nmbd

   
nmbd

The nmbd program is Samba's NetBIOS name service and browsing daemon. It replies to NetBIOS over TCP/IP (also called NetBT or NBT) name -service requests broadcast from SMB clients , and optionally to Microsoft's Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) requests. Both are versions of the name-to-address lookup required by SMB clients. The broadcast version uses UDP broadcast on the local subnet only, while WINS uses TCP, which can be routed. If running as a WINS server, nmbd keeps a current name and address database in the file /usr/local/samba/var/locks/wins.dat .

An active nmbd daemon also responds to browsing protocol requests used by the Windows Network Neighborhood. This protocol provides a dynamic directory of servers, as well as the disks and printers that the servers are providing. As with WINS, this was initially done by making UDP broadcasts on the local subnet. With the addition of the local master browser to the network architecture, it is done by making TCP connections to a server. If nmbd is acting as a local master browser, it stores the browsing database in the file /usr/local/samba/var/locks/browse.dat .

Some clients ( especially older ones) cannot use the WINS protocol. To support these clients, nmbd can act as a WINS proxy, accepting broadcast requests from the non-WINS clients, contacting a WINS server on their behalf , and returning the WINS server's response to them.

Signals

Like smbd , the nmbd program responds to several Unix signals. Sending nmbd a SIGHUP signal causes it to dump the names it knows about to the /usr/local/samba/var/locks/ namelist .debug file. To shut down an nmbd process and allow it to die gracefully, send it a SIGTERM (15) signal, rather than a SIGKILL (9). With Samba versions prior to 2.2, the debugging level could be raised or lowered using SIGUSR1 or SIGUSR2. This is no longer supported. Use smbcontrol instead.

Command synopsis

 nmbd   [options]   

Options

-a

Causes each new connection to the Samba server to append all logging messages to the log file. This option is the opposite of -o and is the default.

-d debug_level

Sets the debug (sometimes called logging) level. The level can range from 0 to 10. Specifying the value on the command line overrides the value specified in the smb.conf file. Debug level 0 logs only the most important messages; level 1 is normal; levels 3 and above are primarily for debugging and slow nmbd considerably.

-D

Instructs the nmbd program to run as a daemon. This is the recommended way to use nmbd and is the default when nmbd is run from an interactive shell. In addition, nmbd can be run from inetd .

-h

Prints usage information for the nmbd command.

-H lmhosts_ file

Specifies the location of the lmhosts file for name resolution. This file is used only to resolve names for the local server, and not to answer queries from remote systems. The compiled-in default is commonly /usr/local/samba/lib/lmhosts , /usr/samba/lib/lmhosts , or /etc/lmhosts .

-i

Runs nmbd interactively, rather than as a daemon. This option is used to override the default daemon mode when nmbd is run from the command line.

-l log_ file

Sends the log messages to somewhere other than the location compiled into the executable or specified in the smb.conf file. The default is often /usr/local/samba/var/log.nmbd , /usr/samba/var/log.nmbd , or /var/log /log.nmbd .

-n NetBIOS_name

Allows you to override the NetBIOS name by which the daemon advertises itself. Specifying this option on the command line overrides the netbios name option in the Samba configuration file.

-O socket_options

Sets the TCP/IP socket options, using the same parameters as the socket options configuration option. Often used for performance tuning and testing.

-o

Causes log files to be overwritten when opened (the opposite of -a ). This option saves you from hunting for the right log entries if you are performing a series of tests and inspecting the log file each time.

-p port_number

Sets the UDP port number from which the server accepts requests. Currently, all Microsoft clients use only the default port, 137.

-s configuration_ file

Specifies the location of the Samba configuration file. Although the file defaults to /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf , you can override it here on the command line. Typically used for debugging.

-v

Prints the current version of Samba.

   


Using Samba
Using Samba: A File and Print Server for Linux, Unix & Mac OS X, 3rd Edition
ISBN: 0596007698
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 475

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