1NMBD(8) System Administration tools NMBD(8)
2
6 nmbd - NetBIOS name server to provide NetBIOS over IP naming services
7 to clients
8
10 nmbd [-D|--daemon] [-i|--interactive] [-F|--foreground]
11 [--no-process-group] [-b|--build-options] [-p <port number(s)>]
12 [-P <profiling level>] [-d <debug level>] [--debug-stdout]
13 [--configfile=<configuration file>] [--option=<name>=<value>]
14 [-l|--log-basename <log directory>] [--leak-report]
15 [--leak-report-full] [-V|--version]
16
18 This program is part of the samba(7) suite.
19 nmbd is a server that understands and can reply to NetBIOS over IP name
21 service requests, like those produced by SMB/CIFS clients such as
22 Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and LanManager
23 clients. It also participates in the browsing protocols which make up
24 the Windows "Network Neighborhood" view.
25 SMB/CIFS clients, when they start up, may wish to locate an SMB/CIFS
27 server. That is, they wish to know what IP number a specified host is
28 using.
29 Amongst other services, nmbd will listen for such requests, and if its
31 own NetBIOS name is specified it will respond with the IP number of the
32 host it is running on. Its "own NetBIOS name" is by default the primary
33 DNS name of the host it is running on, but this can be overridden by
34 the netbios name in smb.conf. Thus nmbd will reply to broadcast queries
35 for its own name(s). Additional names for nmbd to respond on can be set
36 via parameters in the smb.conf(5) configuration file.
37 nmbd can also be used as a WINS (Windows Internet Name Server) server.
39 What this basically means is that it will act as a WINS database
40 server, creating a database from name registration requests that it
41 receives and replying to queries from clients for these names.
42 In addition, nmbd can act as a WINS proxy, relaying broadcast queries
44 from clients that do not understand how to talk the WINS protocol to a
45 WINS server.
46
48 -D|--daemon
49 If specified, this parameter causes nmbd to operate as a daemon.
50 That is, it detaches itself and runs in the background, fielding
51 requests on the appropriate port. By default, nmbd will operate as
52 a daemon if launched from a command shell. nmbd can also be
53 operated from the inetd meta-daemon, although this is not
54 recommended.
55 -F|--foreground
57 If specified, this parameter causes the main nmbd process to not
58 daemonize, i.e. double-fork and disassociate with the terminal.
59 Child processes are still created as normal to service each
60 connection request, but the main process does not exit. This
61 operation mode is suitable for running nmbd under process
62 supervisors such as supervise and svscan from Daniel J. Bernstein's
63 daemontools package, or the AIX process monitor.
64 -i|--interactive
66 If this parameter is specified it causes the server to run
67 "interactively", not as a daemon, even if the server is executed on
68 the command line of a shell. Setting this parameter negates the
69 implicit daemon mode when run from the command line. nmbd also
70 logs to standard output, as if the -S parameter had been given.
71 -H|--hosts <filename>
73 NetBIOS lmhosts file. The lmhosts file is a list of NetBIOS names
74 to IP addresses that is loaded by the nmbd server and used via the
75 name resolution mechanism name resolve order described in
76 smb.conf(5) to resolve any NetBIOS name queries needed by the
77 server. Note that the contents of this file are NOT used by nmbd to
78 answer any name queries. Adding a line to this file affects name
79 NetBIOS resolution from this host ONLY.
80 The default path to this file is compiled into Samba as part of the
82 build process. Common defaults are /usr/local/samba/lib/lmhosts,
83 /usr/samba/lib/lmhosts or /etc/samba/lmhosts. See the lmhosts(5)
84 man page for details on the contents of this file.
85 -p|--port <UDP port number>
87 UDP port number is a positive integer value. This option changes
88 the default UDP port number (normally 137) that nmbd responds to
89 name queries on. Don't use this option unless you are an expert, in
90 which case you won't need help!
91 --no-process-group
93 Do not create a new process group for nmbd.
94 -d|--debuglevel=DEBUGLEVEL, --debug-stdout
96 level is an integer from 0 to 10. The default value if this
97 parameter is not specified is 0.
98 The higher this value, the more detail will be logged to the log
100 files about the activities of the server. At level 0, only critical
101 errors and serious warnings will be logged. Level 1 is a reasonable
102 level for day-to-day running - it generates a small amount of
103 information about operations carried out.
104 Levels above 1 will generate considerable amounts of log data, and
106 should only be used when investigating a problem. Levels above 3
107 are designed for use only by developers and generate HUGE amounts
108 of log data, most of which is extremely cryptic.
109 Note that specifying this parameter here will override the log
111 level parameter in the smb.conf file. This will redirect debug
112 output to STDOUT. By default server daemons are logging to a log
113 file.
114 --configfile=CONFIGFILE
116 The file specified contains the configuration details required by
117 the server. The information in this file includes server-specific
118 information such as what printcap file to use, as well as
119 descriptions of all the services that the server is to provide. See
120 smb.conf for more information. The default configuration file name
121 is determined at compile time.
122 --option=<name>=<value>
124 Set the smb.conf(5) option "<name>" to value "<value>" from the
125 command line. This overrides compiled-in defaults and options read
126 from the configuration file. If a name or a value includes a space,
127 wrap whole --option=name=value into quotes.
128 -l|--log-basename=logdirectory
130 Base directory name for log/debug files. The extension ".progname"
131 will be appended (e.g. log.smbclient, log.smbd, etc...). The log
132 file is never removed by the client.
133 --leak-report
135 Enable talloc leak reporting on exit.
136 --leak-report-full
138 Enable full talloc leak reporting on exit.
139 -V|--version
141 Prints the program version number.
142 -?|--help
144 Print a summary of command line options.
145 --usage
147 Display brief usage message.
148
150 /etc/inetd.conf
151 If the server is to be run by the inetd meta-daemon, this file must
152 contain suitable startup information for the meta-daemon.
153 /etc/rc
155 or whatever initialization script your system uses).
156 If running the server as a daemon at startup, this file will need
158 to contain an appropriate startup sequence for the server.
159 /etc/services
161 If running the server via the meta-daemon inetd, this file must
162 contain a mapping of service name (e.g., netbios-ssn) to service
163 port (e.g., 139) and protocol type (e.g., tcp).
164 /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf
166 This is the default location of the smb.conf(5) server
167 configuration file. Other common places that systems install this
168 file are /usr/samba/lib/smb.conf and /etc/samba/smb.conf.
169 When run as a WINS server (see the wins support parameter in the
171 smb.conf(5) man page), nmbd will store the WINS database in the
172 file wins.dat in the var/locks directory configured under wherever
173 Samba was configured to install itself.
174 If nmbd is acting as a
176 browse master (see the local master parameter in the smb.conf(5)
177 man page, nmbd will store the browsing database in the file
178 browse.dat in the var/locks directory configured under wherever
179 Samba was configured to install itself.
180
182 To shut down an nmbd process it is recommended that SIGKILL (-9) NOT be
183 used, except as a last resort, as this may leave the name database in
184 an inconsistent state. The correct way to terminate nmbd is to send it
185 a SIGTERM (-15) signal and wait for it to die on its own.
186 nmbd will accept SIGHUP, which will cause it to dump out its namelists
188 into the file namelist.debug in the /usr/local/samba/var/locks
189 directory (or the var/locks directory configured under wherever Samba
190 was configured to install itself). This will also cause nmbd to dump
191 out its server database in the log.nmb file. Additionally, the signal
192 will cause reloading nmbd configuration.
193 Instead of sending a SIGHUP signal, a request to dump namelists into
195 the file and reload a configuration file may be sent using
196 smbcontrol(1) program.
197 The debug log level of nmbd may be raised or lowered using
199 smbcontrol(1) (SIGUSR[1|2] signals are no longer used since Samba 2.2).
200 This is to allow transient problems to be diagnosed, whilst still
201 running at a normally low log level.
202
204 This man page is part of version 4.15.2 of the Samba suite.
205
207 inetd(8), smbd(8), smb.conf(5), smbclient(1), testparm(1), and the
208 Internet RFC's rfc1001.txt, rfc1002.txt. In addition the CIFS (formerly
209 SMB) specification is available as a link from the Web page
210 https://www.samba.org/cifs/.
211
213 The original Samba software and related utilities were created by
214 Andrew Tridgell. Samba is now developed by the Samba Team as an Open
215 Source project similar to the way the Linux kernel is developed.
216Samba 4.15.2 11/13/2021 NMBD(8)