samba - Man Page

samba [-D|--daemon] [-F|--foreground] [-i|--interactive] [-M|--model=MODEL] [--maximum-runtime=seconds] [-b|--show-build] [--no-process-group] [-d|--debuglevel=DEBUGLEVEL] [--debug-stdout] [--configfile=CONFIGFILE] [--option=name=value] [-l|--log-basename=LOGFILEBASE] [--leak-report] [--leak-report-full] [-V|--version]

This program is part of the samba(7) suite​.

samba is the server daemon that provides Active Directory, filesharing and printing services to clients​. The server provides filespace and directory services to clients using the SMB (or CIFS) protocol and other related protocols such as DCE/RPC, LDAP and Kerberos​.

Clients supported include MSCLIENT 3​.0 for DOS, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000/XP/2003, OS/2, DAVE for Macintosh, and cifsfs for Linux​.

An extensive description of the services that the server can provide is given in the man page for the configuration file controlling the attributes of those services (see smb.conf(5)​. This man page will not describe the services, but will concentrate on the administrative aspects of running the server​.

Please note that there are significant security implications to running this server, and the smb.conf(5) manual page should be regarded as mandatory reading before proceeding with installation​.

-D|--daemon

If specified, this parameter causes the server to operate as a daemon​. That is, it detaches itself and runs in the background, fielding requests on the appropriate ports​. Operating the server as a daemon is the recommended way of running samba for servers that provide more than casual use file and print services​. This switch is assumed if samba is executed on the command line of a shell​.

-F|--foreground

If specified, this parameter causes the samba process to not daemonize, i​.e​. double-fork and disassociate with the terminal​.

-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​. samba also logs to standard output, as if the -S parameter had been given​.

-M|--model

This parameter can be used to specify the "process model" samba should use​. This determines how concurrent clients are handled​. Available process models include:

• single

  All Samba services run in a single process​. This is not recommended for production configurations​.

• standard

  A process is created for each Samba service, and for those services that support it (currently only LDAP and NETLOGON) a new processes is started for each new client connection​.

  Historically, this was the 'standard' way Samba behaved up until v4​.10​. Note that this model can be resource intensive if you have a large number of client connections​.

• prefork

  The default​. A process is started for each Samba service, and a fixed number of worker processes are started for those services that support it (currently LDAP, NETLOGON, and KDC)​. The client connections are then shared amongst the worker processes​. Requests for services not supporting prefork are handled by a single process for that service​.

  The number of prefork worker processes started is controlled by the smb.conf(5) parameter prefork children, which defaults to 4​.

--maximum-runtime=seconds

Set maximum runtime of the server process till autotermination in seconds​.

-b|--show-build

Print information about how Samba was built​.

-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 /etc/samba/smb​.conf file​.

--debug-stdout

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​.

/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​.

This file describes all the services the server is to make available to clients​. See smb.conf(5) for more information​.

Most diagnostics issued by the server are logged in a specified log file​. The log file name is specified at compile time, but may be overridden on the command line​.

The number and nature of diagnostics available depends on the debug level used by the server​. If you have problems, set the debug level to 3 and peruse the log files​.

Most messages are reasonably self-explanatory​. Unfortunately, at the time this man page was created, there are too many diagnostics available in the source code to warrant describing each and every diagnostic​. At this stage your best bet is still to grep the source code and inspect the conditions that gave rise to the diagnostics you are seeing​.

This man page is part of version 4​.25​.0 of the Samba suite​.

hosts_access(5) smb.conf(5), smbclient(8), samba-tool(8), smbd(8), nmbd(8), winbindd(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/​.

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​.