cups postfix portmap httpd
7005 sync always (S)
7007 This is a boolean parameter that controls whether writes will
7009 always be written to stable storage before the write call returns.
7010 If this is no then the server will be guided by the client´s
7011 request in each write call (clients can set a bit indicating that a
7012 particular write should be synchronous). If this is yes then every
7013 write will be followed by a fsync() call to ensure the data is
7014 written to disk. Note that the strict sync parameter must be set to
7015 yes in order for this parameter to have any effect.
7016 Default: sync always = no
7018 syslog only (G)
7020 If this parameter is set then Samba debug messages are logged into
7022 the system syslog only, and not to the debug log files. There still
7023 will be some logging to log.[sn]mbd even if syslog only is enabled.
7024 Default: syslog only = no
7026 syslog (G)
7028 This parameter maps how Samba debug messages are logged onto the
7030 system syslog logging levels. Samba debug level zero maps onto
7031 syslog LOG_ERR, debug level one maps onto LOG_WARNING, debug level
7032 two maps onto LOG_NOTICE, debug level three maps onto LOG_INFO. All
7033 higher levels are mapped to LOG_DEBUG.
7034 This parameter sets the threshold for sending messages to syslog.
7036 Only messages with debug level less than this value will be sent to
7037 syslog. There still will be some logging to log.[sn]mbd even if
7038 syslog only is enabled.
7039 Default: syslog = 1
7041 template homedir (G)
7043 When filling out the user information for a Windows NT user, the
7045 winbindd(8) daemon uses this parameter to fill in the home
7046 directory for that user. If the string %D is present it is
7047 substituted with the user´s Windows NT domain name. If the string
7048 %U is present it is substituted with the user´s Windows NT user
7049 name.
7050 Default: template homedir = /home/%D/%U
7052 template shell (G)
7054 When filling out the user information for a Windows NT user, the
7056 winbindd(8) daemon uses this parameter to fill in the login shell
7057 for that user.
7058 No default
7060 time offset (G)
7062 This parameter is a setting in minutes to add to the normal GMT to
7064 local time conversion. This is useful if you are serving a lot of
7065 PCs that have incorrect daylight saving time handling.
7066 Default: time offset = 0
7068 Example: time offset = 60
7070 time server (G)
7072 This parameter determines if nmbd(8) advertises itself as a time
7074 server to Windows clients.
7075 Default: time server = no
7077 unix charset (G)
7079 Specifies the charset the unix machine Samba runs on uses. Samba
7081 needs to know this in order to be able to convert text to the
7082 charsets other SMB clients use.
7083 This is also the charset Samba will use when specifying arguments
7085 to scripts that it invokes.
7086 Default: unix charset = UTF8
7088 Example: unix charset = ASCII
7090 unix extensions (G)
7092 This boolean parameter controls whether Samba implements the CIFS
7094 UNIX extensions, as defined by HP. These extensions enable Samba to
7095 better serve UNIX CIFS clients by supporting features such as
7096 symbolic links, hard links, etc... These extensions require a
7097 similarly enabled client, and are of no current use to Windows
7098 clients.
7099 Note if this parameter is turned on, the wide links parameter will
7101 automatically be disabled.
7102 Default: unix extensions = yes
7104 unix password sync (G)
7106 This boolean parameter controls whether Samba attempts to
7108 synchronize the UNIX password with the SMB password when the
7109 encrypted SMB password in the smbpasswd file is changed. If this is
7110 set to yes the program specified in the passwd program parameter is
7111 called AS ROOT - to allow the new UNIX password to be set without
7112 access to the old UNIX password (as the SMB password change code
7113 has no access to the old password cleartext, only the new).
7114 Default: unix password sync = no
7116 update encrypted (G)
7118 This boolean parameter allows a user logging on with a plaintext
7120 password to have their encrypted (hashed) password in the smbpasswd
7121 file to be updated automatically as they log on. This option allows
7122 a site to migrate from plaintext password authentication (users
7123 authenticate with plaintext password over the wire, and are checked
7124 against a UNIX account database) to encrypted password
7125 authentication (the SMB challenge/response authentication
7126 mechanism) without forcing all users to re-enter their passwords
7127 via smbpasswd at the time the change is made. This is a convenience
7128 option to allow the change over to encrypted passwords to be made
7129 over a longer period. Once all users have encrypted representations
7130 of their passwords in the smbpasswd file this parameter should be
7131 set to no.
7132 In order for this parameter to be operative the encrypt passwords
7134 parameter must be set to no. The default value of encrypt passwords
7135 = Yes. Note: This must be set to no for this update encrypted to
7136 work.
7137 Note that even when this parameter is set, a user authenticating to
7139 smbd must still enter a valid password in order to connect
7140 correctly, and to update their hashed (smbpasswd) passwords.
7141 Default: update encrypted = no
7143 use client driver (S)
7145 This parameter applies only to Windows NT/2000 clients. It has no
7147 effect on Windows 95/98/ME clients. When serving a printer to
7148 Windows NT/2000 clients without first installing a valid printer
7149 driver on the Samba host, the client will be required to install a
7150 local printer driver. From this point on, the client will treat the
7151 print as a local printer and not a network printer connection. This
7152 is much the same behavior that will occur when disable spoolss =
7153 yes.
7154 The differentiating factor is that under normal circumstances, the
7156 NT/2000 client will attempt to open the network printer using
7157 MS-RPC. The problem is that because the client considers the
7158 printer to be local, it will attempt to issue the OpenPrinterEx()
7159 call requesting access rights associated with the logged on user.
7160 If the user possesses local administator rights but not root
7161 privilege on the Samba host (often the case), the OpenPrinterEx()
7162 call will fail. The result is that the client will now display an
7163 "Access Denied; Unable to connect" message in the printer queue
7164 window (even though jobs may successfully be printed).
7165 If this parameter is enabled for a printer, then any attempt to
7167 open the printer with the PRINTER_ACCESS_ADMINISTER right is mapped
7168 to PRINTER_ACCESS_USE instead. Thus allowing the OpenPrinterEx()
7169 call to succeed. This parameter MUST not be enabled on a print
7170 share which has valid print driver installed on the Samba server.
7171 Default: use client driver = no
7173 use mmap (G)
7175 This global parameter determines if the tdb internals of Samba can
7177 depend on mmap working correctly on the running system. Samba
7178 requires a coherent mmap/read-write system memory cache. Currently
7179 only HPUX does not have such a coherent cache, and so this
7180 parameter is set to no by default on HPUX. On all other systems
7181 this parameter should be left alone. This parameter is provided to
7182 help the Samba developers track down problems with the tdb internal
7183 code.
7184 Default: use mmap = yes
7186 username level (G)
7188 This option helps Samba to try and ´guess´ at the real UNIX
7190 username, as many DOS clients send an all-uppercase username. By
7191 default Samba tries all lowercase, followed by the username with
7192 the first letter capitalized, and fails if the username is not
7193 found on the UNIX machine.
7194 If this parameter is set to non-zero the behavior changes. This
7196 parameter is a number that specifies the number of uppercase
7197 combinations to try while trying to determine the UNIX user name.
7198 The higher the number the more combinations will be tried, but the
7199 slower the discovery of usernames will be. Use this parameter when
7200 you have strange usernames on your UNIX machine, such as
7201 AstrangeUser .
7202 This parameter is needed only on UNIX systems that have case
7204 sensitive usernames.
7205 Default: username level = 0
7207 Example: username level = 5
7209 username map script (G)
7211 This script is a mutually exclusive alternative to the username map
7213 parameter. This parameter specifies and external program or script
7214 that must accept a single command line option (the username
7215 transmitted in the authentication request) and return a line line
7216 on standard output (the name to which the account should mapped).
7217 In this way, it is possible to store username map tables in an LDAP
7218 or NIS directory services.
7219 Default: username map script =
7221 Example: username map script = /etc/samba/scripts/mapusers.sh
7223 username map (G)
7225 This option allows you to specify a file containing a mapping of
7227 usernames from the clients to the server. This can be used for
7228 several purposes. The most common is to map usernames that users
7229 use on DOS or Windows machines to those that the UNIX box uses. The
7230 other is to map multiple users to a single username so that they
7231 can more easily share files.
7232 Please note that for user or share mode security, the username map
7234 is applied prior to validating the user credentials. Domain member
7235 servers (domain or ads) apply the username map after the user has
7236 been successfully authenticated by the domain controller and
7237 require fully qualified enties in the map table (e.g. biddle =
7238 DOMAIN\foo).
7239 The map file is parsed line by line. Each line should contain a
7241 single UNIX username on the left then a ´=´ followed by a list of
7242 usernames on the right. The list of usernames on the right may
7243 contain names of the form @group in which case they will match any
7244 UNIX username in that group. The special client name ´*´ is a
7245 wildcard and matches any name. Each line of the map file may be up
7246 to 1023 characters long.
7247 The file is processed on each line by taking the supplied username
7249 and comparing it with each username on the right hand side of the
7250 ´=´ signs. If the supplied name matches any of the names on the
7251 right hand side then it is replaced with the name on the left.
7252 Processing then continues with the next line.
7253 If any line begins with a ´#´ or a ´;´ then it is ignored.
7255 If any line begins with an ´!´ then the processing will stop after
7257 that line if a mapping was done by the line. Otherwise mapping
7258 continues with every line being processed. Using ´!´ is most useful
7259 when you have a wildcard mapping line later in the file.
7260 For example to map from the name admin or administrator to the UNIX
7262 name
7263 root you would use:
7264 root = admin administrator
7266 Or to map anyone in the UNIX group system to the UNIX name sys you
7268 would use:
7269 sys = @system
7271 You can have as many mappings as you like in a username map file.
7273 If your system supports the NIS NETGROUP option then the netgroup
7275 database is checked before the /etc/group database for matching
7276 groups.
7277 You can map Windows usernames that have spaces in them by using
7279 double quotes around the name. For example:
7280 tridge = "Andrew Tridgell"
7282 would map the windows username "Andrew Tridgell" to the unix
7284 username "tridge".
7285 The following example would map mary and fred to the unix user sys,
7287 and map the rest to guest. Note the use of the ´!´ to tell Samba to
7288 stop processing if it gets a match on that line:
7289 !sys = mary fred
7291 guest = *
7292 Note that the remapping is applied to all occurrences of usernames.
7294 Thus if you connect to \\server\fred and fred is remapped to mary
7295 then you will actually be connecting to \\server\mary and will need
7296 to supply a password suitable for mary not fred. The only exception
7297 to this is the username passed to the password server (if you have
7298 one). The password server will receive whatever username the client
7299 supplies without modification.
7300 Also note that no reverse mapping is done. The main effect this has
7302 is with printing. Users who have been mapped may have trouble
7303 deleting print jobs as PrintManager under WfWg will think they
7304 don´t own the print job.
7305 Samba versions prior to 3.0.8 would only support reading the fully
7307 qualified username (e.g.: DOMAIN\user) from the username map when
7308 performing a kerberos login from a client. However, when looking up
7309 a map entry for a user authenticated by NTLM[SSP], only the login
7310 name would be used for matches. This resulted in inconsistent
7311 behavior sometimes even on the same server.
7312 The following functionality is obeyed in version 3.0.8 and later:
7314 When performing local authentication, the username map is applied
7316 to the login name before attempting to authenticate the connection.
7317 When relying upon a external domain controller for validating
7319 authentication requests, smbd will apply the username map to the
7320 fully qualified username (i.e. DOMAIN\user) only after the user
7321 has been successfully authenticated.
7322 An example of use is:
7324 username map = /usr/local/samba/lib/users.map
7326 Default: username map = # no username map
7328 user
7330 This parameter is a synonym for username.
7332 users
7334 This parameter is a synonym for username.
7336 username (S)
7338 Multiple users may be specified in a comma-delimited list, in which
7340 case the supplied password will be tested against each username in
7341 turn (left to right).
7342 The username line is needed only when the PC is unable to supply
7344 its own username. This is the case for the COREPLUS protocol or
7345 where your users have different WfWg usernames to UNIX usernames.
7346 In both these cases you may also be better using the
7347 \\server\share%user syntax instead.
7348 The username line is not a great solution in many cases as it means
7350 Samba will try to validate the supplied password against each of
7351 the usernames in the username line in turn. This is slow and a bad
7352 idea for lots of users in case of duplicate passwords. You may get
7353 timeouts or security breaches using this parameter unwisely.
7354 Samba relies on the underlying UNIX security. This parameter does
7356 not restrict who can login, it just offers hints to the Samba
7357 server as to what usernames might correspond to the supplied
7358 password. Users can login as whoever they please and they will be
7359 able to do no more damage than if they started a telnet session.
7360 The daemon runs as the user that they log in as, so they cannot do
7361 anything that user cannot do.
7362 To restrict a service to a particular set of users you can use the
7364 valid users parameter.
7365 If any of the usernames begin with a ´@´ then the name will be
7367 looked up first in the NIS netgroups list (if Samba is compiled
7368 with netgroup support), followed by a lookup in the UNIX groups
7369 database and will expand to a list of all users in the group of
7370 that name.
7371 If any of the usernames begin with a ´+´ then the name will be
7373 looked up only in the UNIX groups database and will expand to a
7374 list of all users in the group of that name.
7375 If any of the usernames begin with a ´&´ then the name will be
7377 looked up only in the NIS netgroups database (if Samba is compiled
7378 with netgroup support) and will expand to a list of all users in
7379 the netgroup group of that name.
7380 Note that searching though a groups database can take quite some
7382 time, and some clients may time out during the search.
7383 See the section NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION for more
7385 information on how this parameter determines access to the
7386 services.
7387 Default: username = # The guest account if a guest service, else
7389 <empty string>.
7390 Example: username = fred, mary, jack, jane, @users, @pcgroup
7392 usershare allow guests (G)
7394 This parameter controls whether user defined shares are allowed to
7396 be accessed by non-authenticated users or not. It is the equivalent
7397 of allowing people who can create a share the option of setting
7398 guest ok = yes in a share definition. Due to its security sensitive
7399 nature, the default is set to off.
7400 Default: usershare allow guests = no
7402 usershare max shares (G)
7404 This parameter specifies the number of user defined shares that are
7406 allowed to be created by users belonging to the group owning the
7407 usershare directory. If set to zero (the default) user defined
7408 shares are ignored.
7409 Default: usershare max shares = 0
7411 usershare owner only (G)
7413 This parameter controls whether the pathname exported by a user
7415 defined shares must be owned by the user creating the user defined
7416 share or not. If set to True (the default) then smbd checks that
7417 the directory path being shared is owned by the user who owns the
7418 usershare file defining this share and refuses to create the share
7419 if not. If set to False then no such check is performed and any
7420 directory path may be exported regardless of who owns it.
7421 Default: usershare owner only = True
7423 usershare path (G)
7425 This parameter specifies the absolute path of the directory on the
7427 filesystem used to store the user defined share definition files.
7428 This directory must be owned by root, and have no access for other,
7429 and be writable only by the group owner. In addition the "sticky"
7430 bit must also be set, restricting rename and delete to owners of a
7431 file (in the same way the /tmp directory is usually configured).
7432 Members of the group owner of this directory are the users allowed
7433 to create usershares. If this parameter is undefined then no user
7434 defined shares are allowed.
7435 For example, a valid usershare directory might be
7437 /usr/local/samba/lib/usershares, set up as follows.
7438 ls -ld /usr/local/samba/lib/usershares/
7442 drwxrwx--T 2 root power_users 4096 2006-05-05 12:27 /usr/local/samba/lib/usershares/
7443 In this case, only members of the group "power_users" can create
7446 user defined shares.
7447 Default: usershare path = NULL
7449 usershare prefix allow list (G)
7451 This parameter specifies a list of absolute pathnames the root of
7453 which are allowed to be exported by user defined share definitions.
7454 If the pathname to be exported doesn´t start with one of the
7455 strings in this list, the user defined share will not be allowed.
7456 This allows the Samba administrator to restrict the directories on
7457 the system that can be exported by user defined shares.
7458 If there is a "usershare prefix deny list" and also a "usershare
7460 prefix allow list" the deny list is processed first, followed by
7461 the allow list, thus leading to the most restrictive
7462 interpretation.
7463 Default: usershare prefix allow list = NULL
7465 Example: usershare prefix allow list = /home /data /space
7467 usershare prefix deny list (G)
7469 This parameter specifies a list of absolute pathnames the root of
7471 which are NOT allowed to be exported by user defined share
7472 definitions. If the pathname exported starts with one of the
7473 strings in this list the user defined share will not be allowed.
7474 Any pathname not starting with one of these strings will be allowed
7475 to be exported as a usershare. This allows the Samba administrator
7476 to restrict the directories on the system that can be exported by
7477 user defined shares.
7478 If there is a "usershare prefix deny list" and also a "usershare
7480 prefix allow list" the deny list is processed first, followed by
7481 the allow list, thus leading to the most restrictive
7482 interpretation.
7483 Default: usershare prefix deny list = NULL
7485 Example: usershare prefix deny list = /etc /dev /private
7487 usershare template share (G)
7489 User defined shares only have limited possible parameters such as
7491 path, guest ok, etc. This parameter allows usershares to "cloned"
7492 from an existing share. If "usershare template share" is set to the
7493 name of an existing share, then all usershares created have their
7494 defaults set from the parameters set on this share.
7495 The target share may be set to be invalid for real file sharing by
7497 setting the parameter "-valid = False" on the template share
7498 definition. This causes it not to be seen as a real exported share
7499 but to be able to be used as a template for usershares.
7500 Default: usershare template share = NULL
7502 Example: usershare template share = template_share
7504 use sendfile (S)
7506 If this parameter is yes, and the sendfile() system call is
7508 supported by the underlying operating system, then some SMB read
7509 calls (mainly ReadAndX and ReadRaw) will use the more efficient
7510 sendfile system call for files that are exclusively oplocked. This
7511 may make more efficient use of the system CPU´s and cause Samba to
7512 be faster. Samba automatically turns this off for clients that use
7513 protocol levels lower than NT LM 0.12 and when it detects a client
7514 is Windows 9x (using sendfile from Linux will cause these clients
7515 to fail).
7516 Default: use sendfile = false
7518 use spnego (G)
7520 This variable controls controls whether samba will try to use
7522 Simple and Protected NEGOciation (as specified by rfc2478) with
7523 WindowsXP and Windows2000 clients to agree upon an authentication
7524 mechanism.
7525 Unless further issues are discovered with our SPNEGO
7527 implementation, there is no reason this should ever be disabled.
7528 Default: use spnego = yes
7530 utmp directory (G)
7532 This parameter is only available if Samba has been configured and
7534 compiled with the option --with-utmp. It specifies a directory
7535 pathname that is used to store the utmp or utmpx files (depending
7536 on the UNIX system) that record user connections to a Samba server.
7537 By default this is not set, meaning the system will use whatever
7538 utmp file the native system is set to use (usually /var/run/utmp on
7539 Linux).
7540 Default: utmp directory = # Determined automatically
7542 Example: utmp directory = /var/run/utmp
7544 utmp (G)
7546 This boolean parameter is only available if Samba has been
7548 configured and compiled with the option --with-utmp. If set to yes
7549 then Samba will attempt to add utmp or utmpx records (depending on
7550 the UNIX system) whenever a connection is made to a Samba server.
7551 Sites may use this to record the user connecting to a Samba share.
7552 Due to the requirements of the utmp record, we are required to
7554 create a unique identifier for the incoming user. Enabling this
7555 option creates an n^2 algorithm to find this number. This may
7556 impede performance on large installations.
7557 Default: utmp = no
7559 valid users (S)
7561 This is a list of users that should be allowed to login to this
7563 service. Names starting with ´@´, ´+´ and ´&´ are interpreted using
7564 the same rules as described in the invalid users parameter.
7565 If this is empty (the default) then any user can login. If a
7567 username is in both this list and the invalid users list then
7568 access is denied for that user.
7569 The current servicename is substituted for %S. This is useful in
7571 the [homes] section.
7572 Default: valid users = # No valid users list (anyone can login)
7574 Example: valid users = greg, @pcusers
7576 -valid (S)
7578 This parameter indicates whether a share is valid and thus can be
7580 used. When this parameter is set to false, the share will be in no
7581 way visible nor accessible.
7582 This option should not be used by regular users but might be of
7584 help to developers. Samba uses this option internally to mark
7585 shares as deleted.
7586 Default: -valid = yes
7588 veto files (S)
7590 This is a list of files and directories that are neither visible
7592 nor accessible. Each entry in the list must be separated by a ´/´,
7593 which allows spaces to be included in the entry. ´*´ and ´?´ can be
7594 used to specify multiple files or directories as in DOS wildcards.
7595 Each entry must be a unix path, not a DOS path and must not include
7597 the unix directory separator ´/´.
7598 Note that the case sensitive option is applicable in vetoing files.
7600 One feature of the veto files parameter that it is important to be
7602 aware of is Samba´s behaviour when trying to delete a directory. If
7603 a directory that is to be deleted contains nothing but veto files
7604 this deletion will fail unless you also set the delete veto files
7605 parameter to yes.
7606 Setting this parameter will affect the performance of Samba, as it
7608 will be forced to check all files and directories for a match as
7609 they are scanned.
7610 Examples of use include:
7612 ; Veto any files containing the word Security,
7614 ; any ending in .tmp, and any directory containing the
7615 ; word root.
7616 veto files = /*Security*/*.tmp/*root*/
7617 ; Veto the Apple specific files that a NetAtalk server
7619 ; creates.
7620 veto files = /.AppleDouble/.bin/.AppleDesktop/Network Trash Folder/
7621 Default: veto files = No files or directories are vetoed.
7623 veto oplock files (S)
7625 This parameter is only valid when the oplocks parameter is turned
7627 on for a share. It allows the Samba administrator to selectively
7628 turn off the granting of oplocks on selected files that match a
7629 wildcarded list, similar to the wildcarded list used in the veto
7630 files parameter.
7631 You might want to do this on files that you know will be heavily
7633 contended for by clients. A good example of this is in the NetBench
7634 SMB benchmark program, which causes heavy client contention for
7635 files ending in .SEM. To cause Samba not to grant oplocks on these
7636 files you would use the line (either in the [global] section or in
7637 the section for the particular NetBench share.
7638 An example of use is:
7640 veto oplock files = /.*SEM/
7642 Default: veto oplock files = # No files are vetoed for oplock
7644 grants
7645 vfs object
7647 This parameter is a synonym for vfs objects.
7649 vfs objects (S)
7651 This parameter specifies the backend names which are used for Samba
7653 VFS I/O operations. By default, normal disk I/O operations are used
7654 but these can be overloaded with one or more VFS objects.
7655 Default: vfs objects =
7657 Example: vfs objects = extd_audit recycle
7659 volume (S)
7661 This allows you to override the volume label returned for a share.
7663 Useful for CDROMs with installation programs that insist on a
7664 particular volume label.
7665 Default: volume = # the name of the share
7667 wide links (S)
7669 This parameter controls whether or not links in the UNIX file
7671 system may be followed by the server. Links that point to areas
7672 within the directory tree exported by the server are always
7673 allowed; this parameter controls access only to areas that are
7674 outside the directory tree being exported.
7675 Note: Turning this parameter on when UNIX extensions are enabled
7677 will allow UNIX clients to create symbolic links on the share that
7678 can point to files or directories outside restricted path exported
7679 by the share definition. This can cause access to areas outside of
7680 the share. Due to this problem, this parameter will be
7681 automatically disabled (with a message in the log file) if the unix
7682 extensions option is on.
7683 Default: wide links = no
7685 winbind cache time (G)
7687 This parameter specifies the number of seconds the winbindd(8)
7689 daemon will cache user and group information before querying a
7690 Windows NT server again.
7691 This does not apply to authentication requests, these are always
7693 evaluated in real time unless the winbind offline logon option has
7694 been enabled.
7695 Default: winbind cache time = 300
7697 winbind enum groups (G)
7699 On large installations using winbindd(8) it may be necessary to
7701 suppress the enumeration of groups through the setgrent(),
7702 getgrent() and endgrent() group of system calls. If the winbind
7703 enum groups parameter is no, calls to the getgrent() system call
7704 will not return any data.
7705 Warning
7707 Turning off group enumeration may cause some programs to behave
7708 oddly.
7709 Default: winbind enum groups = no
7710 winbind enum users (G)
7712 On large installations using winbindd(8) it may be necessary to
7714 suppress the enumeration of users through the setpwent(),
7715 getpwent() and endpwent() group of system calls. If the winbind
7716 enum users parameter is no, calls to the getpwent system call will
7717 not return any data.
7718 Warning
7720 Turning off user enumeration may cause some programs to behave
7721 oddly. For example, the finger program relies on having access
7722 to the full user list when searching for matching usernames.
7723 Default: winbind enum users = no
7724 winbind expand groups (G)
7726 This option controls the maximum depth that winbindd will traverse
7728 when flattening nested group memberships of Windows domain groups.
7729 This is different from the winbind nested groups option which
7730 implements the Windows NT4 model of local group nesting. The
7731 "winbind expand groups" parameter specifically applies to the
7732 membership of domain groups.
7733 Be aware that a high value for this parameter can result in system
7735 slowdown as the main parent winbindd daemon must perform the group
7736 unrolling and will be unable to answer incoming NSS or
7737 authentication requests during this time.
7738 Default: winbind expand groups = 1
7740 winbind nested groups (G)
7742 If set to yes, this parameter activates the support for nested
7744 groups. Nested groups are also called local groups or aliases. They
7745 work like their counterparts in Windows: Nested groups are defined
7746 locally on any machine (they are shared between DC´s through their
7747 SAM) and can contain users and global groups from any trusted SAM.
7748 To be able to use nested groups, you need to run nss_winbind.
7749 Default: winbind nested groups = yes
7751 winbind normalize names (G)
7753 This parameter controls whether winbindd will replace whitespace in
7755 user and group names with an underscore (_) character. For example,
7756 whether the name "Space Kadet" should be replaced with the string
7757 "space_kadet". Frequently Unix shell scripts will have difficulty
7758 with usernames contains whitespace due to the default field
7759 separator in the shell. If your domain possesses names containing
7760 the underscore character, this option may cause problems unless the
7761 name aliasing feature is supported by your nss_info plugin.
7762 This feature also enables the name aliasing API which can be used
7764 to make domain user and group names to a non-qualified version.
7765 Please refer to the manpage for the configured idmap and nss_info
7766 plugin for the specifics on how to configure name aliasing for a
7767 specific configuration. Name aliasing takes precedence (and is
7768 mutually exclusive) over the whitespace replacement mechanism
7769 discussed previsouly.
7770 Default: winbind normalize names = no
7772 Example: winbind normalize names = yes
7774 winbind nss info (G)
7776 This parameter is designed to control how Winbind retrieves Name
7778 Service Information to construct a user´s home directory and login
7779 shell. Currently the following settings are available:
7780 · template - The default, using the parameters of template shell
7782 and template homedir)
7783 · <sfu | rfc2307 > - When Samba is running in security = ads and
7785 your Active Directory Domain Controller does support the
7786 Microsoft "Services for Unix" (SFU) LDAP schema, winbind can
7787 retrieve the login shell and the home directory attributes
7788 directly from your Directory Server. Note that retrieving UID
7789 and GID from your ADS-Server requires to use idmap config
7790 DOMAIN:backend = ad as well.
7791 Default: winbind nss info = template
7794 Example: winbind nss info = sfu
7796 winbind offline logon (G)
7798 This parameter is designed to control whether Winbind should allow
7800 to login with the pam_winbind module using Cached Credentials. If
7801 enabled, winbindd will store user credentials from successful
7802 logins encrypted in a local cache.
7803 Default: winbind offline logon = false
7805 Example: winbind offline logon = true
7807 winbind reconnect delay (G)
7809 This parameter specifies the number of seconds the winbindd(8)
7811 daemon will wait between attempts to contact a Domain controller
7812 for a domain that is determined to be down or not contactable.
7813 Default: winbind reconnect delay = 30
7815 winbind refresh tickets (G)
7817 This parameter is designed to control whether Winbind should
7819 refresh Kerberos Tickets retrieved using the pam_winbind module.
7820 Default: winbind refresh tickets = false
7822 Example: winbind refresh tickets = true
7824 winbind rpc only (G)
7826 Setting this parameter to yes forces winbindd to use RPC instead of
7828 LDAP to retrieve information from Domain Controllers.
7829 Default: winbind rpc only = no
7831 winbind separator (G)
7833 This parameter allows an admin to define the character used when
7835 listing a username of the form of DOMAIN \user. This parameter is
7836 only applicable when using the pam_winbind.so and nss_winbind.so
7837 modules for UNIX services.
7838 Please note that setting this parameter to + causes problems with
7840 group membership at least on glibc systems, as the character + is
7841 used as a special character for NIS in /etc/group.
7842 Default: winbind separator = ´\´
7844 Example: winbind separator = +
7846 winbind trusted domains only (G)
7848 This parameter is designed to allow Samba servers that are members
7850 of a Samba controlled domain to use UNIX accounts distributed via
7851 NIS, rsync, or LDAP as the uid´s for winbindd users in the hosts
7852 primary domain. Therefore, the user DOMAIN\user1 would be mapped to
7853 the account user1 in /etc/passwd instead of allocating a new uid
7854 for him or her.
7855 This parameter is now deprecated in favor of the newer idmap_nss
7857 backend. Refer to the idmap_nss(8) man page for more information.
7858 Default: winbind trusted domains only = no
7860 winbind use default domain (G)
7862 This parameter specifies whether the winbindd(8) daemon should
7864 operate on users without domain component in their username. Users
7865 without a domain component are treated as is part of the winbindd
7866 server´s own domain. While this does not benifit Windows users, it
7867 makes SSH, FTP and e-mail function in a way much closer to the way
7868 they would in a native unix system.
7869 Default: winbind use default domain = no
7871 Example: winbind use default domain = yes
7873 wins hook (G)
7875 When Samba is running as a WINS server this allows you to call an
7877 external program for all changes to the WINS database. The primary
7878 use for this option is to allow the dynamic update of external name
7879 resolution databases such as dynamic DNS.
7880 The wins hook parameter specifies the name of a script or
7882 executable that will be called as follows:
7883 wins_hook operation name nametype ttl IP_list
7885 · The first argument is the operation and is one of "add",
7887 "delete", or "refresh". In most cases the operation can be
7888 ignored as the rest of the parameters provide sufficient
7889 information. Note that "refresh" may sometimes be called when
7890 the name has not previously been added, in that case it should
7891 be treated as an add.
7892 · The second argument is the NetBIOS name. If the name is not a
7894 legal name then the wins hook is not called. Legal names
7895 contain only letters, digits, hyphens, underscores and periods.
7896 · The third argument is the NetBIOS name type as a 2 digit
7898 hexadecimal number.
7899 · The fourth argument is the TTL (time to live) for the name in
7901 seconds.
7902 · The fifth and subsequent arguments are the IP addresses
7904 currently registered for that name. If this list is empty then
7905 the name should be deleted.
7906 An example script that calls the BIND dynamic DNS update program
7908 nsupdate is provided in the examples directory of the Samba source
7909 code.
7910 No default
7912 wins proxy (G)
7914 This is a boolean that controls if nmbd(8) will respond to
7916 broadcast name queries on behalf of other hosts. You may need to
7917 set this to yes for some older clients.
7918 Default: wins proxy = no
7920 wins server (G)
7922 This specifies the IP address (or DNS name: IP address for
7924 preference) of the WINS server that nmbd(8) should register with.
7925 If you have a WINS server on your network then you should set this
7926 to the WINS server´s IP.
7927 You should point this at your WINS server if you have a
7929 multi-subnetted network.
7930 If you want to work in multiple namespaces, you can give every wins
7932 server a ´tag´. For each tag, only one (working) server will be
7933 queried for a name. The tag should be separated from the ip address
7934 by a colon.
7935 Note
7937 You need to set up Samba to point to a WINS server if you have
7938 multiple subnets and wish cross-subnet browsing to work
7939 correctly.
7940 See the chapter in the Samba3-HOWTO on Network Browsing.
7941 Default: wins server =
7943 Example: wins server = mary:192.9.200.1 fred:192.168.3.199
7945 mary:192.168.2.61 # For this example when querying a certain name,
7946 192.19.200.1 will be asked first and if that doesn´t respond
7947 192.168.2.61. If either of those doesn´t know the name
7948 192.168.3.199 will be queried.
7949 Example: wins server = 192.9.200.1 192.168.2.61
7951 wins support (G)
7953 This boolean controls if the nmbd(8) process in Samba will act as a
7955 WINS server. You should not set this to yes unless you have a
7956 multi-subnetted network and you wish a particular nmbd to be your
7957 WINS server. Note that you should NEVER set this to yes on more
7958 than one machine in your network.
7959 Default: wins support = no
7961 workgroup (G)
7963 This controls what workgroup your server will appear to be in when
7965 queried by clients. Note that this parameter also controls the
7966 Domain name used with the security = domain setting.
7967 Default: workgroup = WORKGROUP
7969 Example: workgroup = MYGROUP
7971 writable
7973 This parameter is a synonym for writeable.
7975 writeable (S)
7977 Inverted synonym for read only.
7979 Default: writeable = no
7981 write cache size (S)
7983 If this integer parameter is set to non-zero value, Samba will
7985 create an in-memory cache for each oplocked file (it does not do
7986 this for non-oplocked files). All writes that the client does not
7987 request to be flushed directly to disk will be stored in this cache
7988 if possible. The cache is flushed onto disk when a write comes in
7989 whose offset would not fit into the cache or when the file is
7990 closed by the client. Reads for the file are also served from this
7991 cache if the data is stored within it.
7992 This cache allows Samba to batch client writes into a more
7994 efficient write size for RAID disks (i.e. writes may be tuned to be
7995 the RAID stripe size) and can improve performance on systems where
7996 the disk subsystem is a bottleneck but there is free memory for
7997 userspace programs.
7998 The integer parameter specifies the size of this cache (per
8000 oplocked file) in bytes.
8001 Default: write cache size = 0
8003 Example: write cache size = 262144 # for a 256k cache size per file
8005 write list (S)
8007 This is a list of users that are given read-write access to a
8009 service. If the connecting user is in this list then they will be
8010 given write access, no matter what the read only option is set to.
8011 The list can include group names using the @group syntax.
8012 Note that if a user is in both the read list and the write list
8014 then they will be given write access.
8015 By design, this parameter will not work with the security = share
8017 in Samba 3.0.
8018 Default: write list =
8020 Example: write list = admin, root, @staff
8022 write raw (G)
8024 This parameter controls whether or not the server will support raw
8026 write SMB´s when transferring data from clients. You should never
8027 need to change this parameter.
8028 Default: write raw = yes
8030 wtmp directory (G)
8032 This parameter is only available if Samba has been configured and
8034 compiled with the option --with-utmp. It specifies a directory
8035 pathname that is used to store the wtmp or wtmpx files (depending
8036 on the UNIX system) that record user connections to a Samba server.
8037 The difference with the utmp directory is the fact that user info
8038 is kept after a user has logged out.
8039 By default this is not set, meaning the system will use whatever
8041 utmp file the native system is set to use (usually /var/run/wtmp on
8042 Linux).
8043 Default: wtmp directory =
8045 Example: wtmp directory = /var/log/wtmp
8047
8049 Although the configuration file permits service names to contain
8050 spaces, your client software may not. Spaces will be ignored in
8051 comparisons anyway, so it shouldn´t be a problem - but be aware of the
8052 possibility.
8053 On a similar note, many clients - especially DOS clients - limit
8055 service names to eight characters. smbd(8) has no such limitation, but
8056 attempts to connect from such clients will fail if they truncate the
8057 service names. For this reason you should probably keep your service
8058 names down to eight characters in length.
8059 Use of the [homes] and [printers] special sections make life for an
8061 administrator easy, but the various combinations of default attributes
8062 can be tricky. Take extreme care when designing these sections. In
8063 particular, ensure that the permissions on spool directories are
8064 correct.
8065
8067 This man page is correct for version 3 of the Samba suite.
8068
8070 samba(7), smbpasswd(8), swat(8), smbd(8), nmbd(8), smbclient(1),
8071 nmblookup(1), testparm(1), testprns(1).
8072
8074 The original Samba software and related utilities were created by
8075 Andrew Tridgell. Samba is now developed by the Samba Team as an Open
8076 Source project similar to the way the Linux kernel is developed.
8077 The original Samba man pages were written by Karl Auer. The man page
8079 sources were converted to YODL format (another excellent piece of Open
8080 Source software, available at ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/) and
8081 updated for the Samba 2.0 release by Jeremy Allison. The conversion to
8082 DocBook for Samba 2.2 was done by Gerald Carter. The conversion to
8083 DocBook XML 4.2 for Samba 3.0 was done by Alexander Bokovoy.
8084Samba 3.5 08/02/2011 SMB.CONF(5)