smbclient(1)
NAME
smbclient - ftp-like client to access SMB/CIFS resources on servers
SYNOPSIS
smbclient [-b <buffer size>] [-d debuglevel] [-e] [-L <netbios name>]
[-U username] [-I destinationIP] [-M <netbios name>] [-m maxprotocol]
[-A authfile] [-N] [-C] [-g] [-i scope] [-O <socket options>]
[-p port] [-R <name resolve order>] [-s <smb config file>]
[-t <per-operation timeout in seconds>] [-k] [-P] [-c <command>]
smbclient {servicename} [password] [-b <buffer size>] [-d debuglevel]
[-e] [-D Directory] [-U username] [-W workgroup] [-M <netbios name>]
[-m maxprotocol] [-A authfile] [-N] [-C] [-g] [-l log-basename]
[-I destinationIP] [-E] [-c <command string>] [-i scope]
[-O <socket options>] [-p port] [-R <name resolve order>]
[-s <smb config file>] [-t <per-operation timeout in seconds>]
[-T<c|x>IXFqgbNan] [-k]
DESCRIPTION
This tool is part of the samba(7) suite. smbclient is a client that can 'talk' to an SMB/CIFS server. It offers an interface similar to that of the ftp program (see ftp(1)). Operations include things like getting files from the server to the local machine, putting files from the local machine to the server, retrieving directory information from the server and so on.
OPTIONS
servicename
servicename is the name of the service you want to use on the
server. A service name takes the form //server/service where server
is the NetBIOS name of the SMB/CIFS server offering the desired
service and service is the name of the service offered. Thus to
connect to the service "printer" on the SMB/CIFS server
"smbserver", you would use the servicename //smbserver/printer
Note that the server name required is NOT necessarily the IP (DNS)
host name of the server ! The name required is a NetBIOS server
name, which may or may not be the same as the IP hostname of the
machine running the server.
The server name is looked up according to either the -R parameter
to smbclient or using the name resolve order parameter in the
smb.conf(5) file, allowing an administrator to change the order and
methods by which server names are looked up.
password
The password required to access the specified service on the
specified server. If this parameter is supplied, the -N option
(suppress password prompt) is assumed.
There is no default password. If no password is supplied on the
command line (either by using this parameter or adding a password
to the -U option (see below)) and the -N option is not specified,
the client will prompt for a password, even if the desired service
does not require one. (If no password is required, simply press
ENTER to provide a null password.)
Note: Some servers (including OS/2 and Windows for Workgroups)
insist on an uppercase password. Lowercase or mixed case passwords
may be rejected by these servers.
Be cautious about including passwords in scripts.
-R|--name-resolve <name resolve order>
This option is used by the programs in the Samba suite to determine
what naming services and in what order to resolve host names to IP
addresses. The option takes a space-separated string of different
name resolution options.
The options are :"lmhosts", "host", "wins" and "bcast". They cause
names to be resolved as follows:
* 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.
* 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 dependent, 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.
* 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.
* 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.
If this parameter is not set then the name resolve order defined in the
smb.conf(5) file parameter (name resolve order) will be used.
The default order is lmhosts, host, wins, bcast and without this
parameter or any entry in the name resolve order parameter of the
smb.conf(5) file the name resolution methods will be attempted in this
order.
-M|--message NetBIOS name
This options allows you to send messages, using the "WinPopup"
protocol, to another computer. Once a connection is established you
then type your message, pressing ^D (control-D) to end.
If the receiving computer is running WinPopup the user will receive
the message and probably a beep. If they are not running WinPopup
the message will be lost, and no error message will occur.
The message is also automatically truncated if the message is over
1600 bytes, as this is the limit of the protocol.
One useful trick is to pipe the message through smbclient. For
example: smbclient -M FRED < mymessage.txt will send the message in
the file mymessage.txt to the machine FRED.
You may also find the -U and -I options useful, as they allow you
to control the FROM and TO parts of the message.
See the message command parameter in the smb.conf(5) for a
description of how to handle incoming WinPopup messages in Samba.
Note: Copy WinPopup into the startup group on your WfWg PCs if you
want them to always be able to receive messages.
-p|--port port
This number is the TCP port number that will be used when making
connections to the server. The standard (well-known) TCP port
number for an SMB/CIFS server is 139, which is the default.
-g|--grepable
This parameter provides combined with -L easy parseable output that
allows processing with utilities such as grep and cut.
-m|--max-protocol protocol
This allows the user to select the highest SMB protocol level that
smbclient will use to connect to the server. By default this is set
to NT1, which is the highest available SMB1 protocol. To connect
using SMB2 or SMB3 protocol, use the strings SMB2 or SMB3
respectively. Note that to connect to a Windows 2012 server with
encrypted transport selecting a max-protocol of SMB3 is required.
-P|--machine-pass
Make queries to the external server using the machine account of
the local server.
-I|--ip-address IP-address
IP address is the address of the server to connect to. It should be
specified in standard "a.b.c.d" notation.
Normally the client would attempt to locate a named SMB/CIFS server
by looking it up via the NetBIOS name resolution mechanism
described above in the name resolve order parameter above. Using
this parameter will force the client to assume that the server is
on the machine with the specified IP address and the NetBIOS name
component of the resource being connected to will be ignored.
There is no default for this parameter. If not supplied, it will be
determined automatically by the client as described above.
-E|--stderr
This parameter causes the client to write messages to the standard
error stream (stderr) rather than to the standard output stream.
By default, the client writes messages to standard output -
typically the user's tty.
-L|--list
This option allows you to look at what services are available on a
server. You use it as smbclient -L host and a list should appear.
The -I option may be useful if your NetBIOS names don't match your
TCP/IP DNS host names or if you are trying to reach a host on
another network.
-b|--send-buffer buffersize
When sending or receiving files, smbclient uses an internal buffer
sized by the maximum number of allowed requests to the connected
server. This command allows this size to be set to any range
between 0 (which means use the default server controlled size)
bytes and 16776960 (0xFFFF00) bytes. Using the server controlled
size is the most efficient as smbclient will pipeline as many
simultaneous reads or writes needed to keep the server as busy as
possible. Setting this to any other size will slow down the
transfer. This can also be set using the iosize command inside
smbclient.
-B|--browse
Browse SMB servers using DNS.
-d|--debuglevel=level
level is an integer from 0 to 10. The default value if this
parameter is not specified is 1.
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.
-N|--no-pass
If specified, this parameter suppresses the normal password prompt
from the client to the user. This is useful when accessing a
service that does not require a password.
Unless a password is specified on the command line or this
parameter is specified, the client will request a password.
If a password is specified on the command line and this option is
also defined the password on the command line will be silently
ingnored and no password will be used.
-k|--kerberos
Try to authenticate with kerberos. Only useful in an Active
Directory environment.
-C|--use-ccache
Try to use the credentials cached by winbind.
-A|--authentication-file=filename
This option allows you to specify a file from which to read the
username and password used in the connection. The format of the
file is
username = <value>
password = <value>
domain = <value>
Make certain that the permissions on the file restrict access from
unwanted users.
-U|--user=username[%password]
Sets the SMB username or username and password.
If %password is not specified, the user will be prompted. The
client will first check the USER environment variable, then the
LOGNAME variable and if either exists, the string is uppercased. If
these environmental variables are not found, the username GUEST is
used.
A third option is to use a credentials file which contains the
plaintext of the username and password. This option is mainly
provided for scripts where the admin does not wish to pass the
credentials on the command line or via environment variables. If
this method is used, make certain that the permissions on the file
restrict access from unwanted users. See the -A for more details.
Be cautious about including passwords in scripts. Also, on many
systems the command line of a running process may be seen via the
ps command. To be safe always allow rpcclient to prompt for a
password and type it in directly.
-S|--signing on|off|required
Set the client signing state.
-P|--machine-pass
Use stored machine account password.
-e|--encrypt
This command line parameter requires the remote server support the
UNIX extensions or that the SMB3 protocol has been selected.
Requests that the connection be encrypted. Negotiates SMB
encryption using either SMB3 or POSIX extensions via GSSAPI. Uses
the given credentials for the encryption negotiation (either
kerberos or NTLMv1/v2 if given domain/username/password triple.
Fails the connection if encryption cannot be negotiated.
--pw-nt-hash
The supplied password is the NT hash.
-n|--netbiosname <primary NetBIOS name>
This option allows you to override the NetBIOS name that Samba uses
for itself. This is identical to setting the netbios name parameter
in the smb.conf file. However, a command line setting will take
precedence over settings in smb.conf.
-i|--scope <scope>
This specifies a NetBIOS scope that nmblookup will use to
communicate with when generating NetBIOS names. For details on the
use of NetBIOS scopes, see rfc1001.txt and rfc1002.txt. NetBIOS
scopes are very rarely used, only set this parameter if you are the
system administrator in charge of all the NetBIOS systems you
communicate with.
-W|--workgroup=domain
Set the SMB domain of the username. This overrides the default
domain which is the domain defined in smb.conf. If the domain
specified is the same as the servers NetBIOS name, it causes the
client to log on using the servers local SAM (as opposed to the
Domain SAM).
-O|--socket-options socket options
TCP socket options to set on the client socket. See the socket
options parameter in the smb.conf manual page for the list of valid
options.
-?|--help
Print a summary of command line options.
--usage
Display brief usage message.
-t|--timeout <timeout-seconds>
This allows the user to tune the default timeout used for each SMB
request. The default setting is 20 seconds. Increase it if requests
to the server sometimes time out. This can happen when SMB3
encryption is selected and smbclient is overwhelming the server
with requests. This can also be set using the timeout command
inside smbclient.
-T|--tar tar options
smbclient may be used to create tar(1) compatible backups of all
the files on an SMB/CIFS share. The secondary tar flags that can be
given to this option are:
* c - Create a tar backup archive on the local system. Must be
followed by the name of a tar file, tape device or "-" for
standard output. If using standard output you must turn the log
level to its lowest value -d0 to avoid corrupting your tar
file. This flag is mutually exclusive with the x flag.
* x - Extract (restore) a local tar file back to a share. Unless
the -D option is given, the tar files will be restored from the
top level of the share. Must be followed by the name of the tar
file, device or "-" for standard input. Mutually exclusive with
the c flag. Restored files have their creation times (mtime)
set to the date saved in the tar file. Directories currently do
not get their creation dates restored properly.
* I - Include files and directories. Is the default behavior when
filenames are specified above. Causes files to be included in
an extract or create (and therefore everything else to be
excluded). See example below. Filename globbing works in one of
two ways. See r below.
* X - Exclude files and directories. Causes files to be excluded
from an extract or create. See example below. Filename globbing
works in one of two ways. See r below.
* F - File containing a list of files and directories. The F
causes the name following the tarfile to create to be read as a
filename that contains a list of files and directories to be
included in an extract or create (and therefore everything else
to be excluded). See example below. Filename globbing works in
one of two ways. See r below.
* b - Blocksize. Must be followed by a valid (greater than zero)
blocksize. Causes tar file to be written out in
blocksize*TBLOCK (512 byte) blocks.
* g - Incremental. Only back up files that have the archive bit
set. Useful only with the c flag.
* q - Quiet. Keeps tar from printing diagnostics as it works.
This is the same as tarmode quiet.
* r - Use wildcard matching to include or exclude. Deprecated.
* N - Newer than. Must be followed by the name of a file whose
date is compared against files found on the share during a
create. Only files newer than the file specified are backed up
to the tar file. Useful only with the c flag.
* a - Set archive bit. Causes the archive bit to be reset when a
file is backed up. Useful with the g and c flags.
Tar Long File Names
smbclient's tar option now supports long file names both on backup and
restore. However, the full path name of the file must be less than 1024
bytes. Also, when a tar archive is created, smbclient's tar option
places all files in the archive with relative names, not absolute
names.
Tar Filenames
All file names can be given as DOS path names (with '\\' as the
component separator) or as UNIX path names (with '/' as the component
separator).
Examples
Restore from tar file backup.tar into myshare on mypc (no password on
share).
smbclient //mypc/myshare "" -N -Tx backup.tar
Restore everything except users/docs
smbclient //mypc/myshare "" -N -TXx backup.tar users/docs
Create a tar file of the files beneath users/docs.
smbclient //mypc/myshare "" -N -Tc backup.tar users/docs
Create the same tar file as above, but now use a DOS path name.
smbclient //mypc/myshare "" -N -Tc backup.tar users\edocs
Create a tar file of the files listed in the file tarlist.
smbclient //mypc/myshare "" -N -TcF backup.tar tarlist
Create a tar file of all the files and directories in the share.
smbclient //mypc/myshare "" -N -Tc backup.tar *
-D|--directory initial directory
Change to initial directory before starting. Probably only of any
use with the tar -T option.
-c|--command command string
command string is a semicolon-separated list of commands to be
executed instead of prompting from stdin.
-N is implied by -c.
This is particularly useful in scripts and for printing stdin to
the server, e.g. -c 'print -'.
OPERATIONS
Once the client is running, the user is presented with a prompt :
smb:\>
The backslash ("\\") indicates the current working directory on the
server, and will change if the current working directory is changed.
The prompt indicates that the client is ready and waiting to carry out
a user command. Each command is a single word, optionally followed by
parameters specific to that command. Command and parameters are
space-delimited unless these notes specifically state otherwise. All
commands are case-insensitive. Parameters to commands may or may not be
case sensitive, depending on the command.
You can specify file names which have spaces in them by quoting the
name with double quotes, for example "a long file name".
Parameters shown in square brackets (e.g., "[parameter]") are optional.
If not given, the command will use suitable defaults. Parameters shown
in angle brackets (e.g., "<parameter>") are required.
Note that all commands operating on the server are actually performed
by issuing a request to the server. Thus the behavior may vary from
server to server, depending on how the server was implemented.
The commands available are given here in alphabetical order.
? [command]
If command is specified, the ? command will display a brief
informative message about the specified command. If no command is
specified, a list of available commands will be displayed.
! [shell command]
If shell command is specified, the ! command will execute a shell
locally and run the specified shell command. If no command is
specified, a local shell will be run.
allinfo file
The client will request that the server return all known
information about a file or directory (including streams).
altname file
The client will request that the server return the "alternate" name
(the 8.3 name) for a file or directory.
archive <number>
Sets the archive level when operating on files. 0 means ignore the
archive bit, 1 means only operate on files with this bit set, 2
means only operate on files with this bit set and reset it after
operation, 3 means operate on all files and reset it after
operation. The default is 0.
backup
Toggle the state of the "backup intent" flag sent to the server on
directory listings and file opens. If the "backup intent" flag is
true, the server will try and bypass some file system checks if the
user has been granted SE_BACKUP or SE_RESTORE privileges. This
state is useful when performing a backup or restore operation.
blocksize <number>
Sets the blocksize parameter for a tar operation. The default is
20. Causes tar file to be written out in blocksize*TBLOCK (normally
512 byte) units.
cancel jobid0 [jobid1] ... [jobidN]
The client will request that the server cancel the printjobs
identified by the given numeric print job ids.
case_sensitive
Toggles the setting of the flag in SMB packets that tells the
server to treat filenames as case sensitive. Set to OFF by default
(tells file server to treat filenames as case insensitive). Only
currently affects Samba 3.0.5 and above file servers with the case
sensitive parameter set to auto in the smb.conf.
cd <directory name>
If "directory name" is specified, the current working directory on
the server will be changed to the directory specified. This
operation will fail if for any reason the specified directory is
inaccessible.
If no directory name is specified, the current working directory on
the server will be reported.
chmod file mode in octal
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. The client
requests that the server change the UNIX permissions to the given
octal mode, in standard UNIX format.
chown file uid gid
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. The client
requests that the server change the UNIX user and group ownership
to the given decimal values. Note there is currently no way to
remotely look up the UNIX uid and gid values for a given name. This
may be addressed in future versions of the CIFS UNIX extensions.
close <fileid>
Closes a file explicitly opened by the open command. Used for
internal Samba testing purposes.
del <mask>
The client will request that the server attempt to delete all files
matching mask from the current working directory on the server.
dir <mask>
A list of the files matching mask in the current working directory
on the server will be retrieved from the server and displayed.
du <filename>
Does a directory listing and then prints out the current disk usage
and free space on a share.
echo <number> <data>
Does an SMBecho request to ping the server. Used for internal Samba
testing purposes.
exit
Terminate the connection with the server and exit from the program.
get <remote file name> [local file name]
Copy the file called remote file name from the server to the
machine running the client. If specified, name the local copy local
file name. Note that all transfers in smbclient are binary. See
also the lowercase command.
getfacl <filename>
Requires the server support the UNIX extensions. Requests and
prints the POSIX ACL on a file.
hardlink <src> <dest>
Creates a hardlink on the server using Windows CIFS semantics.
help [command]
See the ? command above.
history
Displays the command history.
iosize <bytes>
When sending or receiving files, smbclient uses an internal buffer
sized by the maximum number of allowed requests to the connected
server. This command allows this size to be set to any range
between 0 (which means use the default server controlled size)
bytes and 16776960 (0xFFFF00) bytes. Using the server controlled
size is the most efficient as smbclient will pipeline as many
simultaneous reads or writes needed to keep the server as busy as
possible. Setting this to any other size will slow down the
transfer.
lcd [directory name]
If directory name is specified, the current working directory on
the local machine will be changed to the directory specified. This
operation will fail if for any reason the specified directory is
inaccessible.
If no directory name is specified, the name of the current working
directory on the local machine will be reported.
link target linkname
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. The client
requests that the server create a hard link between the linkname
and target files. The linkname file must not exist.
listconnect
Show the current connections held for DFS purposes.
lock <filenum> <r|w> <hex-start> <hex-len>
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. Tries to set a
POSIX fcntl lock of the given type on the given range. Used for
internal Samba testing purposes.
logon <username> <password>
Establishes a new vuid for this session by logging on again.
Replaces the current vuid. Prints out the new vuid. Used for
internal Samba testing purposes.
logoff
Logs the user off the server, closing the session. Used for
internal Samba testing purposes.
lowercase
Toggle lowercasing of filenames for the get and mget commands.
When lowercasing is toggled ON, local filenames are converted to
lowercase when using the get and mget commands. This is often
useful when copying (say) MSDOS files from a server, because
lowercase filenames are the norm on UNIX systems.
ls <mask>
See the dir command above.
mask <mask>
This command allows the user to set up a mask which will be used
during recursive operation of the mget and mput commands.
The masks specified to the mget and mput commands act as filters
for directories rather than files when recursion is toggled ON.
The mask specified with the mask command is necessary to filter
files within those directories. For example, if the mask specified
in an mget command is "source*" and the mask specified with the
mask command is "*.c" and recursion is toggled ON, the mget command
will retrieve all files matching "*.c" in all directories below and
including all directories matching "source*" in the current working
directory.
Note that the value for mask defaults to blank (equivalent to "*")
and remains so until the mask command is used to change it. It
retains the most recently specified value indefinitely. To avoid
unexpected results it would be wise to change the value of mask
back to "*" after using the mget or mput commands.
md <directory name>
See the mkdir command.
mget <mask>
Copy all files matching mask from the server to the machine running
the client.
Note that mask is interpreted differently during recursive
operation and non-recursive operation - refer to the recurse and
mask commands for more information. Note that all transfers in
smbclient are binary. See also the lowercase command.
mkdir <directory name>
Create a new directory on the server (user access privileges
permitting) with the specified name.
more <file name>
Fetch a remote file and view it with the contents of your PAGER
environment variable.
mput <mask>
Copy all files matching mask in the current working directory on
the local machine to the current working directory on the server.
Note that mask is interpreted differently during recursive
operation and non-recursive operation - refer to the recurse and
mask commands for more information. Note that all transfers in
smbclient are binary.
notify <dir name>
Query a directory for change notifications. This command issues a
recursive filechangenotify call for all possible changes. As
changes come in will print one line per change. See
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn392331.aspx for a
description of the action numbers that this command prints.
This command never ends, it waits for event indefinitely.
posix
Query the remote server to see if it supports the CIFS UNIX
extensions and prints out the list of capabilities supported. If
so, turn on POSIX pathname processing and large file read/writes
(if available),.
posix_encrypt <domain> <username> <password>
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. Attempt to
negotiate SMB encryption on this connection. If smbclient connected
with kerberos credentials (-k) the arguments to this command are
ignored and the kerberos credentials are used to negotiate GSSAPI
signing and sealing instead. See also the -e option to smbclient to
force encryption on initial connection. This command is new with
Samba 3.2.
posix_open <filename> <octal mode>
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. Opens a remote
file using the CIFS UNIX extensions and prints a fileid. Used for
internal Samba testing purposes.
posix_mkdir <directoryname> <octal mode>
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. Creates a remote
directory using the CIFS UNIX extensions with the given mode.
posix_rmdir <directoryname>
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. Deletes a remote
directory using the CIFS UNIX extensions.
posix_unlink <filename>
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. Deletes a remote
file using the CIFS UNIX extensions.
print <file name>
Print the specified file from the local machine through a printable
service on the server.
prompt
Toggle prompting for filenames during operation of the mget and
mput commands.
When toggled ON, the user will be prompted to confirm the transfer
of each file during these commands. When toggled OFF, all specified
files will be transferred without prompting.
put <local file name> [remote file name]
Copy the file called local file name from the machine running the
client to the server. If specified, name the remote copy remote
file name. Note that all transfers in smbclient are binary. See
also the lowercase command.
queue
Displays the print queue, showing the job id, name, size and
current status.
quit
See the exit command.
readlink symlinkname
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. Print the value of
the symlink "symlinkname".
rd <directory name>
See the rmdir command.
recurse
Toggle directory recursion for the commands mget and mput.
When toggled ON, these commands will process all directories in the
source directory (i.e., the directory they are copying from ) and
will recurse into any that match the mask specified to the command.
Only files that match the mask specified using the mask command
will be retrieved. See also the mask command.
When recursion is toggled OFF, only files from the current working
directory on the source machine that match the mask specified to
the mget or mput commands will be copied, and any mask specified
using the mask command will be ignored.
rename <old filename> <new filename>
Rename files in the current working directory on the server from
old filename to new filename.
rm <mask>
Remove all files matching mask from the current working directory
on the server.
rmdir <directory name>
Remove the specified directory (user access privileges permitting)
from the server.
scopy <source filename> <destination filename>
Attempt to copy a file on the server using the most efficient
server-side copy calls. Falls back to using read then write if
server doesn't support server-side copy.
setmode <filename> <perm=[+|\-]rsha>
A version of the DOS attrib command to set file permissions. For
example:
setmode myfile +r
would make myfile read only.
showconnect
Show the currently active connection held for DFS purposes.
stat file
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. The client
requests the UNIX basic info level and prints out the same info
that the Linux stat command would about the file. This includes the
size, blocks used on disk, file type, permissions, inode number,
number of links and finally the three timestamps (access, modify
and change). If the file is a special file (symlink, character or
block device, fifo or socket) then extra information may also be
printed.
symlink target linkname
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. The client
requests that the server create a symbolic hard link between the
target and linkname files. The linkname file must not exist. Note
that the server will not create a link to any path that lies
outside the currently connected share. This is enforced by the
Samba server.
tar <c|x>[IXbgNa]
Performs a tar operation - see the -T command line option above.
Behavior may be affected by the tarmode command (see below). Using
g (incremental) and N (newer) will affect tarmode settings. Note
that using the "-" option with tar x may not work - use the command
line option instead.
blocksize <blocksize>
Blocksize. Must be followed by a valid (greater than zero)
blocksize. Causes tar file to be written out in blocksize*TBLOCK
(512 byte) blocks.
tarmode <full|inc|reset|noreset|system|nosystem|hidden|nohidden>
Changes tar's behavior with regard to DOS attributes. There are 4
modes which can be turned on or off.
Incremental mode (default off). When off (using full) tar will back
up everything regardless of the archive bit setting. When on (using
inc), tar will only back up files with the archive bit set.
Reset mode (default off). When on (using reset), tar will remove
the archive bit on all files it backs up (implies read/write
share). Use noreset to turn off.
System mode (default on). When off, tar will not backup system
files. Use nosystem to turn off.
Hidden mode (default on). When off, tar will not backup hidden
files. Use nohidden to turn off.
timeout <per-operation timeout in seconds>
This allows the user to tune the default timeout used for each SMB
request. The default setting is 20 seconds. Increase it if requests
to the server sometimes time out. This can happen when SMB3
encryption is selected and smbclient is overwhelming the server
with requests.
unlock <filenum> <hex-start> <hex-len>
This command depends on the server supporting the CIFS UNIX
extensions and will fail if the server does not. Tries to unlock a
POSIX fcntl lock on the given range. Used for internal Samba
testing purposes.
volume
Prints the current volume name of the share.
vuid <number>
Changes the currently used vuid in the protocol to the given
arbitrary number. Without an argument prints out the current vuid
being used. Used for internal Samba testing purposes.
tcon <sharename>
Establishes a new tree connect (connection to a share). Replaces
the current tree connect. Prints the new tid (tree id). Used for
internal Samba testing purposes.
tdis
Close the current share connection (tree disconnect). Used for
internal Samba testing purposes.
tid <number>
Changes the current tree id (tid) in the protocol to a new
arbitrary number. Without an argument, it prints out the tid
currently used. Used for internal Samba testing purposes.
NOTES
Some servers are fussy about the case of supplied usernames, passwords, share names (AKA service names) and machine names. If you fail to connect try giving all parameters in uppercase. It is often necessary to use the -n option when connecting to some types of servers. For example OS/2 LanManager insists on a valid NetBIOS name being used, so you need to supply a valid name that would be known to the server. smbclient supports long file names where the server supports the LANMAN2 protocol or above.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The variable USER may contain the username of the person using the client. This information is used only if the protocol level is high enough to support session-level passwords. The variable PASSWD may contain the password of the person using the client. This information is used only if the protocol level is high enough to support session-level passwords. The variable LIBSMB_PROG may contain the path, executed with system(), which the client should connect to instead of connecting to a server. This functionality is primarily intended as a development aid, and works best when using a LMHOSTS file
INSTALLATION
The location of the client program is a matter for individual system administrators. The following are thus suggestions only. It is recommended that the smbclient software be installed in the /usr/local/samba/bin/ or /usr/samba/bin/ directory, this directory readable by all, writeable only by root. The client program itself should be executable by all. The client should NOT be setuid or setgid! The client log files should be put in a directory readable and writeable only by the user. To test the client, you will need to know the name of a running SMB/CIFS server. It is possible to run smbd(8) as an ordinary user - running that server as a daemon on a user-accessible port (typically any port number over 1024) would provide a suitable test server.
DIAGNOSTICS
Most diagnostics issued by the client 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 client. If you have problems, set the debug level to 3 and peruse the log files.
VERSION
This man page is correct for version 3.2 of the Samba suite.
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 original Samba man pages were written by Karl Auer. The man page sources were converted to YODL format (another excellent piece of Open Source software, available at ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/) and updated for the Samba 2.0 release by Jeremy Allison. The conversion to DocBook for Samba 2.2 was done by Gerald Carter. The conversion to DocBook XML 4.2 for Samba 3.0 was done by Alexander Bokovoy.
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