Provided by: samba_4.3.11+dfsg-0ubuntu0.16.04.34_amd64 
NAME
pdbedit - manage the SAM database (Database of Samba Users)
SYNOPSIS
pdbedit [-a] [-b passdb-backend] [-c account-control] [-C value] [-d debuglevel] [-D drive]
[-e passdb-backend] [-f fullname] [--force-initialized-passwords] [-g] [-h homedir] [-i passdb-backend]
[-I domain] [-K] [-L] [-m] [-M SID|RID] [-N description] [-P account-policy] [-p profile]
[--policies-reset] [-r] [-s configfile] [-S script] [-t] [--time-format] [-u username] [-U SID|RID] [-v]
[-V] [-w] [-x] [-y] [-z] [-Z]
DESCRIPTION
This tool is part of the samba(7) suite.
The pdbedit program is used to manage the users accounts stored in the sam database and can only be run
by root.
The pdbedit tool uses the passdb modular interface and is independent from the kind of users database
used (currently there are smbpasswd, ldap, nis+ and tdb based and more can be added without changing the
tool).
There are five main ways to use pdbedit: adding a user account, removing a user account, modifying a user
account, listing user accounts, importing users accounts.
OPTIONS
-L|--list
This option lists all the user accounts present in the users database. This option prints a list of
user/uid pairs separated by the ':' character.
Example: pdbedit -L
sorce:500:Simo Sorce
samba:45:Test User
-v|--verbose
This option enables the verbose listing format. It causes pdbedit to list the users in the database,
printing out the account fields in a descriptive format.
Example: pdbedit -L -v
---------------
username: sorce
user ID/Group: 500/500
user RID/GRID: 2000/2001
Full Name: Simo Sorce
Home Directory: \\BERSERKER\sorce
HomeDir Drive: H:
Logon Script: \\BERSERKER\netlogon\sorce.bat
Profile Path: \\BERSERKER\profile
---------------
username: samba
user ID/Group: 45/45
user RID/GRID: 1090/1091
Full Name: Test User
Home Directory: \\BERSERKER\samba
HomeDir Drive:
Logon Script:
Profile Path: \\BERSERKER\profile
-w|--smbpasswd-style
This option sets the "smbpasswd" listing format. It will make pdbedit list the users in the database,
printing out the account fields in a format compatible with the smbpasswd file format. (see the
smbpasswd(5) for details)
Example: pdbedit -L -w
sorce:500:508818B733CE64BEAAD3B435B51404EE:
D2A2418EFC466A8A0F6B1DBB5C3DB80C:
[UX ]:LCT-00000000:
samba:45:0F2B255F7B67A7A9AAD3B435B51404EE:
BC281CE3F53B6A5146629CD4751D3490:
[UX ]:LCT-3BFA1E8D:
-u|--user username
This option specifies the username to be used for the operation requested (listing, adding,
removing). It is required in add, remove and modify operations and optional in list operations.
-f|--fullname fullname
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will specify the user's full
name.
Example: -f "Simo Sorce"
-h|--homedir homedir
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will specify the user's home
directory network path.
Example: -h "\\\\BERSERKER\\sorce"
-D|--drive drive
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will specify the windows drive
letter to be used to map the home directory.
Example: -D "H:"
-S|--script script
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will specify the user's logon
script path.
Example: -S "\\\\BERSERKER\\netlogon\\sorce.bat"
-p|--profile profile
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will specify the user's profile
directory.
Example: -p "\\\\BERSERKER\\netlogon"
-M|'--machine SID' SID|rid
This option can be used while adding or modifying a machine account. It will specify the machines'
new primary group SID (Security Identifier) or rid.
Example: -M S-1-5-21-2447931902-1787058256-3961074038-1201
-U|'--user SID' SID|rid
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will specify the users' new SID
(Security Identifier) or rid.
Example: -U S-1-5-21-2447931902-1787058256-3961074038-5004
Example: '--user SID' S-1-5-21-2447931902-1787058256-3961074038-5004
Example: -U 5004
Example: '--user SID' 5004
-c|--account-control account-control
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will specify the users' account
control property. Possible flags are listed below.
• N: No password required
• D: Account disabled
• H: Home directory required
• T: Temporary duplicate of other account
• U: Regular user account
• M: MNS logon user account
• W: Workstation Trust Account
• S: Server Trust Account
• L: Automatic Locking
• X: Password does not expire
• I: Domain Trust Account
Example: -c "[X ]"
-K|--kickoff-time
This option is used to modify the kickoff time for a certain user. Use "never" as argument to set the
kickoff time to unlimited.
Example: pdbedit -K never user
-a|--create
This option is used to add a user into the database. This command needs a user name specified with
the -u switch. When adding a new user, pdbedit will also ask for the password to be used.
Example: pdbedit -a -u sorce
new password:
retype new password
Note
pdbedit does not call the unix password synchronization script if unix password sync has been
set. It only updates the data in the Samba user database.
If you wish to add a user and synchronise the password that immediately, use smbpasswd's -a
option.
-t|--password-from-stdin
This option causes pdbedit to read the password from standard input, rather than from /dev/tty (like
the passwd(1) program does). The password has to be submitted twice and terminated by a newline each.
-r|--modify
This option is used to modify an existing user in the database. This command needs a user name
specified with the -u switch. Other options can be specified to modify the properties of the
specified user. This flag is kept for backwards compatibility, but it is no longer necessary to
specify it.
-m|--machine
This option may only be used in conjunction with the -a option. It will make pdbedit to add a machine
trust account instead of a user account (-u username will provide the machine name).
Example: pdbedit -a -m -u w2k-wks
-x|--delete
This option causes pdbedit to delete an account from the database. It needs a username specified with
the -u switch.
Example: pdbedit -x -u bob
-i|--import passdb-backend
Use a different passdb backend to retrieve users than the one specified in smb.conf. Can be used to
import data into your local user database.
This option will ease migration from one passdb backend to another.
Example: pdbedit -i smbpasswd:/etc/smbpasswd.old
-e|--export passdb-backend
Exports all currently available users to the specified password database backend.
This option will ease migration from one passdb backend to another and will ease backing up.
Example: pdbedit -e smbpasswd:/root/samba-users.backup
-g|--group
If you specify -g, then -i in-backend -e out-backend applies to the group mapping instead of the user
database.
This option will ease migration from one passdb backend to another and will ease backing up.
-b|--backend passdb-backend
Use a different default passdb backend.
Example: pdbedit -b xml:/root/pdb-backup.xml -l
-P|--account-policy account-policy
Display an account policy
Valid policies are: minimum password age, reset count minutes, disconnect time, user must logon to
change password, password history, lockout duration, min password length, maximum password age and
bad lockout attempt.
Example: pdbedit -P "bad lockout attempt"
account policy value for bad lockout attempt is 0
-C|--value account-policy-value
Sets an account policy to a specified value. This option may only be used in conjunction with the -P
option.
Example: pdbedit -P "bad lockout attempt" -C 3
account policy value for bad lockout attempt was 0
account policy value for bad lockout attempt is now 3
-y|--policies
If you specify -y, then -i in-backend -e out-backend applies to the account policies instead of the
user database.
This option will allow to migrate account policies from their default tdb-store into a passdb
backend, e.g. an LDAP directory server.
Example: pdbedit -y -i tdbsam: -e ldapsam:ldap://my.ldap.host
--force-initialized-passwords
This option forces all users to change their password upon next login.
-N|--account-desc description
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will specify the user's
description field.
Example: -N "test description"
-Z|--logon-hours-reset
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will reset the user's allowed
logon hours. A user may login at any time afterwards.
Example: -Z
-z|--bad-password-count-reset
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will reset the stored bad login
counter from a specified user.
Example: -z
--policies-reset
This option can be used to reset the general password policies stored for a domain to their default
values.
Example: --policies-reset
-I|--domain
This option can be used while adding or modifying a user account. It will specify the user's domain
field.
Example: -I "MYDOMAIN"
--time-format
This option is currently not being used.
-?|--help
Print a summary of command line options.
--usage
Display brief usage message.
-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.
NOTES
This command may be used only by root.
VERSION
This man page is correct for version 3 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.
The pdbedit manpage was written by Simo Sorce and Jelmer Vernooij.
Samba 4.3 04/14/2021 PDBEDIT(8)