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SMBPASSWD(8)		  System Administration	tools		  SMBPASSWD(8)

NAME
       smbpasswd - change a user's SMB password

SYNOPSIS
       smbpasswd [-a] [-c <config file>] [-x] [-d] [-e]	[-D debuglevel]	[-n]
	[-r <remote machine>] [-R <name	resolve	order>]	[-m]
	[-U username[%password]] [-h] [-s] [-w pass] [-W] [-i] [-L] [username]

DESCRIPTION
       This tool is part of the	samba(7) suite.

       The smbpasswd program has several different functions, depending	on
       whether it is run by the	root user or not. When run as a	normal user it
       allows the user to change the password used for their SMB sessions on
       any machines that store SMB passwords.

       By default (when	run with no arguments) it will attempt to change the
       current user's SMB password on the local	machine. This is similar to
       the way the passwd(1) program works.  smbpasswd differs from how	the
       passwd program works however in that it is not setuid root but works in
       a client-server mode and	communicates with a locally running smbd(8).
       As a consequence	in order for this to succeed the smbd daemon must be
       running on the local machine. On	a UNIX machine the encrypted SMB
       passwords are usually stored in the default passdb backend.

       When run	by an ordinary user with no options, smbpasswd will prompt
       them for	their old SMB password and then	ask them for their new
       password	twice, to ensure that the new password was typed correctly. No
       passwords will be echoed	on the screen whilst being typed. If you have
       a blank SMB password (specified by the string "NO PASSWORD" in the
       smbpasswd file) then just press the <Enter> key when asked for your old
       password.

       smbpasswd can also be used by a normal user to change their SMB
       password	on remote machines, such as Windows NT Primary Domain
       Controllers. See	the (-r) and -U	options	below.

       When run	by root, smbpasswd allows new users to be added	and deleted in
       the smbpasswd file, as well as allows changes to	the attributes of the
       user in this file to be made. When run by root, smbpasswd accesses the
       local smbpasswd file directly, thus enabling changes to be made even if
       smbd is not running.

OPTIONS
       -a
	   This	option specifies that the username following should be added
	   to the local	smbpasswd file,	with the new password typed (type
	   <Enter> for the old password). This option is ignored if the
	   username following already exists in	the smbpasswd file and it is
	   treated like	a regular change password command. Note	that the
	   default passdb backends require the user to already exist in	the
	   system password file	(usually /etc/passwd), else the	request	to add
	   the user will fail.

	   This	option is only available when running smbpasswd	as root.

       -c
	   This	option can be used to specify the path and file	name of	the
	   smb.conf configuration file when it is important to use other than
	   the default file and	/ or location.

       -x
	   This	option specifies that the username following should be deleted
	   from	the local smbpasswd file.

	   This	option is only available when running smbpasswd	as root.

       -d
	   This	option specifies that the username following should be
	   disabled in the local smbpasswd file. This is done by writing a 'D'
	   flag	into the account control space in the smbpasswd	file. Once
	   this	is done	all attempts to	authenticate via SMB using this
	   username will fail.

	   If the smbpasswd file is in the 'old' format	(pre-Samba 2.0 format)
	   there is no space in	the user's password entry to write this
	   information and the command will FAIL. See smbpasswd(5) for details
	   on the 'old'	and new	password file formats.

	   This	option is only available when running smbpasswd	as root.

       -e
	   This	option specifies that the username following should be enabled
	   in the local	smbpasswd file,	if the account was previously
	   disabled. If	the account was	not disabled this option has no
	   effect. Once	the account is enabled then the	user will be able to
	   authenticate	via SMB	once again.

	   If the smbpasswd file is in the 'old' format, then smbpasswd	will
	   FAIL	to enable the account. See smbpasswd(5)	for details on the
	   'old' and new password file formats.

	   This	option is only available when running smbpasswd	as root.

       -D debuglevel
	   debuglevel is an integer from 0 to 10. The default value if this
	   parameter is	not specified is zero.

	   The higher this value, the more detail will be logged to the	log
	   files about the activities of smbpasswd. At level 0,	only critical
	   errors and serious warnings will be logged.

	   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.

       -n
	   This	option specifies that the username following should have their
	   password set	to null	(i.e. a	blank password)	in the local smbpasswd
	   file. This is done by writing the string "NO	PASSWORD" as the first
	   part	of the first password stored in	the smbpasswd file.

	   Note	that to	allow users to logon to	a Samba	server once the
	   password has	been set to "NO	PASSWORD" in the smbpasswd file	the
	   administrator must set the following	parameter in the [global]
	   section of the smb.conf file	:

	   null	passwords = yes

	   This	option is only available when running smbpasswd	as root.

       -r remote machine name
	   This	option allows a	user to	specify	what machine they wish to
	   change their	password on. Without this parameter smbpasswd defaults
	   to the local	host. The remote machine name is the NetBIOS name of
	   the SMB/CIFS	server to contact to attempt the password change. This
	   name	is resolved into an IP address using the standard name
	   resolution mechanism	in all programs	of the Samba suite. See	the -R
	   name	resolve	order parameter	for details on changing	this resolving
	   mechanism.

	   The username	whose password is changed is that of the current UNIX
	   logged on user. See the -U username parameter for details on
	   changing the	password for a different username.

	   Note	that if	changing a Windows NT Domain password the remote
	   machine specified must be the Primary Domain	Controller for the
	   domain (Backup Domain Controllers only have a read-only copy	of the
	   user	account	database and will not allow the	password change).

	   Note	that Windows 95/98 do not have a real password database	so it
	   is not possible to change passwords specifying a Win95/98 machine
	   as remote machine target.

       -R name resolve order
	   This	option allows the user of smbpasswd to determine what name
	   resolution services to use when looking up the NetBIOS name of the
	   host	being connected	to.

	   The options are :"lmhosts", "host", "wins" and "bcast". They	cause
	   names to be resolved	as follows:

		  o   lmhosts: Lookup an IP address in the Samba lmhosts file.
		      If the line in lmhosts has no name type attached to the
		      NetBIOS name (see	the lmhosts(5) for details) then any
		      name type	matches	for lookup.

		  o   host: Do a standard host name to IP address resolution,
		      using the	system /etc/hosts, NIS,	or DNS lookups.	This
		      method of	name resolution	is operating system depended
		      for instance on IRIX or Solaris this may be controlled
		      by the /etc/nsswitch.conf	file). Note that this method
		      is only used if the NetBIOS name type being queried is
		      the 0x20 (server)	name type, otherwise it	is ignored.

		  o   wins: Query a name with the IP address listed in the
		      wins server parameter. If	no WINS	server has been
		      specified	this method will be ignored.

		  o   bcast: Do	a broadcast on each of the known local
		      interfaces listed	in the interfaces parameter. This is
		      the least	reliable of the	name resolution	methods	as it
		      depends on the target host being on a locally connected
		      subnet.

	   The default order is	lmhosts, host, wins, bcast and without this
	   parameter or	any entry in the smb.conf(5) file the name resolution
	   methods will	be attempted in	this order.

       -m
	   This	option tells smbpasswd that the	account	being changed is a
	   MACHINE account. Currently this is used when	Samba is being used as
	   an NT Primary Domain	Controller.

	   This	option is only available when running smbpasswd	as root.

       -U username
	   This	option may only	be used	in conjunction with the	-r option.
	   When	changing a password on a remote	machine	it allows the user to
	   specify the user name on that machine whose password	will be
	   changed. It is present to allow users who have different user names
	   on different	systems	to change these	passwords.

       -h
	   This	option prints the help string for smbpasswd, selecting the
	   correct one for running as root or as an ordinary user.

       -s
	   This	option causes smbpasswd	to be silent (i.e. not issue prompts)
	   and to read its old and new passwords from standard input, rather
	   than	from /dev/tty (like the	passwd(1) program does). This option
	   is to aid people writing scripts to drive smbpasswd

       -w password
	   This	parameter is only available if Samba has been compiled with
	   LDAP	support. The -w	switch is used to specify the password to be
	   used	with the ldap admin dn.	Note that the password is stored in
	   the secrets.tdb and is keyed	off of the admin's DN. This means that
	   if the value	of ldap	admin dn ever changes, the password will need
	   to be manually updated as well.

       -W
	   NOTE: This option is	same as	"-w" except that the password should
	   be entered using stdin.

	   This	parameter is only available if Samba has been compiled with
	   LDAP	support. The -W	switch is used to specify the password to be
	   used	with the ldap admin dn.	Note that the password is stored in
	   the secrets.tdb and is keyed	off of the admin's DN. This means that
	   if the value	of ldap	admin dn ever changes, the password will need
	   to be manually updated as well.

       -i
	   This	option tells smbpasswd that the	account	being changed is an
	   interdomain trust account. Currently	this is	used when Samba	is
	   being used as an NT Primary Domain Controller. The account contains
	   the info about another trusted domain.

	   This	option is only available when running smbpasswd	as root.

       -L
	   Run in local	mode.

       username
	   This	specifies the username for all of the root only	options	to
	   operate on. Only root can specify this parameter as only root has
	   the permission needed to modify attributes directly in the local
	   smbpasswd file.

NOTES
       Since smbpasswd works in	client-server mode communicating with a	local
       smbd for	a non-root user	then the smbd daemon must be running for this
       to work.	A common problem is to add a restriction to the	hosts that may
       access the smbd running on the local machine by specifying either allow
       hosts or	deny hosts entry in the	smb.conf(5) file and neglecting	to
       allow "localhost" access	to the smbd.

       In addition, the	smbpasswd command is only useful if Samba has been set
       up to use encrypted passwords.

VERSION
       This man	page is	part of	version	4.13.1 of the Samba suite.

SEE ALSO
       smbpasswd(5), Samba(7).

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			  SMBPASSWD(8)

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | NOTES | VERSION | SEE ALSO | AUTHOR

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