1 .TH SMB.CONF 5 11/10/94 smb.conf smb.conf
3 smb.conf \- configuration file for smbd
9 file is a configuration file for the Samba suite.
12 contains runtime configuration information for the
16 program provides LanManager-like services to clients
17 using the SMB protocol.
20 The file consists of sections and parameters. A section begins with the
21 name of the section in square brackets and continues until the next
22 section begins. Sections contain parameters of the form 'name = value'.
24 The file is line-based - that is, each newline-terminated line represents
25 either a comment, a section name or a parameter.
27 Section and parameter names are not case sensitive.
29 Only the first equals sign in a parameter is significant. Whitespace before
30 or after the first equals sign is discarded. Leading, trailing and internal
31 whitespace in section and parameter names is irrelevant. Leading and
32 trailing whitespace in a parameter value is discarded. Internal whitespace
33 within a parameter value is retained verbatim.
35 Any line beginning with a semicolon is ignored, as are lines containing
38 Any line ending in a \e is "continued" on the next line in the
39 customary unix fashion.
41 The values following the equals sign in parameters are all either a string
42 (no quotes needed) or a boolean, which may be given as yes/no, 0/1 or
43 true/false. Case is not significant in boolean values, but is preserved
44 in string values. Some items such as create modes are numeric.
45 .SH SERVICE DESCRIPTIONS
46 Each section in the configuration file describes a service. The section name
47 is the service name and the parameters within the section define the service's
50 There are three special sections, [global], [homes] and [printers], which are
51 described under 'special sections'. The following notes apply to ordinary
54 A service consists of a directory to which access is being given plus a
55 description of the access rights which are granted to the user of the
56 service. Some housekeeping options are also specifiable.
58 Services are either filespace services (used by the client as an extension of
59 their native file systems) or printable services (used by the client to access
60 print services on the host running the server).
62 Services may be guest services, in which case no password is required to
63 access them. A specified guest account is used to define access privileges
66 Services other than guest services will require a password to access
67 them. The client provides the username. As many clients only provide
68 passwords and not usernames, you may specify a list of usernames to
69 check against the password using the "user=" option in the service
72 Note that the access rights granted by the server are masked by the access
73 rights granted to the specified or guest user by the host system. The
74 server does not grant more access than the host system grants.
76 The following sample section defines a file space service. The user has write
77 access to the path /home/bar. The service is accessed via the service name
84 The following sample section defines a printable service. The service is
85 readonly, but printable. That is, the only write access permitted is via
86 calls to open, write to and close a spool file. The 'guest ok' parameter
87 means access will be permitted as the default guest user (specified elsewhere):
90 path = /usr/spool/public
97 .SS The [global] section
99 Parameters in this section apply to the server as a whole, or are defaults
100 for services which do not specifically define certain items. See the notes
101 under 'Parameters' for more information.
104 .SS The [homes] section
106 If a section called 'homes' is included in the configuration file, services
107 connecting clients to their home directories can be created on the fly by the
110 When the connection request is made, the existing services are scanned. If a
111 match is found, it is used. If no match is found, the requested service name is
112 treated as a user name and looked up in the local passwords file. If the
113 name exists and the correct password has been given, a service is created
114 by cloning the [homes] section.
116 Some modifications are then made to the newly created section:
119 The service name is changed from 'homes' to the located username
121 If no path was given, the path is set to the user's home directory.
124 If you decide to use a path= line in your [homes] section then you may
125 find it useful to use the %S macro. For example path=/data/pchome/%S
126 would be useful if you have different home directories for your PCs
127 than for unix access.
129 This is a fast and simple way to give a large number of clients access to
130 their home directories with a minimum of fuss.
132 A similar process occurs if the requested service name is "homes", except that
133 the service name is not changed to that of the requesting user. This method
134 of using the [homes] section works well if different users share a client PC.
136 The [homes] section can specify all the parameters a normal service section
137 can specify, though some make more sense than others. The following is a
138 typical and suitable [homes] section:
146 If guest access is specified in the [homes] section, all home directories will
147 be accessible to all clients
148 .B without a password.
149 In the very unlikely event
150 that this is actually desirable, it would be wise to also specify read only
155 Note that the browseable flag for auto home directories will be
156 inherited from the global browseable flag, not the [homes] browseable
157 flag. This is useful as it means setting browseable=no in the [homes]
158 section will hide the [homes] service but make any auto home
161 .SS The [printers] section
163 This section works like [homes], but for printers.
165 If a [printers] section occurs in the configuration file, users are able
166 to connect to any printer specified in the local host's printcap file.
168 When a connection request is made, the existing services are scanned. If a
169 match is found, it is used. If no match is found, but a [homes] section
170 exists, it is used as described above. Otherwise, the requested service name is
171 treated as a printer name and the appropriate printcap file is scanned to
172 see if the requested service name is a valid printer name. If a match is
173 found, a new service is created by cloning the [printers] section.
175 A few modifications are then made to the newly created section:
178 The service name is set to the located printer name
180 If no printer name was given, the printer name is set to the located printer
183 If the service does not permit guest access and no username was given, the
184 username is set to the located printer name.
187 Note that the [printers] service MUST be printable - if you specify otherwise,
188 the server will refuse to load the configuration file.
190 Typically the path specified would be that of a world-writable spool directory
191 with the sticky bit set on it. A typical [printers] entry would look like this:
194 path = /usr/spool/public
199 All aliases given for a printer in the printcap file are legitimate printer
200 names as far as the server is concerned. If your printing subsystem doesn't
201 work like that, you will have to set up a pseudo-printcap. This is a file
202 consisting of one or more lines like this:
204 alias|alias|alias|alias...
206 Each alias should be an acceptable printer name for your printing
207 subsystem. In the [global] section, specify the new file as your printcap.
208 The server will then only recognise names found in your pseudo-printcap,
209 which of course can contain whatever aliases you like. The same technique
210 could be used simply to limit access to a subset of your local printers.
212 An alias, by the way, is defined as any component of the first entry of a
213 printcap record. Records are separated by newlines, components (if there are
214 more than one) are separated by vertical bar symbols ("|").
217 Parameters define the specific attributes of services.
219 Some parameters are specific to the [global] section (eg., security).
220 Some parameters are usable in all sections (eg., create mode). All others are
221 permissible only in normal sections. For the purposes of the following
222 descriptions the [homes] and [printers] sections will be considered normal.
223 The letter 'G' in parentheses indicates that a parameter is specific to the
224 [global] section. The letter 'S' indicates that a parameter can be
225 specified in a service specific section. Note that all S parameters
226 can also be specified in the [global] section - in which case they
227 will define the default behaviour for all services.
229 Parameters are arranged here in alphabetical order - this may not create
230 best bedfellows, but at least you can find them! Where there are synonyms,
231 the preferred synonym is described, others refer to the preferred synonym.
233 .SS VARIABLE SUBSTITUTIONS
235 Many of the strings that are settable in the config file can take
236 substitutions. For example the option "path = /tmp/%u" would be
237 interpreted as "path = /tmp/john" if the user connected with the
240 These substitutions are mostly noted in the descriptions below, but
241 there are some general substitutions which apply whenever they might be
244 %S = the name of the current service, if any
246 %P = the root directory of the current service, if any
248 %u = user name of the current service, if any
250 %g = primary group name of %u
252 %U = session user name (the user name that the client wanted, not
253 necessarily the same as the one they got)
255 %G = primary group name of %U
257 %H = the home directory of the user given by %u
259 %v = the Samba version
261 %h = the hostname that Samba is running on
263 %m = the netbios name of the client machine (very useful)
265 %L = the netbios name of the server. This allows you to change your
266 config based on what the client calls you. Your server can have a "dual
269 %M = the internet name of the client machine
271 %d = The process id of the current server process
273 %a = the architecture of the remote machine. Only some are recognised,
274 and those may not be 100% reliable. It currently recognises Samba,
275 WfWg, WinNT and Win95. Anything else will be known as "UNKNOWN". If it
276 gets it wrong then sending me a level 3 log should allow me to fix it.
278 %I = The IP address of the client machine
280 %T = the current date and time
282 There are some quite creative things that can be done with these
283 substitutions and other smb.conf options.
287 Samba supports "name mangling" so that Dos and Windows clients can use
288 files that don't conform to the 8.3 format. It can also be set to adjust
289 the case of 8.3 format filenames.
291 There are several options that control the way mangling is performed,
292 and they are grouped here rather than listed separately. For the
293 defaults look at the output of the testparm program.
295 All of these options can be set separately for each service (or
296 globally, of course).
300 "mangle case = yes/no" controls if names that have characters that
301 aren't of the "default" case are mangled. For example, if this is yes
302 then a name like "Mail" would be mangled. Default no.
304 "case sensitive = yes/no" controls whether filenames are case
305 sensitive. If they aren't then Samba must do a filename search and
306 match on passed names. Default no.
308 "default case = upper/lower" controls what the default case is for new
309 filenames. Default lower.
311 "preserve case = yes/no" controls if new files are created with the
312 case that the client passes, or if they are forced to be the "default"
315 "short preserve case = yes/no" controls if new files which conform to 8.3
316 syntax, that is all in upper case and of suitable length, are created
317 upper case, or if they are forced to be the "default" case. This option can
318 be use with "preserve case = yes" to permit long filenames to retain their
319 case, while short names are lowered. Default no.
321 .SS COMPLETE LIST OF GLOBAL PARAMETER
323 Here is a list of all global parameters. See the section of each
324 parameter for details. Note that some are synonyms.
436 .SS COMPLETE LIST OF SERVICE PARAMETER
438 Here is a list of all service parameters. See the section of each
439 parameter for details. Note that some are synonyms.
445 alternate permissions
589 .SS EXPLANATION OF EACH PARAMETER
594 This is a list of users who will be granted administrative privilages
595 on the share. This means that they will do all file operations as the
598 You should use this option very carefully, as any user in this list
599 will be able to do anything they like on the share, irrespective of
608 .SS auto services (G)
609 This is a list of services that you want to be automatically added to
610 the browse lists. This is most useful for homes and printers services
611 that would otherwise not be visible.
613 Note that if you just want all printers in your printcap file loaded
614 then the "load printers" option is easier.
620 auto services = fred lp colorlp
624 A synonym for this parameter is 'hosts allow'.
626 This parameter is a comma delimited set of hosts which are permitted to access
627 a services. If specified in the [global] section, matching hosts will be
628 allowed access to any service that does not specifically exclude them from
629 access. Specific services my have their own list, which override those
630 specified in the [global] section.
632 You can specify the hosts by name or IP number. For example, you could
633 restrict access to only the hosts on a Class C subnet with something like
634 "allow hosts = 150.203.5.". The full syntax of the list is described in
638 You can also specify hosts by network/netmask pairs and by netgroup
639 names if your system supports netgroups. The EXCEPT keyword can also
640 be used to limit a wildcard list. The following examples may provide
643 Example 1: allow all IPs in 150.203.*.* except one
645 hosts allow = 150.203. EXCEPT 150.203.6.66
647 Example 2: allow hosts that match the given network/netmask
649 hosts allow = 150.203.15.0/255.255.255.0
651 Example 3: allow a couple of hosts
653 hosts allow = lapland, arvidsjaur
655 Example 4: allow only hosts in netgroup "foonet" or localhost, but
656 deny access from one particular host
658 hosts allow = @foonet, localhost
661 Note that access still requires suitable user-level passwords.
663 See testparm(1) for a way of testing your host access to see if it
664 does what you expect.
667 none (i.e., all hosts permitted access)
670 allow hosts = 150.203.5. myhost.mynet.edu.au
672 .SS alternate permissions (S)
674 This option affects the way the "read only" DOS attribute is produced
675 for unix files. If this is false then the read only bit is set for
676 files on writeable shares which the user cannot write to.
678 If this is true then it is set for files whos user write bit is not set.
680 The latter behaviour of useful for when users copy files from each
681 others directories, and use a file manager that preserves
682 permissions. Without this option they may get annoyed as all copied
683 files will have the "read only" bit set.
686 alternate permissions = no
689 alternate permissions = yes
692 This parameter lets you 'turn off' a service. If 'available = no', then
693 ALL attempts to connect to the service will fail. Such failures are logged.
701 This controls whether this share is seen in the list of available
702 shares in a net view and in the browse list.
710 .SS case sig names (G)
714 This is a text field that is seen when a client does a net view to
715 list what shares are available. It will also be used when browsing is
722 comment = Fred's Files
726 This allows you to override the config file to use, instead of the
727 default (usually smb.conf). There is a chicken and egg problem here as
728 this option is set in the config file!
730 For this reason, if the name of the config file has changed when the
731 parameters are loaded then it will reload them from the new config
734 This option takes the usual substitutions, which can be very useful.
736 If thew config file doesn't exist then it won't be loaded (allowing
737 you to special case the config files of just a few clients).
740 config file = /usr/local/samba/smb.conf.%m
743 This parameter allows you to 'clone' service entries. The specified
744 service is simply duplicated under the current service's name. Any
745 parameters specified in the current section will override those in the
746 section being copied.
748 This feature lets you set up a 'template' service and create similar
749 services easily. Note that the service being copied must occur earlier
750 in the configuration file than the service doing the copying.
758 A synonym for this parameter is 'create mode'.
760 This parameter is the octal modes which are used when converting DOS modes
763 Note that Samba will or this value with 0700 as you must have at least
764 user read, write and execute for Samba to work properly.
775 The value of the parameter (a decimal integer) represents the number of
776 minutes of inactivity before a connection is considered dead, and it
777 is disconnected. The deadtime only takes effect if the number of open files
780 This is useful to stop a server's resources being exhausted by a large
781 number of inactive connections.
783 Most clients have an auto-reconnect feature when a connection is broken so
784 in most cases this parameter should be transparent to users.
786 Using this parameter with a timeout of a few minutes is recommended
789 A deadtime of zero indicates that no auto-disconnection should be performed.
797 The value of the parameter (an integer) allows the debug level
798 (logging level) to be specified in the smb.conf file. This is to give
799 greater flexibility in the configuration of the system.
801 The default will be the debug level specified on the command line.
810 See the section on "NAME MANGLING" Also note the addition of "short
813 .SS default service (G)
814 A synonym for this parameter is 'default'.
816 This parameter specifies the name of a service which will be connected to
817 if the service actually requested cannot be found. Note that the square
818 brackets are NOT given in the parameter value (see example below).
820 There is no default value for this parameter. If this parameter is not given,
821 attempting to connect to a nonexistent service results in an error.
823 Typically the default service would be a public, read-only service.
825 Also not that s of 1.9.14 the apparent service name will be changed to
826 equal that of the requested service, this is very useful as it allows
827 you to use macros like %S to make a wildcard service.
829 Note also that any _ characters in the name of the service used in the
830 default service will get mapped to a /. This allows for interesting
835 default service = pub
841 .SS delete readonly (S)
842 This parameter allows readonly files to be deleted. This is not normal DOS
843 semantics, but is allowed by Unix.
845 This option may be useful for running applications such as rcs, where unix
846 file ownership prevents changing file permissions, and dos semantics prevent
847 deletion of a read only file.
853 delete readonly = Yes
855 A synonym for this parameter is 'hosts deny'.
857 The opposite of 'allow hosts' - hosts listed here are NOT permitted
858 access to services unless the specific services have their own lists to
859 override this one. Where the lists conflict, the 'allow' list takes precedence.
862 none (i.e., no hosts specifically excluded)
865 deny hosts = 150.203.4. badhost.mynet.edu.au
866 .SS dfree command (G)
867 The dfree command setting should only be used on systems where a
868 problem occurs with the internal disk space calculations. This has
869 been known to happen with Ultrix, but may occur with other operating
870 systems. The symptom that was seen was an error of "Abort Retry
871 Ignore" at the end of each directory listing.
873 This setting allows the replacement of the internal routines to
874 calculate the total disk space and amount available with an external
875 routine. The example below gives a possible script that might fulfill
878 The external program will be passed a single parameter indicating a
879 directory in the filesystem being queried. This will typically consist
880 of the string "./". The script should return two integers in ascii. The
881 first should be the total disk space in blocks, and the second should
882 be the number of available blocks. An optional third return value
883 can give the block size in bytes. The default blocksize is 1024 bytes.
885 Note: Your script should NOT be setuid or setgid and should be owned by
886 (and writable only by) root!
889 By default internal routines for determining the disk capacity
890 and remaining space will be used.
893 dfree command = /usr/local/smb/dfree
895 Where the script dfree (which must be made executable) could be
898 df $1 | tail -1 | awk '{print $2" "$4}'
900 or perhaps (on Sys V)
903 /usr/bin/df -k $1 | tail -1 | awk '{print $3" "$5}'
906 Note that you may have to replace the command names with full
907 path names on some systems.
912 There are certain directories on some systems (eg., the /proc tree under
913 Linux) that are either not of interest to clients or are infinitely deep
914 (recursive). This parameter allows you to specify a comma-delimited list
915 of directories that the server should always show as empty.
917 Note that Samba can be very fussy about the exact format of the "dont
918 descend" entries. For example you may need "./proc" instead of just
919 "/proc". Experimentation is the best policy :-)
922 none (i.e., all directories are OK to descend)
925 dont descend = /proc,/dev
927 .SS encrypt passwords (G)
929 This boolean controls whether encrypted passwords will be negotiated
930 with the client. Note that this option has no effect if you haven't
931 compiled in the necessary des libraries and encryption code. It
936 This is an alias for preexec
940 This specifies a group name that all connections to this service
941 should be made as. This may be useful for sharing files.
950 This specifies a user name that all connections to this service
951 should be made as. This may be useful for sharing files. You should
952 also use it carefully as using it incorrectly can cause security
955 This user name only gets used once a connection is established. Thus
956 clients still need to connect as a valid user and supply a valid
957 password. Once connected, all file operations will be performed as the
958 "forced user", not matter what username the client connected as.
966 .SS guest account (S)
967 This is a username which will be used for access to services which are
968 specified as 'guest ok' (see below). Whatever privileges this user has
969 will be available to any client connecting to the guest
970 service. Typically this user will exist in the password file, but will
971 not have a valid login. If a username is specified in a given service,
972 the specified username overrides this one.
974 One some systems the account "nobody" may not be able to print. Use
975 another account in this case. You should test this by trying to log in
976 as your guest user (perhaps by using the "su -" command) and trying to
979 Note that as of version 1.9 of Samba this option may be set
980 differently for each service.
983 specified at compile time
986 guest account = nobody
988 This is a tuning option. When this is enabled a cacheing algorithm will
989 be used to reduce the time taken for getwd() calls. This can have a
990 significant impact on performance, especially when widelinks is False.
1001 If this parameter is 'yes' for a service, then only guest connections to the
1002 service are permitted. This parameter will have no affect if "guest ok" or
1003 "public" is not set for the service.
1005 See the section below on user/password validation for more information about
1013 .SS hide dot files (S)
1014 This is a boolean parameter that controls whether files starting with
1015 a dot appear as hidden files.
1018 hide dot files = yes
1030 This is an alias for "force group" and is only kept for compatibility
1031 with old versions of Samba. It may be removed in future versions.
1034 If this global parameter is a non-null string, it specifies the name of
1035 a file to read for the names of hosts and users who will be allowed access
1036 without specifying a password.
1038 This is not be confused with
1040 which is about hosts access to services and is more useful for guest services.
1042 may be useful for NT clients which will not supply passwords to samba.
1044 NOTE: The use of hosts.equiv can be a major security hole. This is
1045 because you are trusting the PC to supply the correct username. It is
1046 very easy to get a PC to supply a false username. I recommend that the
1047 hosts.equiv option be only used if you really know what you are doing,
1048 or perhaps on a home network where you trust your wife and kids :-)
1051 No host equivalences
1054 hosts equiv = /etc/hosts.equiv
1058 This option allows you to setup multiple network interfaces, so that
1059 Samba can properly handle browsing on all interfaces.
1061 The option takes a list of ip/netmask pairs. The netmask may either be
1062 a bitmask, or a bitlength.
1064 For example, the following line:
1066 interfaces = 192.168.2.10/24 192.168.3.10/24
1068 would configure two network interfaces with IP addresses 192.168.2.10
1069 and 192.168.3.10. The netmasks of both interfaces would be set to
1072 You could produce an equivalent result by using:
1074 interfaces = 192.168.2.10/255.255.255.0 192.168.3.10/255.255.255.0
1076 if you prefer that format.
1078 If this option is not set then Samba will attempt to find a primary
1079 interface, but won't attempt to configure more than one interface.
1081 .SS invalid users (S)
1082 This is a list of users that should not be allowed to login to this
1083 service. This is really a "paranoid" check to absolutely ensure an
1084 improper setting does not breach your security.
1086 A name starting with @ is interpreted as a unix group.
1088 The current servicename is substituted for %S. This is useful in the
1091 See also "valid users"
1097 invalid users = root fred admin @wheel
1101 This allows you to inlcude one config file inside another. the file is
1102 included literally, as though typed in place.
1104 It takes the standard substitutions, except %u, %P and %S
1107 The value of the parameter (an integer) represents the number of seconds
1108 between 'keepalive' packets. If this parameter is zero, no keepalive packets
1109 will be sent. Keepalive packets, if sent, allow the server to tell whether a
1110 client is still present and responding.
1112 Keepalives should, in general, not be needed if the socket being used
1113 has the SO_KEEPALIVE attribute set on it (see "socket
1114 options"). Basically you should only use this option if you strike
1122 .SS load printers (G)
1123 A boolean variable that controls whether all printers in the printcap
1124 will be loaded for browsing by default.
1132 .SS lock directory (G)
1133 This options specifies the directory where lock files will be placed.
1134 The lock files are used to implement the "max connections" option.
1137 lock directory = /tmp/samba
1140 lock directory = /usr/local/samba/locks
1142 This controls whether or not locking will be performed by the server in
1143 response to lock requests from the client.
1145 If "locking = no", all lock and unlock requests will appear to succeed and
1146 all lock queries will indicate that the queried lock is clear.
1148 If "locking = yes", real locking will be performed by the server.
1150 This option may be particularly useful for read-only filesystems which
1151 do not need locking (such as cdrom drives).
1153 Be careful about disabling locking either globally or in a specific
1154 service, as lack of locking may result in data corruption.
1164 This options allows you to override the name of the Samba log file
1165 (also known as the debug file).
1167 This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have
1168 separate log files for each user or machine.
1171 log file = /usr/local/samba/log.%m
1176 .SS lppause command (S)
1177 This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server host in
1178 order to stop printing or spooling a specific print job.
1180 This command should be a program or script which takes a printer name and
1181 job number to pause the print job. Currently I don't know of any print
1182 spooler system that can do this with a simple option, except for the PPR
1183 system from Trinity College (ppr\-dist.trincoll.edu/pub/ppr). One way
1184 of implementing this is by using job priorities, where jobs having a too
1185 low priority wont be sent to the printer. See also the lppause command.
1187 If a %p is given then the printername is put in it's place. A %j is
1188 replaced with the job number (an integer).
1189 On HPUX (see printing=hpux), if the -p%p option is added to the lpq
1190 command, the job will show up with the correct status, i.e. if the job
1191 priority is lower than the set fence priority it will have the PAUSED
1192 status, whereas if the priority is equal or higher it will have the
1193 SPOOLED or PRINTING status.
1195 Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the lppause
1196 command as the PATH may not be available to the server.
1199 Currently no default value is given to this string
1201 .B Example for HPUX:
1202 lppause command = /usr/bin/lpalt %p-%j -p0
1204 .SS lpq cache time (G)
1206 This controls how long lpq info will be cached for to prevent the lpq
1207 command being called too often. A separate cache is kept for each
1208 variation of the lpq command used by the system, so if you use
1209 different lpq commands for different users then they won't share cache
1212 The cache files are stored in /tmp/lpq.xxxx where xxxx is a hash
1213 of the lpq command in use.
1215 The default is 10 seconds, meaning that the cached results of a
1216 previous identical lpq command will be used if the cached data is less
1217 than 10 seconds old. A large value may be advisable if your lpq
1218 command is very slow.
1220 A value of 0 will disable cacheing completely.
1229 This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server host in
1230 order to obtain "lpq"-style printer status information.
1232 This command should be a program or script which takes a printer name
1233 as its only parameter and outputs printer status information.
1235 Currently six styles of printer status information are supported; BSD,
1236 SYSV, AIX, HPUX, QNX and PLP. This covers most unix systems. You
1237 control which type is expected using the "printing =" option.
1239 Some clients (notably Windows for Workgroups) may not correctly send the
1240 connection number for the printer they are requesting status information
1241 about. To get around this, the server reports on the first printer service
1242 connected to by the client. This only happens if the connection number sent
1245 If a %p is given then the printername is put in it's place. Otherwise
1246 it is placed at the end of the command.
1248 Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the lpq
1249 command as the PATH may not be available to the server.
1252 depends on the setting of "printing ="
1255 lpq command = /usr/bin/lpq %p
1257 .SS lpresume command (S)
1258 This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server host in
1259 order to restart or continue printing or spooling a specific print job.
1261 This command should be a program or script which takes a printer name and
1262 job number to resume the print job. See also the lppause command.
1264 If a %p is given then the printername is put in it's place. A %j is
1265 replaced with the job number (an integer).
1267 Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the lpresume
1268 command as the PATH may not be available to the server.
1271 Currently no default value is given to this string
1273 .B Example for HPUX:
1274 lpresume command = /usr/bin/lpalt %p-%j -p2
1276 .SS lprm command (S)
1277 This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server host in
1278 order to delete a print job.
1280 This command should be a program or script which takes a printer name
1281 and job number, and deletes the print job.
1283 Currently six styles of printer control are supported; BSD, SYSV, AIX
1284 HPUX, QNX and PLP. This covers most unix systems. You control which type is
1285 expected using the "printing =" option.
1287 If a %p is given then the printername is put in it's place. A %j is
1288 replaced with the job number (an integer).
1290 Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the lprm
1291 command as the PATH may not be available to the server.
1294 depends on the setting of "printing ="
1297 lprm command = /usr/bin/lprm -P%p %j
1300 lprm command = /usr/bin/cancel %p-%j
1302 .SS magic output (S)
1303 This parameter specifies the name of a file which will contain output
1304 created by a magic script (see
1308 Warning: If two clients use the same magic script in the same directory the
1309 output file content is undefined.
1311 magic output = <magic script name>.out
1314 magic output = myfile.txt
1315 .SS magic script (S)
1316 This parameter specifies the name of a file which, if opened, will be
1317 executed by the server when the file is closed. This allows a Unix script
1318 to be sent to the Samba host and executed on behalf of the connected user.
1320 Scripts executed in this way will be deleted upon completion, permissions
1323 If the script generates output, output will be sent to the file specified by
1326 parameter (see above).
1328 Note that some shells are unable to interpret scripts containing
1329 carriage-return-linefeed instead of linefeed as the end-of-line
1330 marker. Magic scripts must be executable "as is" on the host, which
1331 for some hosts and some shells will require filtering at the DOS end.
1333 Magic scripts are EXPERIMENTAL and should NOT be relied upon.
1335 None. Magic scripts disabled.
1338 magic script = user.csh
1340 This is for those who want to directly map UNIX file names which are
1341 not representable on DOS. The mangling of names is not always what is
1342 needed. In particular you may have documents with file extensiosn
1343 that differ between dos and unix. For example, under unix it is common
1344 to use .html for HTML files, whereas under dos .htm is more commonly
1347 So to map 'html' to 'htm' you put:
1349 mangled map = (*.html *.htm)
1351 One very useful case is to remove the annoying ;1 off the ends of
1352 filenames on some CDROMS (only visible under some unixes). To do this
1353 use a map of (*;1 *)
1359 mangled map = (*;1 *)
1363 See the section on "NAME MANGLING"
1365 .SS mangled names (S)
1366 This controls whether non-DOS names under Unix should be mapped to
1367 DOS-compatible names ("mangled") and made visible, or whether non-DOS names
1368 should simply be ignored.
1370 See the section on "NAME MANGLING" for details on how to control the
1373 If mangling is used then the mangling algorithm is as follows:
1375 - the first (up to) five alphanumeric characters before the rightmost dot of
1376 the filename are preserved, forced to upper case, and appear as the first (up
1377 to) five characters of the mangled name.
1379 - a tilde ("~") is appended to the first part of the mangled name, followed
1380 by a two-character unique sequence, based on the origonal root name
1381 (i.e., the original filename minus its final extension). The final
1382 extension is included in the hash calculation only if it contains any upper
1383 case characters or is longer than three characters.
1385 Note that the character to use may be specified using the "mangling
1386 char" option, if you don't like ~.
1388 - the first three alphanumeric characters of the final extension are preserved,
1389 forced to upper case and appear as the extension of the mangled name. The
1390 final extension is defined as that part of the original filename after the
1391 rightmost dot. If there are no dots in the filename, the mangled name will
1392 have no extension (except in the case of hidden files - see below).
1394 - files whose Unix name begins with a dot will be presented as DOS hidden
1395 files. The mangled name will be created as for other filenames, but with the
1396 leading dot removed and "___" as its extension regardless of actual original
1397 extension (that's three underscores).
1400 The two-digit hash value consists of upper case alphanumeric characters.
1402 This algorithm can cause name collisions only if files in a directory share
1403 the same first five alphanumeric characters. The probability of such a clash
1406 The name mangling (if enabled) allows a file to be copied between Unix
1407 directories from DOS while retaining the long Unix filename. Unix files can
1408 be renamed to a new extension from DOS and will retain the same basename.
1409 Mangled names do not change between sessions.
1416 .SS mangling char (S)
1417 This controls what character is used as the "magic" character in name
1418 mangling. The default is a ~ but this may interfere with some
1419 software. Use this option to set it to whatever you prefer.
1427 .SS max disk size (G)
1428 This option allows you to put an upper limit on the apparent size of
1429 disks. If you set this option to 100 then all shares will appear to be
1430 not larger than 100 MB in size.
1432 Note that this option does not limit the amount of data you can put on
1433 the disk. In the above case you could still store much more than 100
1434 MB on the disk, but if a client ever asks for the amount of free disk
1435 space or the total disk size then the result will be bounded by the
1436 amount specified in "max disk size".
1438 This option is primarily useful to work around bugs in some pieces of
1439 software that can't handle very large disks, particularly disks over
1442 A "max disk size" of 0 means no limit.
1448 max disk size = 1000
1449 .SS max log size (G)
1451 This option (an integer in kilobytes) specifies the max size the log
1452 file should grow to. Samba periodically checks the size and if it is
1453 exceeded it will rename the file, adding a .old extension.
1455 A size of 0 means no limit.
1465 This option controls the maximum packet size that will be negotiated
1466 by Samba. The default is 65535, which is the maximum. In some cases
1467 you may find you get better performance with a smaller value. A value
1468 below 2048 is likely to cause problems.
1476 .SS mangled stack (G)
1477 This parameter controls the number of mangled names that should be cached in
1480 This stack is a list of recently mangled base names (extensions are only
1481 maintained if they are longer than 3 characters or contains upper case
1484 The larger this value, the more likely it is that mangled names can be
1485 successfully converted to correct long Unix names. However, large stack
1486 sizes will slow most directory access. Smaller stacks save memory in the
1487 server (each stack element costs 256 bytes).
1489 It is not possible to absolutely guarantee correct long file names, so
1490 be prepared for some surprises!
1499 This controls whether the DOS archive attribute should be mapped to Unix
1500 execute bits. The DOS archive bit is set when a file has been modified
1501 since its last backup. One motivation for this option it to keep Samba/your
1502 PC from making any file it touches from becoming executable under UNIX.
1503 This can be quite annoying for shared source code, documents, etc...
1512 This controls whether DOS style hidden files should be mapped to Unix
1521 This controls whether DOS style system files should be mapped to Unix
1529 .SS max connections (S)
1530 This option allows the number of simultaneous connections to a
1531 service to be limited. If "max connections" is greater than 0 then
1532 connections will be refused if this number of connections to the
1533 service are already open. A value of zero mean an unlimited number of
1534 connections may be made.
1536 Record lock files are used to implement this feature. The lock files
1537 will be stored in the directory specified by the "lock directory" option.
1543 max connections = 10
1545 This is a boolean option that controls whether connections with
1546 usernames not in the user= list will be allowed. By default this
1547 option is disabled so a client can supply a username to be used by
1550 Note that this also means Samba won't try to deduce usernames from the
1551 service name. This can be annoying for the [homes] section. To get
1552 around this you could use "user = %S" which means your "user" list
1553 will be just the service name, which for home directories is the name
1562 .SS message command (G)
1564 This specifies what command to run when the server receives a WinPopup
1567 This would normally be a command that would deliver the message
1568 somehow. How this is to be done is up to your imagination.
1572 message command = csh -c 'xedit %s;rm %s' &
1574 This delivers the message using xedit, then removes it
1575 afterwards. NOTE THAT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS COMMAND RETURN
1576 IMMEDIATELY. That's why I have the & on the end. If it doesn't return
1577 immediately then your PCs may freeze when sending messages (they
1578 should recover after 30secs, hopefully).
1580 All messages are delivered as the global guest user. The command takes
1581 the standard substitutions, although %u won't work (%U may be better
1584 Apart from the standard substitutions, some additional ones apply. In
1587 %s = the filename containing the message
1589 %t = the destination that the message was sent to (probably the server
1592 %f = who the message is from
1594 You could make this command send mail, or whatever else takes your
1595 fancy. Please let me know of any really interesting ideas you have.
1597 Here's a way of sending the messages as mail to root:
1599 message command = /bin/mail -s 'message from %f on %m' root < %s; rm %s
1601 If you don't have a message command then the message won't be
1602 delivered and Samba will tell the sender there was an
1603 error. Unfortunately WfWg totally ignores the error code and carries
1604 on regardless, saying that the message was delivered.
1606 If you want to silently delete it then try "message command = rm %s".
1608 For the really adventurous, try something like this:
1610 message command = csh -c 'csh < %s |& /usr/local/samba/smbclient \\
1613 this would execute the command as a script on the server, then give
1614 them the result in a WinPopup message. Note that this could cause a
1615 loop if you send a message from the server using smbclient! You better
1616 wrap the above in a script that checks for this :-)
1622 message command = csh -c 'xedit %s;rm %s' &
1624 .SS min print space (S)
1626 This sets the minimum amount of free disk space that must be available
1627 before a user will be able to spool a print job. It is specified in
1628 kilobytes. The default is 0, which means no limit.
1634 min print space = 2000
1636 .SS null passwords (G)
1637 Allow or disallow access to accounts that have null passwords.
1643 null passwords = yes
1646 This integer value controls what level Samba advertises itself as for
1647 browse elections. See BROWSING.txt for details.
1650 The maximum transmit packet size during a raw read. This option is no
1651 longer implemented as of version 1.7.00, and is kept only so old
1652 configuration files do not become invalid.
1655 This string coontrols the "chat" conversation that takes places
1656 between smbd and the local password changing program to change the
1657 users password. The string describes a sequence of response-receive
1658 pairs that smbd uses to determine what to send to the passwd program
1659 and what to expect back. If the expected output is not received then
1660 the password is not changed.
1662 This chat sequence is often quite site specific, deppending on what
1663 local methods are used for password control (such as NIS+ etc).
1665 The string can contain the macros %o and %n which are substituted for
1666 the old and new passwords respectively. It can aso contain the
1667 standard macros \\n \\r \\t and \\s to give line-feed, carriage-return,
1670 The string can also contain a * which matches any sequence of
1673 Double quotes can be used to collect strings with spaces in them into
1676 If the send string in any part of the chat sequence is a fullstop "."
1677 then no string is sent. Similarly, is the expect string is a fullstop
1678 then no string is expected.
1681 passwd chat = "*Enter OLD password*" %o\\n "*Enter NEW password*" %n\\n \\
1682 "*Reenter NEW password*" %n\\n "*Password changed*"
1685 passwd chat = *old*password* %o\\n *new*password* %n\\n *new*password* %n\\n *changed*
1687 .SS passwd program (G)
1688 The name of a program that can be used to set user passwords.
1690 This is only necessary if you have enabled remote password changing at
1691 compile time. Any occurances of %u will be replaced with the user
1694 Also note that many passwd programs insist in "reasonable" passwords,
1695 such as a minimum length, or the inclusion of mixed case chars and
1696 digits. This can pose a problem as some clients (such as Windows for
1697 Workgroups) uppercase the password before sending it.
1700 passwd program = /bin/passwd
1703 passwd program = /sbin/passwd %u
1705 .SS password level (G)
1706 Some client/server conbinations have difficulty with mixed-case passwords.
1707 One offending client is Windows for Workgroups, which for some reason forces
1708 passwords to upper case when using the LANMAN1 protocol, but leaves them alone
1709 when using COREPLUS!
1711 This parameter defines the maximum number of characters that may be upper case
1714 For example, say the password given was "FRED". If
1716 is set to 1 (one), the following combinations would be tried if "FRED" failed:
1717 "Fred", "fred", "fRed", "frEd", "freD". If
1718 .B password level was set to 2 (two), the following combinations would also be
1719 tried: "FRed", "FrEd", "FreD", "fREd", "fReD", "frED". And so on.
1721 The higher value this parameter is set to the more likely it is that a mixed
1722 case password will be matched against a single case password. However, you
1723 should be aware that use of this parameter reduces security and increases the
1724 time taken to process a new connection.
1726 A value of zero will cause only two attempts to be made - the password as is
1727 and the password in all-lower case.
1729 If you find the connections are taking too long with this option then
1730 you probably have a slow crypt() routine. Samba now comes with a fast
1731 "ufc crypt" that you can select in the Makefile. You should also make
1732 sure the PASSWORD_LENGTH option is correct for your system in local.h
1733 and includes.h. On most systems only the first 8 chars of a password
1734 are significant so PASSWORD_LENGTH should be 8, but on some longer
1735 passwords are significant. The inlcudes.h file tries to select the
1736 right length for your system.
1744 .SS password server (G)
1746 By specifying the name of another SMB server (such as a WinNT box)
1747 with this option, and using "security = server" you can get Samba to
1748 do all it's username/password validation via a remote server.
1750 This options sets the name of the password server to use. It must be a
1751 netbios name, so if the machines netbios name is different from it's
1752 internet name then you may have to add it's netbios name to
1755 The password server much be a machine capable of using the "LM1.2X002"
1756 or the "LM NT 0.12" protocol, and it must be in user level security
1759 NOTE: Using a password server means your unix box (running Samba) is
1760 only as secure as your password server. DO NOT CHOOSE A PASSWORD
1761 SERVER THAT YOU DON'T COMPLETELY TRUST.
1763 Never point a Samba server at itself for password serving. This will
1764 cause a loop and could lock up your Samba server!
1766 The name of the password server takes the standard substitutions, but
1767 probably the only useful one is %m, which means the Samba server will
1768 use the incoming client as the password server. If you use this then
1769 you better trust your clients, and you better restrict them with hosts
1772 If you list several hosts in the "password server" option then smbd
1773 will try each in turn till it finds one that responds. This is useful
1774 in case your primary server goes down.
1777 A synonym for this parameter is 'directory'.
1779 This parameter specifies a directory to which the user of the service is to
1780 be given access. In the case of printable services, this is where print data
1781 will spool prior to being submitted to the host for printing.
1783 For a printable service offering guest access, the service should be readonly
1784 and the path should be world-writable and have the sticky bit set. This is not
1785 mandatory of course, but you probably won't get the results you expect if you
1788 Any occurances of %u in the path will be replaced with the username
1789 that the client is connecting as. Any occurances of %m will be
1790 replaced by the name of the machine they are connecting from. These
1791 replacements are very useful for setting up pseudo home directories
1794 Note that this path will be based on 'root dir' if one was specified.
1803 This option specifies a command to be run whenever the service is
1804 disconnected. It takes the usual substitutions. The command may be run
1805 as the root on some systems.
1807 An interesting example may be do unmount server resources:
1809 postexec = /etc/umount /cdrom
1814 none (no command executed)
1817 postexec = echo \"%u disconnected from %S from %m (%I)\" >> /tmp/log
1820 This parameter forces a printer to interpret the print files as
1821 postscript. This is done by adding a %! to the start of print output.
1823 This is most useful when you have lots of PCs that persist in putting
1824 a control-D at the start of print jobs, which then confuses your
1835 This option specifies a command to be run whenever the service is
1836 connected to. It takes the usual substitutions.
1838 An interesting example is to send the users a welcome message every
1839 time they log in. Maybe a message of the day? Here is an example:
1841 preexec = csh -c 'echo \"Welcome to %S!\" | \
1842 /usr/local/samba/smbclient -M %m -I %I' &
1844 Of course, this could get annoying after a while :-)
1849 none (no command executed)
1852 preexec = echo \"%u connected to %S from %m (%I)\" >> /tmp/log
1854 .SS preferred master (G)
1855 This boolean parameter controls if Samba is a preferred master browser
1856 for its workgroup. Setting this gives it a slight edge in elections
1857 and also means it will automatically start an election when it starts
1860 It is on by default.
1863 This is an alias for "auto services"
1865 .SS preserve case (S)
1867 This controls if new filenames are created with the case that the
1868 client passes, or if they are forced to be the "default" case.
1873 See the section on "NAME MANGLING" for a fuller discussion.
1875 .SS print command (S)
1876 After a print job has finished spooling to a service, this command will be
1877 used via a system() call to process the spool file. Typically the command
1878 specified will submit the spool file to the host's printing subsystem, but
1879 there is no requirement that this be the case. The server will not remove the
1880 spool file, so whatever command you specify should remove the spool file when
1881 it has been processed, otherwise you will need to manually remove old spool
1884 The print command is simply a text string. It will be used verbatim,
1885 with two exceptions: All occurrences of "%s" will be replaced by the
1886 appropriate spool file name, and all occurrences of "%p" will be
1887 replaced by the appropriate printer name. The spool file name is
1888 generated automatically by the server, the printer name is discussed
1891 The full path name will be used for the filename if %s is not preceded
1892 by a /. If you don't like this (it can stuff up some lpq output) then
1893 use %f instead. Any occurances of %f get replaced by the spool
1894 filename without the full path at the front.
1896 The print command MUST contain at least one occurrence of "%s" or %f -
1897 the "%p" is optional. At the time a job is submitted, if no printer
1898 name is supplied the "%p" will be silently removed from the printer
1901 If specified in the [global] section, the print command given will be used
1902 for any printable service that does not have its own print command specified.
1904 If there is neither a specified print command for a printable service nor a
1905 global print command, spool files will be created but not processed and (most
1906 importantly) not removed.
1908 Note that printing may fail on some unixes from the "nobody"
1909 account. If this happens then create an alternative guest account that
1910 can print and set the "guest account" in the [global] section.
1912 You can form quite complex print commands by realising that they are
1913 just passed to a shell. For example the following will log a print
1914 job, print the file, then remove it. Note that ; is the usual
1915 separator for command in shell scripts.
1917 print command = echo Printing %s >> /tmp/print.log; lpr -P %p %s; rm %s
1919 You may have to vary this command considerably depending on how you
1920 normally print files on your system.
1923 print command = lpr -r -P %p %s
1926 print command = /usr/local/samba/myprintscript %p %s
1931 A synonym for this parameter is 'print ok'.
1933 If this parameter is 'yes', then clients may open, write to and submit spool
1934 files on the directory specified for the service.
1936 Note that a printable service will ALWAYS allow writing to the service path
1937 (user privileges permitting) via the spooling of print data. The 'read only'
1938 parameter controls only non-printing access to the resource.
1947 This parameters controls how printer status information is interpreted
1948 on your system, and also affects the default values for the "print
1949 command", "lpq command" and "lprm command".
1951 Currently six printing styles are supported. They are "printing =
1952 bsd", "printing = sysv", "printing = hpux", "printing = aix",
1953 "printing = qnx" and "printing = plp".
1955 To see what the defaults are for the other print commands when using
1956 these three options use the "testparm" program.
1959 .SS printcap name (G)
1960 This parameter may be used to override the compiled-in default printcap
1961 name used by the server (usually /etc/printcap). See the discussion of the
1962 [printers] section above for reasons why you might want to do this.
1964 For those of you without a printcap (say on SysV) you can just create a
1965 minimal file that looks like a printcap and set "printcap name =" in
1966 [global] to point at it.
1968 A minimal printcap file would look something like this:
1980 where the | separates aliases of a printer. The fact that the second
1981 alias has a space in it gives a hint to Samba that it's a comment.
1983 NOTE: Under AIX the default printcap name is "/etc/qconfig". Samba
1984 will assume the file is in AIX "qconfig" format if the string
1985 "/qconfig" appears in the printcap filename.
1988 printcap name = /etc/printcap
1991 printcap name = /etc/myprintcap
1993 A synonym for this parameter is 'printer name'.
1995 This parameter specifies the name of the printer to which print jobs spooled
1996 through a printable service will be sent.
1998 If specified in the [global] section, the printer name given will be used
1999 for any printable service that does not have its own printer name specified.
2002 none (but may be 'lp' on many systems)
2005 printer name = laserwriter
2007 .SS printer driver (S)
2008 This option allows you to control the string that clients receive when
2009 they ask the server for the printer driver associated with a
2010 printer. If you are using Windows95 or WindowsNT then you can use this
2011 to automate the setup of printers on your system.
2013 You need to set this parameter to the exact string (case sensitive)
2014 that describes the appropriate printer driver for your system.
2015 If you don't know the exact string to use then you should first try
2016 with no "printer driver" option set and the client will give you a
2017 list of printer drivers. The appropriate strings are shown in a
2018 scrollbox after you have chosen the printer manufacturer.
2020 printer driver = HP LaserJet 4L
2022 .SS printer name (S)
2027 The value of the parameter (a string) is the highest protocol level that will
2028 be supported by the server.
2030 Possible values are CORE, COREPLUS, LANMAN1, LANMAN2 and NT1. The relative
2031 merits of each are discussed in the README file.
2033 Normally this option should not be set as the automatic negotiation
2034 phase in the SMB protocol takes care of choosing the appropriate protocol.
2042 A synonym for this parameter is 'guest ok'.
2044 If this parameter is 'yes' for a service, then no password is required
2045 to connect to the service. Privileges will be those of the guest
2048 See the section below on user/password validation for more information about
2057 This is a list of users that are given read-only access to a
2058 service. If the connecting user is in this list then they will
2059 not be given write access, no matter what the "read only" option
2060 is set to. The list can include group names using the @group syntax.
2062 See also the "write list" option
2068 read list = mary, @students
2075 Note that this is an inverted synonym for writable and write ok.
2076 .SS read prediction (G)
2077 This options enables or disables the read prediction code used to
2078 speed up reads from the server. When enabled the server will try to
2079 pre-read data from the last accessed file that was opened read-only
2080 while waiting for packets.
2083 read prediction = False
2086 read prediction = True
2088 This parameter controls whether or not the server will support raw reads when
2089 transferring data to clients.
2091 If enabled, raw reads allow reads of 65535 bytes in one packet. This
2092 typically provides a major performance benefit.
2094 However, some clients either negotiate the allowable block size incorrectly
2095 or are incapable of supporting larger block sizes, and for these clients you
2096 may need to disable raw reads.
2098 In general this parameter should be viewed as a system tuning tool and left
2099 severely alone. See also
2109 The option "read size" affects the overlap of disk reads/writes with
2110 network reads/writes. If the amount of data being transferred in
2111 several of the SMB commands (currently SMBwrite, SMBwriteX and
2112 SMBreadbraw) is larger than this value then the server begins writing
2113 the data before it has received the whole packet from the network, or
2114 in the case of SMBreadbraw, it begins writing to the network before
2115 all the data has been read from disk.
2117 This overlapping works best when the speeds of disk and network access
2118 are similar, having very little effect when the speed of one is much
2119 greater than the other.
2121 The default value is 2048, but very little experimentation has been
2122 done yet to determine the optimal value, and it is likely that the best
2123 value will vary greatly between systems anyway. A value over 65536 is
2124 pointless and will cause you to allocate memory unnecessarily.
2132 .SS remote announce (G)
2134 This option allows you to setup nmbd to periodically announce itself
2135 to arbitrary IP addresses with an arbitrary workgroup name.
2137 This is useful if you want your Samba server to appear in a remote
2138 workgroup for which the normal browse propogation rules don't
2139 work. The remote workgroup can be anywhere that you can send IP
2144 remote announce = 192.168.2.255/SERVERS 192.168.4.255/STAFF
2146 the above line would cause nmbd to announce itself to the two given IP
2147 addresses using the given workgroup names. If you leave out the
2148 workgroup name then the one given in the "workgroup" option is used
2151 The IP addresses you choose would normally be the broadcast addresses
2152 of the remote networks, but can also be the IP addresses of known
2153 browse masters if your network config is that stable.
2155 This option replaces similar functionality from the nmbd lmhosts file.
2159 This options controls whether Samba will allow a previously validated
2160 username/password pair to be used to attach to a share. Thus if you
2161 connect to \\\\server\\share1 then to \\\\server\\share2 it won't
2162 automatically allow the client to request connection to the second
2163 share as the same username as the first without a password.
2165 If "revalidate" is True then the client will be denied automatic
2166 access as the same username.
2180 .SS root directory (G)
2181 Synonyms for this parameter are 'root dir' and 'root'.
2183 The server will chroot() to this directory on startup. This is not
2184 strictly necessary for secure operation. Even without it the server
2185 will deny access to files not in one of the service entries. It may
2186 also check for, and deny access to, soft links to other parts of the
2187 filesystem, or attempts to use .. in file names to access other
2188 directories (depending on the setting of the "wide links" parameter).
2190 Adding a "root dir" entry other than "/" adds an extra level of security,
2191 but at a price. It absolutely ensures that no access is given to files not
2192 in the sub-tree specified in the "root dir" option, *including* some files
2193 needed for complete operation of the server. To maintain full operability
2194 of the server you will need to mirror some system files into the "root dir"
2195 tree. In particular you will need to mirror /etc/passwd (or a subset of it),
2196 and any binaries or configuration files needed for printing (if required).
2197 The set of files that must be mirrored is operating system dependent.
2203 root directory = /homes/smb
2205 This option does affects how clients respond to Samba.
2207 The option sets the "security mode bit" in replies to protocol negotiations
2208 to turn share level security on or off. Clients decide based on this bit
2209 whether (and how) to transfer user and password information to the server.
2211 The default is "security=SHARE", mainly because that was the only
2212 option at one stage.
2214 The alternatives are "security = user" or "security = server".
2216 If your PCs use usernames that are the same as their usernames on the
2217 unix machine then you will want to use "security = user". If you
2218 mostly use usernames that don't exist on the unix box then use
2221 There is a bug in WfWg that may affect your decision. When in user
2222 level security a WfWg client will totally ignore the password you type
2223 in the "connect drive" dialog box. This makes it very difficult (if
2224 not impossible) to connect to a Samba service as anyone except the
2225 user that you are logged into WfWg as.
2227 If you use "security = server" then Samba will try to validate the
2228 username/password by passing it to another SMB server, such as an NT
2229 box. If this fails it will revert to "security = USER".
2231 See the "password server" option for more details.
2238 .SS server string (G)
2239 This controls what string will show up in the printer comment box in
2240 print manager and next to the IPC connection in "net view". It can be
2241 any string that you wish to show to your users.
2243 Note that it DOES NOT affect the string that appears in browse
2244 lists. That is controlled by a nmbd command line option instead.
2246 A %v will be replaced with the Samba version number.
2248 A %h will be replaced with the hostname.
2251 server string = Samba %v
2254 server string = University of GNUs Samba Server
2257 This sets the full path to the smbrun binary. This defaults to the
2258 value in the Makefile.
2260 You must get this path right for many services to work correctly.
2262 .B Default: taken from Makefile
2265 smbrun = /usr/local/samba/bin/smbrun
2267 .SS short preserve case (S)
2269 This controls if new short filenames are created with the case that
2270 the client passes, or if they are forced to be the "default" case.
2273 short preserve case = no
2275 See the section on "NAME MANGLING" for a fuller discussion.
2277 .SS root preexec (S)
2279 This is the same as preexec except that the command is run as
2280 root. This is useful for mounting filesystems (such as cdroms) before
2281 a connection is finalised.
2283 .SS root postexec (S)
2285 This is the same as postexec except that the command is run as
2286 root. This is useful for unmounting filesystems (such as cdroms) after
2287 a connection is closed.
2289 .SS set directory (S)
2290 If 'set directory = no', then users of the service may not use the setdir
2291 command to change directory.
2293 The setdir comand is only implemented in the Digital Pathworks client. See the
2294 Pathworks documentation for details.
2303 This enables or disables the honouring of the "share modes" during a
2304 file open. These modes are used by clients to gain exclusive read or
2305 write access to a file.
2307 These open modes are not directly supported by unix, so they are
2308 simulated using lock files in the "lock directory". The "lock
2309 directory" specified in smb.conf must be readable by all users.
2311 The share modes that are enabled by this option are DENY_DOS,
2312 DENY_ALL, DENY_READ, DENY_WRITE, DENY_NONE and DENY_FCB.
2314 Enabling this option gives full share compatability but may cost a bit
2315 of processing time on the unix server. They are enabled by default.
2323 .SS socket options (G)
2324 This option (which can also be invoked with the -O command line
2325 option) allows you to set socket options to be used when talking with
2328 Socket options are controls on the networking layer of the operating
2329 systems which allow the connection to be tuned.
2331 This option will typically be used to tune your Samba server for
2332 optimal performance for your local network. There is no way that Samba
2333 can know what the optimal parameters are for your net, so you must
2334 experiment and choose them yourself. I strongly suggest you read the
2335 appropriate documentation for your operating system first (perhaps
2336 "man setsockopt" will help).
2338 You may find that on some systems Samba will say "Unknown socket
2339 option" when you supply an option. This means you either mis-typed it
2340 or you need to add an include file to includes.h for your OS. If the
2341 latter is the case please send the patch to me
2342 (samba-bugs@anu.edu.au).
2344 Any of the supported socket options may be combined in any way you
2345 like, as long as your OS allows it.
2347 This is the list of socket options currently settable using this
2370 Those marked with a * take an integer argument. The others can
2371 optionally take a 1 or 0 argument to enable or disable the option, by
2372 default they will be enabled if you don't specify 1 or 0.
2374 To specify an argument use the syntax SOME_OPTION=VALUE for example
2375 SO_SNDBUF=8192. Note that you must not have any spaces before or after
2378 If you are on a local network then a sensible option might be
2380 socket options = IPTOS_LOWDELAY
2382 If you have an almost unloaded local network and you don't mind a lot
2383 of extra CPU usage in the server then you could try
2385 socket options = IPTOS_LOWDELAY TCP_NODELAY
2387 If you are on a wide area network then perhaps try setting
2390 Note that several of the options may cause your Samba server to fail
2391 completely. Use these options with caution!
2397 socket options = IPTOS_LOWDELAY
2403 This enables or disables logging of connections to a status file that
2406 With this disabled smbstatus won't be able to tell you what
2407 connections are active.
2416 This is a boolean that controls whether to strup trailing dots off
2417 filenames. This helps with some CDROMs that have filenames ending in a
2420 NOTE: This option is now obsolete, and may be removed in future. You
2421 should use the "mangled map" option instead as it is much more
2424 .SS strict locking (S)
2425 This is a boolean that controls the handling of file locking in the
2426 server. When this is set to yes the server will check every read and
2427 write access for file locks, and deny access if locks exist. This can
2428 be slow on some systems.
2430 When strict locking is "no" the server does file lock checks only when
2431 the client explicitly asks for them.
2433 Well behaved clients always ask for lock checks when it is important,
2434 so in the vast majority of cases "strict locking = no" is preferable.
2440 strict locking = yes
2444 This is a boolean parameter that controls whether writes will always
2445 be written to stable storage before the write call returns. If this is
2446 false then the server will be guided by the clients request in each
2447 write call (clients can set a bit indicating that a particular write
2448 should be synchronous). If this is true then every write will be
2449 followed by a fsync() call to ensure the data is written to disk.
2458 This parameter is a setting in minutes to add to the normal GMT to
2459 local time conversion. This is useful if you are serving a lot of PCs
2460 that have incorrect daylight saving time handling.
2472 A synonym for this parameter is 'user'.
2474 Multiple users may be specified in a comma-delimited list, in which case the
2475 supplied password will be tested against each username in turn (left to right).
2477 The username= line is needed only when the PC is unable to supply it's own
2478 username. This is the case for the coreplus protocol or where your
2479 users have different WfWg usernames to unix usernames. In both these
2480 cases you may also be better using the \\\\server\\share%user syntax
2483 The username= line is not a great solution in many cases as it means Samba
2484 will try to validate the supplied password against each of the
2485 usernames in the username= line in turn. This is slow and a bad idea for
2486 lots of users in case of duplicate passwords. You may get timeouts or
2487 security breaches using this parameter unwisely.
2489 Samba relies on the underlying unix security. This parameter does not
2490 restrict who can login, it just offers hints to the Samba server as to
2491 what usernames might correspond to the supplied password. Users can
2492 login as whoever they please and they will be able to do no more
2493 damage than if they started a telnet session. The daemon runs as the
2494 user that they log in as, so they cannot do anything that user cannot
2497 To restrict a service to a particular set of users you can use the
2498 "valid users=" line.
2500 If any of the usernames begin with a @ then the name will be looked up
2501 in the groups file and will expand to a list of all users in the group
2502 of that name. Note that searching though a groups file can take quite
2503 some time, and some clients may time out during the search.
2505 See the section below on username/password validation for more information
2506 on how this parameter determines access to the services.
2509 The guest account if a guest service, else the name of the service.
2513 username = fred, mary, jack, jane, @users, @pcgroup
2515 .SS username map (G)
2517 This option allows you to to specify a file containing a mapping of
2518 usernames from the clients to the server. This can be used for several
2519 purposes. The most common is to map usernames that users use on dos or
2520 windows machines to those that the unix box uses. The other is to map
2521 multiple users to a single username so that they can more easily share
2524 The map file is parsed line by line. Each line should contain a single
2525 unix username on the left then a '=' followed by a list of usernames
2526 on the right. The list of usernames on the right may contain names of
2527 the form @group in which case they will match any unix username in
2528 that group. The special client name '*' is a wildcard and matches any
2531 The file is processed on each line by taking the supplied username and
2532 comparing it with each username on the right hand side of the '='
2533 signs. If the supplied name matrches any of the names on the right
2534 hand side then it is replaced with the name on the left. Processing
2535 then continues with the next line.
2537 If any line begins with a '#' or a ';' then it is ignored
2539 For example to map from he name "admin" or "administrator" to the unix
2540 name "root" you would use
2542 root = admin administrator
2544 Or to map anyone in the unix group "system" to the unix name "sys" you
2549 You can have as many mappings as you like in a username map file.
2551 Note that the remapping is applied to all occurances of
2552 usernames. Thus if you connect to "\\\\server\\fred" and "fred" is
2553 remapped to "mary" then you will actually be connecting to
2554 "\\\\server\\mary" and will need to supply a password suitable for
2555 "mary" not "fred". The only exception to this is the username passwed
2556 to the "password server" (if you have one). The password server will
2557 receive whatever username the client supplies without modification.
2559 Also note that no reverse mapping is done. The main effect this has is
2560 with printing. Users who have been mapped may have trouble deleting
2561 print jobs as PrintManager under WfWg will think they don't own the
2568 username map = /usr/local/samba/lib/users.map
2572 The option allows you to specify additional characters that should be
2573 considered valid by the server in filenames. This is particularly
2574 useful for national character sets, such as adding u-umlaut or a-ring.
2576 The option takes a list of characters in either integer or character
2577 form with spaces between them. If you give two characters with a colon
2578 between them then it will be taken as an lowercase:uppercase pair.
2580 If you have an editor capable of entering the characters into the
2581 config file then it is probably easiest to use this method. Otherwise
2582 you can specify the characters in octal, decimal or hexidecimal form
2583 using the usual C notation.
2585 For example to add the single character 'Z' to the charset (which is a
2586 pointless thing to do as it's already there) you could do one of the
2591 valid chars = 0132:0172
2593 The last two examples above actually add two characters, and alters
2594 the uppercase and lowercase mappings appropriately.
2597 Samba defaults to using a reasonable set of valid characters
2601 valid chars = 0345:0305 0366:0326 0344:0304
2603 The above example allows filenames to have the swedish characters in
2606 NOTE: It is actually quite difficult to correctly produce a "valid
2607 chars" line for a particular system. To automate the process
2608 tino@augsburg.net has written a package called "validchars" which will
2609 automatically produce a complete "valid chars" line for a given client
2610 system. Look in the examples subdirectory for this package.
2614 This is a list of users that should be allowed to login to this
2615 service. A name starting with @ is interpreted as a unix group.
2617 If this is empty (the default) then any user can login. If a username
2618 is in both this list and the "invalid users" list then access is
2619 denied for that user.
2621 The current servicename is substituted for %S. This is useful in the
2624 See also "invalid users"
2627 No valid users list. (anyone can login)
2630 valid users = greg, @pcusers
2633 This allows you to override the volume label returned for a
2634 share. Useful for CDROMs whos installation programs insist on a
2635 particular volume label.
2637 The default is the name of the share
2640 This parameter controls whether or not links in the Unix file system may be
2641 followed by the server. Links that point to areas within the directory tree
2642 exported by the server are always allowed; this parameter controls access
2643 only to areas that are outside the directory tree being exported.
2653 This is a boolean that controls if nmbd will respond to broadcast name
2654 queries on behalf of other hosts. You may need to set this to no for
2659 .SS wins support (G)
2661 This boolean controls if Samba will act as a WINS server. You should
2662 normally set this to true unless you already have another WINS server
2669 This specifies the DNS name of the WINS server that Samba should
2670 register with. If you have a WINS server on your network then you
2671 should set this to the WINS servers name.
2673 This option only takes effect if Samba is not acting as a WINS server
2680 This controls what workgroup your server will appear to be in when
2681 queried by clients. This can be different to the workgroup specified
2682 in the nmbd configuration, but it is probably best if you set them to
2697 A synonym for this parameter is 'write ok'. An inverted synonym is 'read only'.
2699 If this parameter is 'no', then users of a service may not create or modify
2700 files in the service's directory.
2702 Note that a printable service ('printable = yes') will ALWAYS allow
2703 writing to the directory (user privileges permitting), but only via
2704 spooling operations.
2714 This is a list of users that are given read-write access to a
2715 service. If the connecting user is in this list then they will be
2716 given write access, no matter what the "read only" option is set
2717 to. The list can include group names using the @group syntax.
2719 Note that if a user is in both the read list and the write list then
2720 they will be given write access.
2722 See also the "read list" option
2728 write list = admin, root, @staff
2731 This parameter controls whether or not the server will support raw writes when
2732 transferring data from clients.
2739 .SH NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION
2740 There are a number of ways in which a user can connect to a
2741 service. The server follows the following steps in determining if it
2742 will allow a connection to a specified service. If all the steps fail
2743 then the connection request is rejected. If one of the steps pass then
2744 the following steps are not checked.
2746 If the service is marked "guest only = yes" then steps 1 to 5 are skipped
2748 Step 1: If the client has passed a username/password pair and that
2749 username/password pair is validated by the unix systems password
2750 programs then the connection is made as that username. Note that this
2751 includes the \\\\server\\service%username method of passing a username.
2753 Step 2: If the client has previously registered a username with the
2754 system and now supplies a correct password for that username then the
2755 connection is allowed.
2757 Step 3: The clients netbios name and any previously used user names
2758 are checked against the supplied password, if they match then the
2759 connection is allowed as the corresponding user.
2761 Step 4: If the client has previously validated a username/password
2762 pair with the server and the client has passed the validation token
2763 then that username is used. This step is skipped if "revalidate = yes"
2766 Step 5: If a "user = " field is given in the smb.conf file for the
2767 service and the client has supplied a password, and that password
2768 matches (according to the unix systems password checking) with one of
2769 the usernames from the user= field then the connection is made as the
2770 username in the "user=" line. If one of the username in the user= list
2771 begins with a @ then that name expands to a list of names in the group
2774 Step 6: If the service is a guest service then a connection is made as
2775 the username given in the "guest account =" for the service,
2776 irrespective of the supplied password.
2780 Although the configuration file permits service names to contain spaces,
2781 your client software may not. Spaces will be ignored in comparisons anyway,
2782 so it shouldn't be a problem - but be aware of the possibility.
2784 On a similar note, many clients - especially DOS clients - limit service
2785 names to eight characters. Smbd has no such limitation, but attempts
2786 to connect from such clients will fail if they truncate the service names.
2787 For this reason you should probably keep your service names down to eight
2788 characters in length.
2790 Use of the [homes] and [printers] special sections make life for an
2791 administrator easy, but the various combinations of default attributes can be
2792 tricky. Take extreme care when designing these sections. In particular,
2793 ensure that the permissions on spool directories are correct.
2795 This man page is (mostly) correct for version 1.9.00 of the Samba suite, plus some
2796 of the recent patches to it. These notes will necessarily lag behind
2797 development of the software, so it is possible that your version of
2798 the server has extensions or parameter semantics that differ from or are not
2799 covered by this man page. Please notify these to the address below for
2802 Prior to version 1.5.21 of the Samba suite, the configuration file was
2803 radically different (more primitive). If you are using a version earlier than
2804 1.8.05, it is STRONGLY recommended that you upgrade.
2811 .SH ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
2823 [This section under construction]
2825 Most diagnostics issued by the server are logged in a specified log file. The
2826 log file name is specified at compile time, but may be overridden on the
2827 smbd (see smbd(8)) command line.
2829 The number and nature of diagnostics available depends on the debug level used
2830 by the server. If you have problems, set the debug level to 3 and peruse the
2833 Most messages are reasonably self-explanatory. Unfortunately, at time of
2834 creation of this man page the source code is still too fluid to warrant
2835 describing each and every diagnostic. At this stage your best bet is still
2836 to grep the source code and inspect the conditions that gave rise to the
2837 diagnostics you are seeing.
2842 Please send bug reports, comments and so on to:
2845 .B samba-bugs@anu.edu.au (Andrew Tridgell)
2848 or to the mailing list
2851 .B samba@listproc.anu.edu.au
2854 You may also like to subscribe to the announcement channel
2857 samba-announce@listproc.anu.edu.au
2860 To subscribe to these lists send a message to
2861 listproc@listproc.anu.edu.au with a body of "subscribe samba Your
2862 Name" or "subscribe samba-announce Your Name".
2864 Errors or suggestions for improvements to the Samba man pages should be
2868 .B samba-bugs@anu.edu.au (Andrew Tridgell)