Tribblix: manual page: nmbd.8

NMBD(8) System Administration tools NMBD(8)

NAME

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

SYNOPSIS

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]

DESCRIPTION

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.

OPTIONS

-D|--daemon
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.

-F|--foreground
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.

-i|--interactive
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.

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

-p|--port <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!

--no-process-group
Do not create a new process group for nmbd.

-d|--debuglevel=DEBUGLEVEL, --debug-stdout
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.

--configfile=CONFIGFILE
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.

--option=<name>=<value>
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.

-l|--log-basename=logdirectory
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.

--leak-report
Enable talloc leak reporting on exit.

--leak-report-full
Enable full talloc leak reporting on exit.

-V|--version
Prints the program version number.

-?|--help
Print a summary of command line options.

--usage
Display brief usage message.

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.

/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.

/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).

/usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf
This 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.

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 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.

VERSION

This man page is part of version 4.18.11 of the Samba suite.

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.

Samba 4.18.11 03/13/2024 NMBD(8)