Table of Contents

Ubuntu - Samba - Check Samba is running

Check the Samba Server is running

ps -ef | grep smbd

result:

root       3380      1  0 Jun30 ?        00:00:01 /usr/sbin/smbd -D
root       3381   3380  0 Jun30 ?        00:00:04 /usr/sbin/smbd -D
root       3383   3380  0 Jun30 ?        00:00:01 /usr/sbin/smbd -D
root       5978   3380  0 Jul08 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/smbd -D
root       5980   3380  0 Jul08 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/smbd -D
root       5982   3380  0 Jul08 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/smbd -D
root      88308  87793  0 09:49 pts/0    00:00:00 grep --color=auto smbd

???

ps -ef | grep nmbd

result:

root       3352      1  0 Jun30 ?        00:00:20 /usr/sbin/nmbd -D
root      88339  87793  0 09:54 pts/0    00:00:00 grep --color=auto nmbd

Check the Samba Client is running

smbclient -L ShareWiz -N

This step should be executed while logged on to the Samba server locally (that is, not from another Unix host on the network).

result:

WARNING: The "syslog" option is deprecated
Domain=[SHAREWIZ] OS=[Windows 6.1] Server=[Samba 4.3.9-Ubuntu]
 
	Sharename       Type      Comment
	---------       ----      -------
	print$          Disk      Printer Drivers
	open            Disk      ShareWiz File Server Open
	share           Disk      ShareWiz File Server Share
	secureshare     Disk      ShareWiz File Server Secure Share
	IPC$            IPC       IPC Service (server1 server (Samba, Ubuntu))
Domain=[SHAREWIZ] OS=[Windows 6.1] Server=[Samba 4.3.9-Ubuntu]
 
	Server               Comment
	---------            -------
	SERVER1              server1 server (Samba, Ubuntu)
 
	Workgroup            Master
	---------            -------
	SHAREWIZ             SERVER1

An error message may be displayed instead:

error connecting to 192.168.1.2:139 (Connection refused)
Connection to <server> failed

This could be caused by smbd not running or not being able to bind to port 139.

An inability to bind to the correct port can be caused by configuring smbd to start from [x]inetd (possibly left over from a previous Samba installation) and then attempting to launch the server as a daemon.

The most common means of correcting this is to ensure that smbd can actually start.

Because smbd does not print error messages to the console window, it is a good idea to view the last few lines of the associated log file.

tail /var/log/samba/log.smbd

Another error message often seen is:

session request to <server> failed (Not listening for calling name)

When connecting locally using smbclient, this error is almost always a result of a misconfigured hosts allow or hosts deny parameter in smb.conf. The server is running by rejecting the NetBIOS session setup.

Check that the correct NetBIOS name was entered in the command. If that is not the cause of the error, then it could be caused by a broken nmbd installation.