Table of Contents

Ubuntu - Samba - Test nmbd

Check that nmbd is running: 

ps -eaf | grep nmbd

result: 

root       3422      1  0 10:30 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/nmbd -D
root       5178   4327  0 11:14 pts/0    00:00:00 grep --color=auto nmbd

NOTE: If nmbd does not appear in the list reported by ps, it should be started as root using the normal means: 

/usr/local/samba/bin/nmbd -D

Use the __SAMBA__ NetBIOS Name

Samba servers have a special NetBIOS name, __SAMBA__, to which they will always respond. 

nmblookup -U 127.0.0.1 __SAMBA__

result: 

querying __SAMBA__ on 127.0.0.1
192.168.0.2 __SAMBA__<00>
192.168.1.2 __SAMBA__<00>

NOTE: If nmbd is not running, the following error message will be shown: 

name_query failed to find name __SAMBA__
  • This can also be caused by not including the loopback interface name for the interfaces parameter in smb.conf and setting bind interfaces only = yes.

Check if nmbd was able to successfully register the domain name

nmblookup -U 127.0.0.1 ShareWiz

result: 

querying ShareWiz on 127.0.0.1
192.168.0.2 ShareWiz<00>
192.168.1.2 ShareWiz<00>

NOTE: If an domain was not found by nmbd the result would be: 

querying xyz on 127.0.0.1
name_query failed to find name xyz

A possible reason for a failure is that the server was unable to register its NetBIOS name.

Use the Broadcast Address

If the NetBIOS name is unregistered, you can locate the host that currently owns the name by sending a name query request to the broadcast address of the local subnet. 

nmblookup -B 192.168.1.255 ShareWiz

result: 

querying ShareWiz on 192.168.1.255
192.168.1.3 ShareWiz<00>

NOTE: In this example, the name ShareWiz has been registered by a host at address 192.168.1.3 and not our Samba server.

  • To correct this problem is to rename the rogue machine.

If it failed the result would be: 

querying ShareWiz on 192.168.1.255
name_query failed to find name ShareWiz