1mailto(samba@samba.org) 
2
3manpage(nmbd)(8)(23 Oct 1998)(Samba)(SAMBA)
4
5label(NAME)
6manpagename(nmbd)(NetBIOS name server to provide NetBIOS over IP
7naming services to clients)
8
9label(SYNOPSIS)
10manpagesynopsis()
11
12bf(nmbd) [link(-D)(minusD)] [link(-a)(minusa)] [link(-o)(minuso)] [link(-h)(minush)] [link(-V)(minusV)] [link(-H lmhosts file)(minusH)] [link(-d debuglevel)(minusd)] [link(-l log file basename)(minusl)] [link(-n primary NetBIOS name)(minusn)] [link(-p port number)(minusp)] [link(-s configuration file)(minuss)]
13
14label(DESCRIPTION)
15manpagedescription()
16
17This program is part of the bf(Samba) suite.
18
19bf(nmbd) is a server that understands and can reply to NetBIOS over IP
20name service requests, like those produced by SMBD/CIFS clients such
21as Windows 95/98, Windows NT and LanManager clients. It also
22participates in the browsing protocols which make up the Windows
23"Network Neighborhood" view.
24
25SMB/CIFS clients, when they start up, may wish to locate an SMB/CIFS
26server. That is, they wish to know what IP number a specified host is
27using.
28
29Amongst other services, bf(nmbd) will listen for such requests,
30and if its own NetBIOS name is specified it will respond with the IP
31number of the host it is running on.  Its "own NetBIOS name" is by
32default the primary DNS name of the host it is running on, but this
33can be overridden with the bf(-n) option (see link(OPTIONS)(OPTIONS) below). Thus
34bf(nmbd) will reply to broadcast queries for its own name(s). Additional
35names for bf(nmbd) to respond on can be set via parameters in the
36url(bf(smb.conf(5)))(smb.conf.5.html) configuration file.
37
38bf(nmbd) can also be used as a WINS (Windows Internet Name Server)
39server. What this basically means is that it will act as a WINS
40database server, creating a database from name registration requests
41that it receives and replying to queries from clients for these names.
42
43In addition, bf(nmbd) can act as a WINS proxy, relaying broadcast queries
44from clients that do not understand how to talk the WINS protocol to a
45WIN server.
46
47label(OPTIONS)
48manpageoptions()
49
50startdit()
51
52label(minusD)
53dit(bf(-D)) If specified, this parameter causes bf(nmbd) to operate
54as a daemon. That is, it detaches itself and runs in the background,
55fielding requests on the appropriate port. By default, bf(nmbd) will
56NOT operate as a daemon. nmbd can also be operated from the inetd
57meta-daemon, although this is not recommended.
58
59label(minusa)
60dit(bf(-a)) If this parameter is specified, each new connection will
61append log messages to the log file.  This is the default.
62
63label(minuso)
64dit(bf(-o)) If this parameter is specified, the log files will be
65overwritten when opened.  By default, the log files will be appended
66to.
67
68label(minush)
69dit(bf(-h)) Prints the help information (usage) for bf(nmbd).
70
71label(minusV)
72dit(bf(-V)) Prints the version number for bf(nmbd).
73
74label(minusH)
75dit(bf(-H filename)) NetBIOS lmhosts file.
76
77The lmhosts file is a list of NetBIOS names to IP addresses that is
78loaded by the nmbd server and used via the name resolution mechanism
79url(bf(name resolve order))(smb.conf.5.html#nameresolveorder) described in 
80url(bf(smb.conf (5)))(smb.conf.5.html) to resolve any
81NetBIOS name queries needed by the server. Note that the contents of
82this file are em(NOT) used by bf(nmbd) to answer any name queries. Adding
83a line to this file affects name NetBIOS resolution from this host
84em(ONLY).
85
86The default path to this file is compiled into Samba as part of the
87build process. Common defaults are em(/usr/local/samba/lib/lmhosts),
88em(/usr/samba/lib/lmhosts) or em(/etc/lmhosts). See the 
89url(bf(lmhosts (5)))(lmhosts.5.html) man page for details on the contents of this file.
90
91label(minusd)
92dit(bf(-d debuglevel)) debuglevel is an integer from 0 to 10.
93
94The default value if this parameter is not specified is zero.
95
96The higher this value, the more detail will be logged to the log files
97about the activities of the server. At level 0, only critical errors
98and serious warnings will be logged. Level 1 is a reasonable level for
99day to day running - it generates a small amount of information about
100operations carried out.
101
102Levels above 1 will generate considerable amounts of log data, and
103should only be used when investigating a problem. Levels above 3 are
104designed for use only by developers and generate HUGE amounts of log
105data, most of which is extremely cryptic.
106
107Note that specifying this parameter here will override the url(bf(log
108level))(smb.conf.5.html#loglevel) parameter in the url(bf(smb.conf
109(5)))(smb.conf.5.html) file.
110
111label(minusl)
112dit(bf(-l logfile)) The bf(-l) parameter specifies a path and base
113filename into which operational data from the running nmbd server will
114be logged.  The actual log file name is generated by appending the
115extension ".nmb" to the specified base name.  For example, if the name
116specified was "log" then the file log.nmb would contain the debugging
117data.
118
119The default log file path is compiled into Samba as part of the
120build process. Common defaults are em(/usr/local/samba/var/log.nmb),
121em(/usr/samba/var/log.nmb) or em(/var/log/log.nmb).
122
123label(minusn)
124dit(bf(-n primary NetBIOS name)) This option allows you to override
125the NetBIOS name that Samba uses for itself. This is identical to
126setting the url(bf(NetBIOS name))(smb.conf.5.html#netbiosname) parameter
127in the url(bf(smb.conf))(smb.conf.5.html) file
128but will override the setting in the url(bf(smb.conf))(smb.conf.5.html) file.
129
130label(minusp)
131dit(bf(-p UDP port number)) UDP port number is a positive integer value.
132
133This option changes the default UDP port number (normally 137) that
134bf(nmbd) responds to name queries on. Don't use this option unless you are
135an expert, in which case you won't need help!
136
137label(minuss)
138dit(bf(-s configuration file)) The default configuration file name is
139set at build time, typically as em(/usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf), but
140this may be changed when Samba is autoconfigured.
141
142The file specified contains the configuration details required by the
143server. See url(bf(smb.conf (5)))(smb.conf.5.html) for more information.
144
145endit()
146
147label(FILES)
148manpagefiles()
149
150bf(/etc/inetd.conf)
151
152If the server is to be run by the inetd meta-daemon, this file must
153contain suitable startup information for the meta-daemon.
154
155bf(/etc/rc)
156
157(or whatever initialization script your system uses).
158
159If running the server as a daemon at startup, this file will need to
160contain an appropriate startup sequence for the server.
161
162bf(/usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf)
163
164This is the default location of the 
165url(bf(smb.conf))(smb.conf.5.html) server configuration
166file. Other common places that systems install this file are
167em(/usr/samba/lib/smb.conf) and em(/etc/smb.conf).
168
169When run as a bf(WINS) server (see the url(bf(wins support))(smb.conf.5.html#winssupport)
170parameter in the url(bf(smb.conf (5)))(smb.conf.5.html) man page), bf(nmbd) will
171store the WINS database in the file tt(wins.dat) in the tt(var/locks) directory
172configured under wherever Samba was configured to install itself.
173
174If bf(nmbd) is acting as a bf(browse master) (see the url(bf(local master))(smb.conf.5.html#localmaster)
175parameter in the url(bf(smb.conf (5)))(smb.conf.5.html) man page), bf(nmbd) will
176store the browsing database in the file tt(browse.dat) in the tt(var/locks) directory
177configured under wherever Samba was configured to install itself.
178
179label(SIGNALS)
180manpagesection(SIGNALS)
181
182To shut down an bf(nmbd) process it is recommended that SIGKILL (-9)
183em(NOT) be used, except as a last resort, as this may leave the name
184database in an inconsistent state. The correct way to terminate
185bf(nmbd) is to send it a SIGTERM (-15) signal and wait for it to die on
186its own.
187
188bf(nmbd) will accept SIGHUP, which will cause it to dump out it's
189namelists into the file tt(namelist.debug) in the
190em(/usr/local/samba/var/locks) directory (or the em(var/locks)
191directory configured under wherever Samba was configured to install
192itself). This will also cause bf(nmbd) to dump out it's server database in
193the log.nmb file. In addition, the debug log level of nmbd may be raised
194by sending it a SIGUSR1 (tt(kill -USR1 <nmbd-pid>)) and lowered by sending it a
195SIGUSR2 (tt(kill -USR2 <nmbd-pid>)). This is to allow transient
196problems to be diagnosed, whilst still running at a normally low log
197level.
198
199label(VERSION)
200manpagesection(VERSION)
201
202This man page is correct for version 2.0 of the Samba suite.
203
204label(SEEALSO)
205manpageseealso()
206
207bf(inetd (8)), url(bf(smbd (8)))(smbd.8.html), url(bf(smb.conf
208(5)))(smb.conf.5.html), url(bf(smbclient (1)))(smbclient.1.html),
209url(bf(testparm (1)))(testparm.1.html), url(bf(testprns
210(1)))(testprns.1.html), and the Internet RFC's bf(rfc1001.txt),
211bf(rfc1002.txt). In addition the CIFS (formerly SMB) specification is
212available as a link from the Web page :
213url(http://samba.org/cifs/)(http://samba.org/cifs/).
214
215label(AUTHOR)
216manpageauthor()
217
218The original Samba software and related utilities were created by
219Andrew Tridgell email(samba@samba.org). Samba is now developed
220by the Samba Team as an Open Source project similar to the way the
221Linux kernel is developed.
222
223The original Samba man pages were written by Karl Auer. The man page
224sources were converted to YODL format (another excellent piece of Open
225Source software, available at
226url(bf(ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/))(ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/))
227and updated for the Samba2.0 release by Jeremy Allison.
228email(samba@samba.org).
229
230See url(bf(samba (7)))(samba.7.html) to find out how to get a full
231list of contributors and details on how to submit bug reports,
232comments etc.
233