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2 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//Samba-Team//DTD DocBook V4.2-Based Variant V1.0//EN" "http://www.samba.org/samba/DTD/samba-doc">
6 <refentrytitle>nmbd</refentrytitle>
7 <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
8 <refmiscinfo class="source">Samba</refmiscinfo>
9 <refmiscinfo class="manual">System Administration tools</refmiscinfo>
10 <refmiscinfo class="version">&doc.version;</refmiscinfo>
15 <refname>nmbd</refname>
16 <refpurpose>NetBIOS name server to provide NetBIOS
17 over IP naming services to clients</refpurpose>
22 <command>nmbd</command>
23 <arg choice="opt">-D|--daemon</arg>
24 <arg choice="opt">-F|--foreground</arg>
25 <arg choice="opt">-S|--log-stdout</arg>
26 <arg choice="opt">-i|--interactive</arg>
27 <arg choice="opt">-V</arg>
28 <arg choice="opt">-d <debug level></arg>
29 <arg choice="opt">-H|--hosts <lmhosts file></arg>
30 <arg choice="opt">-l <log directory></arg>
31 <arg choice="opt">-p|--port <port number></arg>
32 <arg choice="opt">-s <configuration file></arg>
33 <arg choice="opt">--no-process-group</arg>
38 <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
39 <para>This program is part of the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>samba</refentrytitle>
40 <manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry> suite.</para>
42 <para><command>nmbd</command> is a server that understands
43 and can reply to NetBIOS over IP name service requests, like
44 those produced by SMB/CIFS clients such as Windows 95/98/ME,
45 Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP and LanManager clients. It also
46 participates in the browsing protocols which make up the
47 Windows "Network Neighborhood" view.</para>
49 <para>SMB/CIFS clients, when they start up, may wish to
50 locate an SMB/CIFS server. That is, they wish to know what
51 IP number a specified host is using.</para>
53 <para>Amongst other services, <command>nmbd</command> will
54 listen for such requests, and if its own NetBIOS name is
55 specified it will respond with the IP number of the host it
56 is running on. Its "own NetBIOS name" is by
57 default the primary DNS name of the host it is running on,
58 but this can be overridden by the <smbconfoption name="netbios name"/>
59 in &smb.conf;. Thus <command>nmbd</command> will
60 reply to broadcast queries for its own name(s). Additional
61 names for <command>nmbd</command> to respond on can be set
62 via parameters in the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
63 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> configuration file.</para>
65 <para><command>nmbd</command> can also be used as a WINS
66 (Windows Internet Name Server) server. What this basically means
67 is that it will act as a WINS database server, creating a
68 database from name registration requests that it receives and
69 replying to queries from clients for these names.</para>
71 <para>In addition, <command>nmbd</command> can act as a WINS
72 proxy, relaying broadcast queries from clients that do
73 not understand how to talk the WINS protocol to a WINS
78 <title>OPTIONS</title>
82 <term>-D|--daemon</term>
83 <listitem><para>If specified, this parameter causes
84 <command>nmbd</command> to operate as a daemon. That is,
85 it detaches itself and runs in the background, fielding
86 requests on the appropriate port. By default, <command>nmbd</command>
87 will operate as a daemon if launched from a command shell.
88 nmbd can also be operated from the <command>inetd</command>
89 meta-daemon, although this is not recommended.
94 <term>-F|--foreground</term>
95 <listitem><para>If specified, this parameter causes
96 the main <command>nmbd</command> process to not daemonize,
97 i.e. double-fork and disassociate with the terminal.
98 Child processes are still created as normal to service
99 each connection request, but the main process does not
100 exit. This operation mode is suitable for running
101 <command>nmbd</command> under process supervisors such
102 as <command>supervise</command> and <command>svscan</command>
103 from Daniel J. Bernstein's <command>daemontools</command>
104 package, or the AIX process monitor.
109 <term>-S|--log-stdout</term>
110 <listitem><para>If specified, this parameter causes
111 <command>nmbd</command> to log to standard output rather
112 than a file.</para></listitem>
116 <term>-i|--interactive</term>
117 <listitem><para>If this parameter is specified it causes the
118 server to run "interactively", not as a daemon, even if the
119 server is executed on the command line of a shell. Setting this
120 parameter negates the implicit daemon mode when run from the
121 command line. <command>nmbd</command> also logs to standard
122 output, as if the <constant>-S</constant> parameter had been
123 given. </para></listitem>
129 <term>-H|--hosts <filename></term>
130 <listitem><para>NetBIOS lmhosts file. The lmhosts
131 file is a list of NetBIOS names to IP addresses that
132 is loaded by the nmbd server and used via the name
133 resolution mechanism <smbconfoption name="name resolve order"/> described in <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
134 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> to resolve any
135 NetBIOS name queries needed by the server. Note
136 that the contents of this file are <emphasis>NOT</emphasis>
137 used by <command>nmbd</command> to answer any name queries.
138 Adding a line to this file affects name NetBIOS resolution
139 from this host <emphasis>ONLY</emphasis>.</para>
141 <para>The default path to this file is compiled into
142 Samba as part of the build process. Common defaults
143 are <filename>/usr/local/samba/lib/lmhosts</filename>,
144 <filename>/usr/samba/lib/lmhosts</filename> or
145 <filename>/etc/samba/lmhosts</filename>. See the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>lmhosts</refentrytitle>
146 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> man page for details on the contents of this file.</para></listitem>
149 &stdarg.server.debug;
153 <term>-p|--port <UDP port number></term>
154 <listitem><para>UDP port number is a positive integer value.
155 This option changes the default UDP port number (normally 137)
156 that <command>nmbd</command> responds to name queries on. Don't
157 use this option unless you are an expert, in which case you
158 won't need help!</para></listitem>
162 <term>--no-process-group</term>
163 <listitem><para>Do not create a new process group for nmbd.
175 <term><filename>/etc/inetd.conf</filename></term>
176 <listitem><para>If the server is to be run by the
177 <command>inetd</command> meta-daemon, this file
178 must contain suitable startup information for the
184 <term><filename>/etc/rc</filename></term>
185 <listitem><para>or whatever initialization script your
188 <para>If running the server as a daemon at startup,
189 this file will need to contain an appropriate startup
190 sequence for the server.</para></listitem>
194 <term><filename>/etc/services</filename></term>
195 <listitem><para>If running the server via the
196 meta-daemon <command>inetd</command>, this file
197 must contain a mapping of service name (e.g., netbios-ssn)
198 to service port (e.g., 139) and protocol type (e.g., tcp).
203 <term><filename>/usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf</filename></term>
204 <listitem><para>This is the default location of
205 the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
206 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> server
207 configuration file. Other common places that systems
208 install this file are <filename>/usr/samba/lib/smb.conf</filename>
209 and <filename>/etc/samba/smb.conf</filename>.</para>
211 <para>When run as a WINS server (see the
212 <smbconfoption name="wins support"/>
213 parameter in the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
214 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> man page),
215 <command>nmbd</command>
216 will store the WINS database in the file <filename>wins.dat</filename>
217 in the <filename>var/locks</filename> directory configured under
218 wherever Samba was configured to install itself.</para>
220 <para>If <command>nmbd</command> is acting as a <emphasis>
221 browse master</emphasis> (see the <smbconfoption name="local master"/>
222 parameter in the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
223 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> man page, <command>nmbd</command>
224 will store the browsing database in the file <filename>browse.dat
225 </filename> in the <filename>var/locks</filename> directory
226 configured under wherever Samba was configured to install itself.
233 <title>SIGNALS</title>
235 <para>To shut down an <command>nmbd</command> process it is recommended
236 that SIGKILL (-9) <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> be used, except as a last
237 resort, as this may leave the name database in an inconsistent state.
238 The correct way to terminate <command>nmbd</command> is to send it
239 a SIGTERM (-15) signal and wait for it to die on its own.</para>
241 <para><command>nmbd</command> will accept SIGHUP, which will cause
242 it to dump out its namelists into the file <filename>namelist.debug
243 </filename> in the <filename>/usr/local/samba/var/locks</filename>
244 directory (or the <filename>var/locks</filename> directory configured
245 under wherever Samba was configured to install itself). This will also
246 cause <command>nmbd</command> to dump out its server database in
247 the <filename>log.nmb</filename> file.</para>
249 <para>The debug log level of nmbd may be raised or lowered
250 using <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smbcontrol</refentrytitle>
251 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> (SIGUSR[1|2] signals
252 are no longer used since Samba 2.2). This is to allow
253 transient problems to be diagnosed, whilst still running
254 at a normally low log level.</para>
259 <title>VERSION</title>
261 <para>This man page is part of version &doc.version; of
262 the Samba suite.</para>
266 <title>SEE ALSO</title>
268 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>inetd</refentrytitle>
269 <manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smbd</refentrytitle>
270 <manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
271 <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smbclient</refentrytitle>
272 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry><refentrytitle>testparm</refentrytitle>
273 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>, and the Internet
274 RFC's <filename>rfc1001.txt</filename>, <filename>rfc1002.txt</filename>.
275 In addition the CIFS (formerly SMB) specification is available
276 as a link from the Web page <ulink noescape="1" url="https://www.samba.org/cifs/">
277 https://www.samba.org/cifs/</ulink>.</para>
281 <title>AUTHOR</title>
283 <para>The original Samba software and related utilities
284 were created by Andrew Tridgell. Samba is now developed
285 by the Samba Team as an Open Source project similar
286 to the way the Linux kernel is developed.</para>