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 /etc/samba/smb.conf. Thus nmbd will reply to
35 broadcast queries for its own name(s). Additional names for nmbd to
36 respond on can be set via parameters in the smb.conf(5) configuration
37 file.
38 nmbd can also be used as a WINS (Windows Internet Name Server) server.
40 What this basically means is that it will act as a WINS database
41 server, creating a database from name registration requests that it
42 receives and replying to queries from clients for these names.
43 In addition, nmbd can act as a WINS proxy, relaying broadcast queries
45 from clients that do not understand how to talk the WINS protocol to a
46 WINS server.
47
49 -D|--daemon
50 If specified, this parameter causes nmbd to operate as a daemon.
51 That is, it detaches itself and runs in the background, fielding
52 requests on the appropriate port. By default, nmbd will operate as
53 a daemon if launched from a command shell. nmbd can also be
54 operated from the inetd meta-daemon, although this is not
55 recommended.
56 -F|--foreground
58 If specified, this parameter causes the main nmbd process to not
59 daemonize, i.e. double-fork and disassociate with the terminal.
60 Child processes are still created as normal to service each
61 connection request, but the main process does not exit. This
62 operation mode is suitable for running nmbd under process
63 supervisors such as supervise and svscan from Daniel J. Bernstein's
64 daemontools package, or the AIX process monitor.
65 -i|--interactive
67 If this parameter is specified it causes the server to run
68 "interactively", not as a daemon, even if the server is executed on
69 the command line of a shell. Setting this parameter negates the
70 implicit daemon mode when run from the command line. nmbd also
71 logs to standard output, as if the -S parameter had been given.
72 -H|--hosts <filename>
74 NetBIOS lmhosts file. The lmhosts file is a list of NetBIOS names
75 to IP addresses that is loaded by the nmbd server and used via the
76 name resolution mechanism name resolve order described in
77 smb.conf(5) to resolve any NetBIOS name queries needed by the
78 server. Note that the contents of this file are NOT used by nmbd to
79 answer any name queries. Adding a line to this file affects name
80 NetBIOS resolution from this host ONLY.
81 The default path to this file is compiled into Samba as part of the
83 build process. Common defaults are /usr/local/samba/lib/lmhosts,
84 /usr/samba/lib/lmhosts or /etc/samba/lmhosts. See the lmhosts(5)
85 man page for details on the contents of this file.
86 -p|--port <UDP port number>
88 UDP port number is a positive integer value. This option changes
89 the default UDP port number (normally 137) that nmbd responds to
90 name queries on. Don't use this option unless you are an expert, in
91 which case you won't need help!
92 --no-process-group
94 Do not create a new process group for nmbd.
95 -d|--debuglevel=DEBUGLEVEL, --debug-stdout
97 level is an integer from 0 to 10. The default value if this
98 parameter is not specified is 0.
99 The higher this value, the more detail will be logged to the log
101 files about the activities of the server. At level 0, only critical
102 errors and serious warnings will be logged. Level 1 is a reasonable
103 level for day-to-day running - it generates a small amount of
104 information about operations carried out.
105 Levels above 1 will generate considerable amounts of log data, and
107 should only be used when investigating a problem. Levels above 3
108 are designed for use only by developers and generate HUGE amounts
109 of log data, most of which is extremely cryptic.
110 Note that specifying this parameter here will override the log
112 level parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file. This will
113 redirect debug output to STDOUT. By default server daemons are
114 logging to a log file.
115 --configfile=CONFIGFILE
117 The file specified contains the configuration details required by
118 the server. The information in this file includes server-specific
119 information such as what printcap file to use, as well as
120 descriptions of all the services that the server is to provide. See
121 /etc/samba/smb.conf for more information. The default configuration
122 file name is determined at compile time.
123 --option=<name>=<value>
125 Set the smb.conf(5) option "<name>" to value "<value>" from the
126 command line. This overrides compiled-in defaults and options read
127 from the configuration file. If a name or a value includes a space,
128 wrap whole --option=name=value into quotes.
129 -l|--log-basename=logdirectory
131 Base directory name for log/debug files. The extension ".progname"
132 will be appended (e.g. log.smbclient, log.smbd, etc...). The log
133 file is never removed by the client.
134 --leak-report
136 Enable talloc leak reporting on exit.
137 --leak-report-full
139 Enable full talloc leak reporting on exit.
140 -V|--version
142 Prints the program version number.
143 -?|--help
145 Print a summary of command line options.
146 --usage
148 Display brief usage message.
149
151 /etc/inetd.conf
152 If the server is to be run by the inetd meta-daemon, this file must
153 contain suitable startup information for the meta-daemon.
154 /etc/rc
156 or whatever initialization script your system uses).
157 If running the server as a daemon at startup, this file will need
159 to contain an appropriate startup sequence for the server.
160 /etc/services
162 If running the server via the meta-daemon inetd, this file must
163 contain a mapping of service name (e.g., netbios-ssn) to service
164 port (e.g., 139) and protocol type (e.g., tcp).
165 /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf
167 This is the default location of the smb.conf(5) server
168 configuration file. Other common places that systems install this
169 file are /usr/samba/lib/smb.conf and /etc/samba/smb.conf.
170 When run as a WINS server (see the wins support parameter in the
172 smb.conf(5) man page), nmbd will store the WINS database in the
173 file wins.dat in the var/locks directory configured under wherever
174 Samba was configured to install itself.
175 If nmbd is acting as a
177 browse master (see the local master parameter in the smb.conf(5)
178 man page, nmbd will store the browsing database in the file
179 browse.dat in the var/locks directory configured under wherever
180 Samba was configured to install itself.
181
183 To shut down an nmbd process it is recommended that SIGKILL (-9) NOT be
184 used, except as a last resort, as this may leave the name database in
185 an inconsistent state. The correct way to terminate nmbd is to send it
186 a SIGTERM (-15) signal and wait for it to die on its own.
187 nmbd will accept SIGHUP, which will cause it to dump out its namelists
189 into the file namelist.debug in the /usr/local/samba/var/locks
190 directory (or the var/locks directory configured under wherever Samba
191 was configured to install itself). This will also cause nmbd to dump
192 out its server database in the log.nmb file. Additionally, the signal
193 will cause reloading nmbd configuration.
194 Instead of sending a SIGHUP signal, a request to dump namelists into
196 the file and reload a configuration file may be sent using
197 smbcontrol(1) program.
198 The debug log level of nmbd may be raised or lowered using
200 smbcontrol(1) (SIGUSR[1|2] signals are no longer used since Samba 2.2).
201 This is to allow transient problems to be diagnosed, whilst still
202 running at a normally low log level.
203
205 This man page is part of version 4.18.9 of the Samba suite.
206
208 inetd(8), smbd(8), smb.conf(5), smbclient(1), testparm(1), and the
209 Internet RFC's rfc1001.txt, rfc1002.txt. In addition the CIFS (formerly
210 SMB) specification is available as a link from the Web page
211 https://www.samba.org/cifs/.
212
214 The original Samba software and related utilities were created by
215 Andrew Tridgell. Samba is now developed by the Samba Team as an Open
216 Source project similar to the way the Linux kernel is developed.
217Samba 4.18.9 11/30/2023 NMBD(8)