nmbd — NetBIOS name server to provide NetBIOS over IP naming services to clients
nmbd [-D|--daemon] [-i|--interactive] [-F|--foreground] [--no-process-group] [-b|--build-options] [-p <port number(s)>] [-P <profiling level>] [-d <debug level>] [--debug-stdout] [--configfile=<configuration file>] [--option=<name>=<value>] [-l|--log-basename <log directory>] [--leak-report] [--leak-report-full] [-V|--version]
This program is part of the samba(7) suite.
nmbd is a server that understands
and can reply to NetBIOS over IP name service requests, like
those produced by SMB/CIFS clients such as Windows 95/98/ME,
Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and LanManager clients. It also
participates in the browsing protocols which make up the
Windows "Network Neighborhood" view.
SMB/CIFS clients, when they start up, may wish to locate an SMB/CIFS server. That is, they wish to know what IP number a specified host is using.
Amongst other services, nmbd will
listen for such requests, and if its own NetBIOS name is
specified it will respond with the IP number of the host it
is running on. Its "own NetBIOS name" is by
default the primary DNS name of the host it is running on,
but this can be overridden by the netbios name
in ${prefix}/etc/smb.conf. Thus nmbd will
reply to broadcast queries for its own name(s). Additional
names for nmbd to respond on can be set
via parameters in the smb.conf(5) configuration file.
nmbd can also be used as a WINS
(Windows Internet Name Server) server. What this basically means
is that it will act as a WINS database server, creating a
database from name registration requests that it receives and
replying to queries from clients for these names.
In addition, nmbd can act as a WINS
proxy, relaying broadcast queries from clients that do
not understand how to talk the WINS protocol to a WINS
server.
If specified, this parameter causes
nmbd to operate as a daemon. That is,
it detaches itself and runs in the background, fielding
requests on the appropriate port. By default, nmbd
will operate as a daemon if launched from a command shell.
nmbd can also be operated from the inetd
meta-daemon, although this is not recommended.
If specified, this parameter causes
the main nmbd process to not daemonize,
i.e. double-fork and disassociate with the terminal.
Child processes are still created as normal to service
each connection request, but the main process does not
exit. This operation mode is suitable for running
nmbd under process supervisors such
as supervise and svscan
from Daniel J. Bernstein's daemontools
package, or the AIX process monitor.
If this parameter is specified it causes the
server to run "interactively", not as a daemon, even if the
server is executed on the command line of a shell. Setting this
parameter negates the implicit daemon mode when run from the
command line. nmbd also logs to standard
output, as if the -S parameter had been
given.
NetBIOS lmhosts file. The lmhosts
file is a list of NetBIOS names to IP addresses that
is loaded by the nmbd server and used via the name
resolution mechanism name resolve order described in smb.conf(5) to resolve any
NetBIOS name queries needed by the server. Note
that the contents of this file are NOT
used by nmbd to answer any name queries.
Adding a line to this file affects name NetBIOS resolution
from this host ONLY.
The default path to this file is compiled into
Samba as part of the build process. Common defaults
are /usr/local/samba/lib/lmhosts,
/usr/samba/lib/lmhosts or
/etc/samba/lmhosts. See the lmhosts(5) man page for details on the contents of this file.
UDP port number is a positive integer value.
This option changes the default UDP port number (normally 137)
that nmbd responds to name queries on. Don't
use this option unless you are an expert, in which case you
won't need help!
Do not create a new process group for nmbd.
level is an integer from 0
to 10. The default value if this parameter is not
specified is 0.
The higher this value, the more detail will be logged to the log files about the activities of the server. At level 0, only critical errors and serious warnings will be logged. Level 1 is a reasonable level for day-to-day running - it generates a small amount of information about operations carried out.
Levels above 1 will generate considerable amounts of log data, and should only be used when investigating a problem. Levels above 3 are designed for use only by developers and generate HUGE amounts of log data, most of which is extremely cryptic.
Note that specifying this parameter here will override
the log level parameter in the
${prefix}/etc/smb.conf file.
This will redirect debug output to STDOUT. By default server daemons are logging to a log file.
The file specified contains the configuration details
required by the server. The information in this file
includes server-specific information such as what
printcap file to use, as well as descriptions of all
the services that the server is to provide. See
${prefix}/etc/smb.conf for more information. The default
configuration file name is determined at compile
time.
Set the smb.conf(5) option "<name>" to value "<value>" from the command line. This overrides compiled-in defaults and options read from the configuration file. If a name or a value includes a space, wrap whole --option=name=value into quotes.
Base directory name for log/debug files. The extension
".progname" will be appended (e.g.
log.smbclient, log.smbd, etc...). The log file is never
removed by the client.
Enable talloc leak reporting on exit.
Enable full talloc leak reporting on exit.
Prints the program version number.
Print a summary of command line options.
Display brief usage message.
/etc/inetd.confIf the server is to be run by the
inetd meta-daemon, this file
must contain suitable startup information for the
meta-daemon.
/etc/rcor whatever initialization script your system uses).
If running the server as a daemon at startup, this file will need to contain an appropriate startup sequence for the server.
/etc/servicesIf running the server via the
meta-daemon inetd, this file
must contain a mapping of service name (e.g., netbios-ssn)
to service port (e.g., 139) and protocol type (e.g., tcp).
/usr/local/samba/lib/smb.confThis is the default location of
the smb.conf(5) server
configuration file. Other common places that systems
install this file are /usr/samba/lib/smb.conf
and /etc/samba/smb.conf.
When run as a WINS server (see the
wins support
parameter in the smb.conf(5) man page),
nmbd
will store the WINS database in the file wins.dat
in the var/locks directory configured under
wherever Samba was configured to install itself.
If nmbd is acting as a
browse master (see the local master
parameter in the smb.conf(5) man page, nmbd
will store the browsing database in the file browse.dat
in the var/locks directory
configured under wherever Samba was configured to install itself.
To shut down an nmbd process it is recommended
that SIGKILL (-9) NOT be used, except as a last
resort, as this may leave the name database in an inconsistent state.
The correct way to terminate nmbd is to send it
a SIGTERM (-15) signal and wait for it to die on its own.
nmbd will accept SIGHUP, which will cause
it to dump out its namelists into the file namelist.debug
in the /usr/local/samba/var/locks
directory (or the var/locks directory configured
under wherever Samba was configured to install itself). This will also
cause nmbd to dump out its server database in
the log.nmb file. Additionally, the signal will
cause reloading nmbd configuration.
Instead of sending a SIGHUP signal, a request to dump namelists into the file and reload a configuration file may be sent using smbcontrol(1) program.
The debug log level of nmbd may be raised or lowered using smbcontrol(1) (SIGUSR[1|2] signals are no longer used since Samba 2.2). This is to allow transient problems to be diagnosed, whilst still running at a normally low log level.
inetd(8), smbd(8), smb.conf(5), smbclient(1), testparm(1), and the Internet
RFC's rfc1001.txt, rfc1002.txt.
In addition the CIFS (formerly SMB) specification is available
as a link from the Web page
https://www.samba.org/cifs/.