NAME

       nmbd - NetBIOS name server to provide NetBIOS over IP naming services to clients

SYNOPSIS

       nmbd [-D|--daemon] [-i|--interactive] [-F|--foreground] [--no-process-group] [-b|--build-options]
        [-p <port number(s)>] [-P <profiling level>] [-d <debug level>] [--debug-stdout]
        [--configfile=<configuration file>] [--option=<name>=<value>] [-l|--log-basename <log directory>]
        [--leak-report] [--leak-report-full] [-V|--version]

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
       /etc/samba/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.

       -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.

       -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.

       -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.

       -d|--debuglevel=DEBUGLEVEL, --debug-stdout
           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
           /etc/samba/smb.conf file.  This will redirect debug output to STDOUT. By default server daemons are
           logging to a log file.

       --configfile=CONFIGFILE
           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 /etc/samba/smb.conf for more information. The
           default configuration file name is determined at compile time.

       --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. If a name or a value includes a
           space, wrap whole --option=name=value into quotes.

       -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.

       --leak-report
           Enable talloc leak reporting on exit.

       --leak-report-full
           Enable full talloc leak reporting on exit.

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

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

       --usage
           Display brief usage message.

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. Additionally, the signal will cause reloading nmbd configuration.

       Instead of sending a SIGHUP signal, a request to dump namelists into the file and reload a configuration
       file may be sent using smbcontrol(1) program.

       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 4.19.5-Ubuntu 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 4.19.5-Ubuntu                                10/09/2025                                            NMBD(8)