source: vendor/3.5.11/docs-xml/manpages-3/nmbd.8.xml

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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//Samba-Team//DTD DocBook V4.2-Based Variant V1.0//EN" "http://www.samba.org/samba/DTD/samba-doc">
<refentry id="nmbd.8">

<refmeta>
        <refentrytitle>nmbd</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
        <refmiscinfo class="source">Samba</refmiscinfo>
        <refmiscinfo class="manual">System Administration tools</refmiscinfo>
        <refmiscinfo class="version">3.5</refmiscinfo>
</refmeta>


<refnamediv>
        <refname>nmbd</refname>
        <refpurpose>NetBIOS name server to provide NetBIOS 
        over IP naming services to clients</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>

<refsynopsisdiv>
        <cmdsynopsis>
                <command>nmbd</command>
                <arg choice="opt">-D</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-F</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-S</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-a</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-i</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-o</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-h</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-V</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-d &lt;debug level&gt;</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-H &lt;lmhosts file&gt;</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-l &lt;log directory&gt;</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-p &lt;port number&gt;</arg>
                <arg choice="opt">-s &lt;configuration file&gt;</arg>
        </cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
        <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
        <para>This program is part of the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>samba</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry> suite.</para>

        <para><command>nmbd</command> 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.</para>

        <para>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.</para>

        <para>Amongst other services, <command>nmbd</command> 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 <smbconfoption name="netbios name"/>
        in &smb.conf;. Thus <command>nmbd</command> will 
        reply to broadcast queries for its own name(s). Additional
        names for <command>nmbd</command> to respond on can be set 
        via parameters in the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> configuration file.</para>

        <para><command>nmbd</command> 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.</para>

        <para>In addition, <command>nmbd</command> 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.</para>
</refsect1>

<refsect1>
        <title>OPTIONS</title>

        <variablelist>
                <varlistentry>
                <term>-D</term>
                <listitem><para>If specified, this parameter causes 
                <command>nmbd</command> to operate as a daemon. That is, 
                it detaches itself and runs in the background, fielding 
                requests on the appropriate port. By default, <command>nmbd</command> 
                will operate as a daemon if launched from a command shell. 
                nmbd can also be operated from the <command>inetd</command> 
                meta-daemon, although this is not recommended.
                </para></listitem>
                </varlistentry>

                <varlistentry>
                <term>-F</term>
                <listitem><para>If specified, this parameter causes
                the main <command>nmbd</command> 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
                <command>nmbd</command> under process supervisors such
                as <command>supervise</command> and <command>svscan</command>
                from Daniel J. Bernstein's <command>daemontools</command>
                package, or the AIX process monitor.
                </para></listitem>
                </varlistentry>

                <varlistentry>
                <term>-S</term>
                <listitem><para>If specified, this parameter causes
                <command>nmbd</command> to log to standard output rather
                than a file.</para></listitem>
                </varlistentry>

                <varlistentry>
                <term>-i</term>
                <listitem><para>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. <command>nmbd</command> also logs to standard
                output, as if the <constant>-S</constant> parameter had been
                given. </para></listitem>
                </varlistentry>

                &stdarg.help;
                
                <varlistentry>
                <term>-H &lt;filename&gt;</term>
                <listitem><para>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 <smbconfoption name="name resolve order"/> described in <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
                <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> to resolve any 
                NetBIOS name queries needed by the server. Note 
                that the contents of this file are <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> 
                used by <command>nmbd</command> to answer any name queries. 
                Adding a line to this file affects name NetBIOS resolution 
                from this host <emphasis>ONLY</emphasis>.</para>

                <para>The default path to this file is compiled into 
                Samba as part of the build process. Common defaults 
                are <filename>/usr/local/samba/lib/lmhosts</filename>,
                <filename>/usr/samba/lib/lmhosts</filename> or
                <filename>/etc/samba/lmhosts</filename>. See the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>lmhosts</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> man page for details on the contents of this file.</para></listitem>
                </varlistentry>

                &stdarg.server.debug;
                &popt.common.samba;
                
                <varlistentry>
                <term>-p &lt;UDP port number&gt;</term>
                <listitem><para>UDP port number is a positive integer value.
                This option changes the default UDP port number (normally 137)
                that <command>nmbd</command> responds to name queries on. Don't
                use this option unless you are an expert, in which case you
                won't need help!</para></listitem>
                </varlistentry>

        </variablelist>
</refsect1>

<refsect1>
        <title>FILES</title>

        <variablelist>
                <varlistentry>
                <term><filename>/etc/inetd.conf</filename></term>
                <listitem><para>If the server is to be run by the
                <command>inetd</command> meta-daemon, this file
                must contain suitable startup information for the
                meta-daemon. 
                </para></listitem>
                </varlistentry>

                <varlistentry>
                <term><filename>/etc/rc</filename></term>
                <listitem><para>or whatever initialization script your
                system uses).</para>

                <para>If running the server as a daemon at startup,
                this file will need to contain an appropriate startup
                sequence for the server.</para></listitem>
                </varlistentry>

                <varlistentry>
                <term><filename>/etc/services</filename></term>
                <listitem><para>If running the server via the
                meta-daemon <command>inetd</command>, 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).
                </para></listitem>
                </varlistentry>

                <varlistentry>
                <term><filename>/usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf</filename></term>
                <listitem><para>This is the default location of 
                the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
                <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> server
                configuration file. Other common places that systems
                install this file are <filename>/usr/samba/lib/smb.conf</filename>
                and <filename>/etc/samba/smb.conf</filename>.</para>

                <para>When run as a WINS server (see the
                        <smbconfoption name="wins support"/>
                parameter in the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
                <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> man page),
                <command>nmbd</command>
                will store the WINS database in the file <filename>wins.dat</filename>
                in the <filename>var/locks</filename> directory configured under
                wherever Samba was configured to install itself.</para>

                <para>If <command>nmbd</command> is acting as a <emphasis>
                                browse master</emphasis> (see the <smbconfoption name="local master"/>
                parameter in the <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry> man page, <command>nmbd</command>
                will store the browsing database in the file <filename>browse.dat
                </filename> in the <filename>var/locks</filename> directory
                configured under wherever Samba was configured to install itself.
                </para></listitem>
                </varlistentry>
        </variablelist>
</refsect1>

<refsect1>
        <title>SIGNALS</title>

        <para>To shut down an <command>nmbd</command> process it is recommended
        that SIGKILL (-9) <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> be used, except as a last
        resort, as this may leave the name database in an inconsistent state.
        The correct way to terminate <command>nmbd</command> is to send it
        a SIGTERM (-15) signal and wait for it to die on its own.</para>

        <para><command>nmbd</command> will accept SIGHUP, which will cause
        it to dump out its namelists into the file <filename>namelist.debug
        </filename> in the <filename>/usr/local/samba/var/locks</filename>
        directory (or the <filename>var/locks</filename> directory configured
        under wherever Samba was configured to install itself). This will also
        cause <command>nmbd</command> to dump out its server database in
        the <filename>log.nmb</filename> file.</para>

        <para>The debug log level of nmbd may be raised or lowered
        using <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smbcontrol</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry> (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.</para>
</refsect1>


<refsect1>
        <title>VERSION</title>

        <para>This man page is correct for version 3 of 
        the Samba suite.</para>
</refsect1>

<refsect1>
        <title>SEE ALSO</title>
        <para>
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>inetd</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smbd</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smb.conf</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry><refentrytitle>smbclient</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry><refentrytitle>testparm</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>, <citerefentry><refentrytitle>testprns</refentrytitle>
        <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>, and the Internet 
        RFC's <filename>rfc1001.txt</filename>, <filename>rfc1002.txt</filename>. 
        In addition the CIFS (formerly SMB) specification is available 
        as a link from the Web page <ulink noescape="1" url="http://samba.org/cifs/"> 
        http://samba.org/cifs/</ulink>.</para>
</refsect1>

<refsect1>
        <title>AUTHOR</title>
        
        <para>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.</para>
        
        <para>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 <ulink url="ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/">
        ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/</ulink>) and updated for the Samba 2.0 
        release by Jeremy Allison.  The conversion to DocBook for 
        Samba 2.2 was done by Gerald Carter. The conversion to DocBook
        XML 4.2 for Samba 3.0 was done by Alexander Bokovoy.</para>
</refsect1>

</refentry>