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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] [-F|--foreground] [-S|--log-stdout]
	[-i|--interactive] [-V]	[-d <debug level>] [-H|--hosts <lmhosts	file>]
	[-l <log directory>] [-p|--port	<port number>]
	[-s <configuration file>] [--no-process-group]

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 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.

       -S|--log-stdout
	   If specified, this parameter	causes nmbd to log to standard output
	   rather than a file.

       -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.

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

       --usage
	   Display brief usage message.

       -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.

       -d|--debuglevel=level
	   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 smb.conf file.

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

       -s|--configfile=<configuration file>
	   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
	   smb.conf for	more information. The default configuration file name
	   is determined at compile time.

       -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.

       --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.

       -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.

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.

       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	4.13.1 of the Samba suite.

SEE ALSO
       inetd(8), smbd(8), smb.conf(5), smbclient(1), testparm(1), and the
       Internet	RFC's rfc1001.txt, rfc1002.txt.	In addition the	CIFS (formerly
       SMB) specification is available as a link from the Web page
       https://www.samba.org/cifs/.

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 4.13.1			  10/28/2020			       NMBD(8)

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | FILES | SIGNALS | VERSION | SEE ALSO | AUTHOR

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