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nmbd

NMBD(8)                                                                NMBD(8)



NAME
       nmbd  - NetBIOS name server to provide NetBIOS  over IP naming services
       to clients

SYNOPSIS
       nmbd [ -D ]  [ -a ]  [ -i ]  [ -o ]  [ -P ]  [ -h  ]   [  -V  ]   [  -d
       <debug  level>  ]   [ -H <lmhosts file> ]  [ -l <log directory> ]  [ -n
       <primary netbios name> ]  [ -p <port number>  ]   [  -s  <configuration
       file> ]

DESCRIPTION
       This program is part of the Samba 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  Win-
       dows  95/98/ME,  Windows  NT,  Windows 2000, 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  with
       the  -n  option  (see OPTIONS below). 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
       WIN server.

OPTIONS
       -D     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 recom-
              mended.

       -a     If  this parameter is specified, each new connection will append
              log messages to the log file.  This is the default.

       -i     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 deamon mode when run from the command line.

       -o     If  this parameter is specified, the log files will be overwrit-
              ten when opened. By default, smbd will append entries to the log
              files.

       -h     Prints the help information (usage) for nmbd.

       -H <filename>
              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/lmhosts. See the  lmhosts(5) man page for  details  on  the
              contents of this file.

       -V     Prints the version number for nmbd.

       -d <debug level>
              debuglevel is an integer from 0 to 10. The default value if this
              parameter is not specified is zero.

              The higher this value, the more detail will be logged to the log
              files about the activities of the server. At level 0, only crit-
              ical 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  smb.conf file.

       -l <log directory>
              The -l parameter specifies a directory into which the "log.nmbd"
              log  file  will be created for operational data from the running
              nmbd server. The default log directory is compiled into Samba as
              part    of    the    build    process.   Common   defaults   are
              /usr/local/samba/var/log.nmb,      /usr/samba/var/log.nmb     or
              /var/log/log.nmb.  Beware:  If  the directory specified does not
              exist, nmbd will log to the default debug log  location  defined
              at compile time.

       -n <primary NetBIOS name>
              This  option  allows you to override the NetBIOS name that Samba
              uses for itself. This is identical to setting the  NetBIOS  name
              parameter  in the smb.conf file. However, a command line setting
              will take precedence over settings in smb.conf.

       -p <UDP port number>
              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!

       -s <configuration file>
              The  default configuration file name is set at build time, typi-
              cally as  /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf, but this may be changed
              when Samba is autoconfigured.

              The  file  specified contains the configuration details required
              by the server. See  smb.conf(5) for more information.

FILES
       /etc/inetd.conf
              If the server is to be run by the inetd meta-daemon,  this  file
              must  contain  suitable startup information for the meta-daemon.
              See the UNIX_INSTALL.html document for details.

       /etc/rc
              or 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.
              See the UNIX_INSTALL.html document for details.

       /etc/services
              If 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).   See  the
              UNIX_INSTALL.html document for details.

       /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf
              This  is  the default location of the smb.conf server configura-
              tion file. Other common places that systems  install  this  file
              are /usr/samba/lib/smb.conf and /etc/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 wher-
              ever 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 direc-
              tory  configured  under wherever Samba was configured to install
              itself.

SIGNALS
       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  direc-
       tory  (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.

       The  debug  log  level  of  nmbd may be raised or lowered using smbcon-
       trol(1)
        (SIGUSR[1|2] signals are no longer used in  Samba  2.2).  This  is  to
       allow  transient  problems  to  be diagnosed, whilst still running at a
       normally low log level.

TROUBLESHOOTING
       One of the common causes of difficulty when installing Samba  and  SWAT
       is  the  existsnece of some type of firewall or port filtering software
       on the Samba server. Make sure that the appropriate ports  outlined  in
       this  man  page are available on the server and are not currently being
       blocked by some type of security software such  as  iptables  or  "port
       sentry".  For more troubleshooting information, refer to the additional
       documentation included in the Samba distribution.

VERSION
       This man page is correct for version 2.2 of the Samba suite.

SEE ALSO
       inetd(8), smbd(8) smb.conf(5)
        smbclient(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
       http://samba.org/cifs/ <URL:http://samba.org/cifs/>.

AUTHOR
       The original Samba software  and  related  utilities  were  created  by
       Andrew  Tridgell.  Samba  is now developed by the Samba Team as an Open
       Source project similar to the way the Linux kernel is developed.

       The original Samba man pages were written by Karl Auer.  The  man  page
       sources  were converted to YODL format (another excellent piece of Open
       Source   software,   available    at    ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/
       <URL:ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/>)  and  updated  for the Samba 2.0
       release by Jeremy Allison. The conversion to DocBook for Samba 2.2  was
       done by Gerald Carter



                               19 November 2002                        NMBD(8)