

 


<html><head><title>nmbd</title>

<link rev="made" href="mailto:samba-bugs@samba.org">
</head>
<body>

<hr>

<h1>nmbd</h1>
<h2>Samba</h2>
<h2>23 Oct 1998</h2>

    

    
<p><br><a name="NAME"></a>
<h2>NAME</h2>
    nmbd - NetBIOS name server to provide NetBIOS over IP
naming services to clients
<p><br><a name="SYNOPSIS"></a>
<h2>SYNOPSIS</h2>
    
<p><br><strong>nmbd</strong> [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minusD">-D</a>] [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minuso">-o</a>] [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minusa">-a</a>] [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minusH">-H lmhosts file</a>] [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minusd">-d debuglevel</a>] [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minusl">-l log file basename</a>] [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minusn">-n primary NetBIOS name</a>] [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minusp">-p port number</a>] [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minuss">-s configuration file</a>] [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minusi">-i NetBIOS scope</a>] [<a href="nmbd.8.html#minush">-h</a>]
<p><br><a name="DESCRIPTION"></a>
<h2>DESCRIPTION</h2>
    
<p><br>This program is part of the <strong>Samba</strong> suite.
<p><br><strong>nmbd</strong> is a server that understands and can reply to NetBIOS over IP
name service requests, like those produced by SMBD/CIFS clients such
as Windows 95/98, Windows NT and LanManager clients. It also
participates in the browsing protocols which make up the Windows
"Network Neighborhood" view.
<p><br>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.
<p><br>Amongst other services, <strong>nmbd</strong> 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 <strong>-n</strong> option (see <a href="nmbd.8.html#OPTIONS">OPTIONS</a> below). Thus
<strong>nmbd</strong> will reply to broadcast queries for its own name(s). Additional
names for <strong>nmbd</strong> to respond on can be set via parameters in the
<a href="smb.conf.5.html"><strong>smb.conf(5)</strong></a> configuration file.
<p><br><strong>nmbd</strong> 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.
<p><br>In addition, <strong>nmbd</strong> 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.
<p><br><a name="OPTIONS"></a>
<h2>OPTIONS</h2>
    
<p><br><ul>
<p><br><a name="minusD"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-D</strong></strong> If specified, this parameter causes <strong>nmbd</strong> to operate
as a daemon. That is, it detaches itself and runs in the background,
fielding requests on the appropriate port. By default, <strong>nmbd</strong> will
NOT operate as a daemon. nmbd can also be operated from the inetd
meta-daemon, although this is not recommended.
<p><br><a name="minusa"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-a</strong></strong> If this parameter is specified, each new connection will
append log messages to the log file.  This is the default.
<p><br><a name="minuso"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-o</strong></strong> If this parameter is specified, the log files will be
overwritten when opened.  By default, the log files will be appended
to.
<p><br><a name="minusH"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-H filename</strong></strong> NetBIOS lmhosts file.
<p><br>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
<a href="smb.conf.5.html#nameresolveorder"><strong>name resolve order</strong></a> described in 
<a href="smb.conf.5.html"><strong>smb.conf (5)</strong></a> to resolve any
NetBIOS name queries needed by the server. Note that the contents of
this file are <em>NOT</em> used by <strong>nmbd</strong> to answer any name queries. Adding
a line to this file affects name NetBIOS resolution from this host
<em>ONLY</em>.
<p><br>The default path to this file is compiled into Samba as part of the
build process. Common defaults are <em>/usr/local/samba/lib/lmhosts</em>,
<em>/usr/samba/lib/lmhosts</em> or <em>/etc/lmhosts</em>. See the 
<a href="lmhosts.5.html"><strong>lmhosts (5)</strong></a> man page for details on the contents of this file.
<p><br><a name="minusd"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-d debuglevel</strong></strong> debuglevel is an integer from 0 to 10.
<p><br>The default value if this parameter is not specified is zero.
<p><br>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.
<p><br>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.
<p><br>Note that specifying this parameter here will override the <a href="smb.conf.5.html#loglevel"><strong>log
level</strong></a> parameter in the <a href="smb.conf.5.html"><strong>smb.conf
(5)</strong></a> file.
<p><br><a name="minusl"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-l logfile</strong></strong> The <strong>-l</strong> parameter specifies a path and base
filename into which operational data from the running nmbd server will
be logged.  The actual log file name is generated by appending the
extension ".nmb" to the specified base name.  For example, if the name
specified was "log" then the file log.nmb would contain the debugging
data.
<p><br>The default log file path is compiled into Samba as part of the
build process. Common defaults are <em>/usr/local/samba/var/log.nmb</em>,
<em>/usr/samba/var/log.nmb</em> or <em>/var/log/log.nmb</em>.
<p><br><a name="minusn"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-n primary NetBIOS name</strong></strong> This option allows you to override
the NetBIOS name that Samba uses for itself. This is identical to
setting the <a href="smb.conf.5.html#netbiosname"><strong>NetBIOS name</strong></a> parameter
in the <a href="smb.conf.5.html"><strong>smb.conf</strong></a> file
but will override the setting in the <a href="smb.conf.5.html"><strong>smb.conf</strong></a> file.
<p><br><a name="minusp"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-p UDP port number</strong></strong> UDP port number is a positive integer value.
<p><br>This option changes the default UDP port number (normally 137) that
<strong>nmbd</strong> responds to name queries on. Don't use this option unless you are
an expert, in which case you won't need help!
<p><br><a name="minuss"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-s configuration file</strong></strong> The default configuration file name is
set at build time, typically as <em>/usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf</em>, but
this may be changed when Samba is autoconfigured.
<p><br>The file specified contains the configuration details required by the
server. See <a href="smb.conf.5.html"><strong>smb.conf (5)</strong></a> for more information.
<p><br><a name="minusi"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-i scope</strong></strong> This specifies a NetBIOS scope that <strong>nmbd</strong> will use
to communicate with when generating NetBIOS names. For details on the
use of NetBIOS scopes, see rfc1001.txt and rfc1002.txt. NetBIOS scopes
are <em>very</em> rarely used, only set this parameter if you are the
system administrator in charge of all the NetBIOS systems you
communicate with.
<p><br><a name="minush"></a>
<li><strong><strong>-h</strong></strong> Prints the help information (usage) for <strong>nmbd</strong>.
<p><br></ul>
<p><br><a name="FILES"></a>
<h2>FILES</h2>
    
<p><br><strong>/etc/inetd.conf</strong>
<p><br>If the server is to be run by the inetd meta-daemon, this file must
contain suitable startup information for the meta-daemon.
<p><br><strong>/etc/rc</strong>
<p><br>(or whatever initialization script your system uses).
<p><br>If running the server as a daemon at startup, this file will need to
contain an appropriate startup sequence for the server.
<p><br><strong>/usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf</strong>
<p><br>This is the default location of the 
<a href="smb.conf.5.html"><strong>smb.conf</strong></a> server configuration
file. Other common places that systems install this file are
<em>/usr/samba/lib/smb.conf</em> and <em>/etc/smb.conf</em>.
<p><br>When run as a <strong>WINS</strong> server (see the <a href="smb.conf.5.html#winssupport"><strong>wins support</strong></a>
parameter in the <a href="smb.conf.5.html"><strong>smb.conf (5)</strong></a> man page), <strong>nmbd</strong> will
store the WINS database in the file <code>wins.dat</code> in the <code>var/locks</code> directory
configured under wherever Samba was configured to install itself.
<p><br>If <strong>nmbd</strong> is acting as a <strong>browse master</strong> (see the <a href="smb.conf.5.html#localmaster"><strong>local master</strong></a>
parameter in the <a href="smb.conf.5.html"><strong>smb.conf (5)</strong></a> man page), <strong>nmbd</strong> will
store the browsing database in the file <code>browse.dat</code> in the <code>var/locks</code> directory
configured under wherever Samba was configured to install itself.
<p><br><a name="SIGNALS"></a>
<h2>SIGNALS</h2>
    
<p><br>To shut down an <strong>nmbd</strong> process it is recommended that SIGKILL (-9)
<em>NOT</em> be used, except as a last resort, as this may leave the name
database in an inconsistent state. The correct way to terminate
<strong>nmbd</strong> is to send it a SIGTERM (-15) signal and wait for it to die on
its own.
<p><br><strong>nmbd</strong> will accept SIGHUP, which will cause it to dump out it's
namelists into the file <code>namelist.debug</code> in the
<em>/usr/local/samba/var/locks</em> directory (or the <em>var/locks</em>
directory configured under wherever Samba was configured to install
itself). This will also cause <strong>nmbd</strong> to dump out it's server database in
the log.nmb file. In addition, the debug log level of nmbd may be raised
by sending it a SIGUSR1 (<code>kill -USR1 &lt;nmbd-pid&gt;</code>) and lowered by sending it a
SIGUSR2 (<code>kill -USR2 &lt;nmbd-pid&gt;</code>). This is to allow transient
problems to be diagnosed, whilst still running at a normally low log
level.
<p><br><a name="VERSION"></a>
<h2>VERSION</h2>
    
<p><br>This man page is correct for version 2.0 of the Samba suite.
<p><br><a name="SEEALSO"></a>
<h2>SEE ALSO</h2>
    
<p><br><strong>inetd (8)</strong>, <a href="smbd.8.html"><strong>smbd (8)</strong></a>, <a href="smb.conf.5.html"><strong>smb.conf
(5)</strong></a>, <a href="smbclient.1.html"><strong>smbclient (1)</strong></a>,
<a href="testparm.1.html"><strong>testparm (1)</strong></a>, <a href="testprns.1.html"><strong>testprns
(1)</strong></a>, and the Internet RFC's <strong>rfc1001.txt</strong>,
<strong>rfc1002.txt</strong>. In addition the CIFS (formerly SMB) specification is
available as a link from the Web page :
<a href="http://samba.org/cifs/">http://samba.org/cifs/</a>.
<p><br><a name="AUTHOR"></a>
<h2>AUTHOR</h2>
    
<p><br>The original Samba software and related utilities were created by
Andrew Tridgell <a href="mailto:samba-bugs@samba.org"><em>samba-bugs@samba.org</em></a>. Samba is now developed
by the Samba Team as an Open Source project similar to the way the
Linux kernel is developed.
<p><br>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
<a href="ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/"><strong>ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/</strong></a>)
and updated for the Samba2.0 release by Jeremy Allison.
<a href="mailto:samba-bugs@samba.org"><em>samba-bugs@samba.org</em></a>.
<p><br>See <a href="samba.7.html"><strong>samba (7)</strong></a> to find out how to get a full
list of contributors and details on how to submit bug reports,
comments etc.
</body>
</html>
