SMBCLIENT(1) User Commands SMBCLIENT(1)
NAME
smbclient - ftp-like client to access SMB/CIFS resources on servers
SYNOPSIS
smbclient [-M|--message=HOST] [-I|--ip-address=IP] [-E|--stderr]
[-L|--list=HOST] [-T|--tar=<c|x>IXFvgbNan] [-D|--directory=DIR]
[-b|--send-buffer=BYTES] [-t|--timeout=SECONDS] [-p|--port=PORT]
[-g|--grepable] [-q|--quiet] [-B|--browse] [-?|--help] [--usage]
[-d|--debuglevel=DEBUGLEVEL] [--debug-stdout]
[-s|--configfile=CONFIGFILE] [--option=name=value]
[-l|--log-basename=LOGFILEBASE] [--leak-report] [--leak-report-full]
[-R|--name-resolve=NAME-RESOLVE-ORDER]
[-O|--socket-options=SOCKETOPTIONS] [-m|--max-protocol=MAXPROTOCOL]
[-n|--netbiosname=NETBIOSNAME] [--netbios-scope=SCOPE]
[-W|--workgroup=WORKGROUP] [--realm=REALM]
[-U|--user=[DOMAIN/]USERNAME%[PASSWORD]] [-N|--no-pass]
[--password=STRING] [--pw-nt-hash] [-A|--authentication-file=FILE]
[-P|--machine-pass] [--simple-bind-dn=DN]
[--use-kerberos=desired|required|off] [--use-krb5-ccache=CCACHE]
[--use-winbind-ccache] [--client-protection=sign|encrypt|off]
[-V|--version] [-c|--command=STRING]
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|--name-resolve 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.
-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 highest available SMB3 protocol version. To connect using SMB2 or
SMB1 protocol, use the strings SMB2 or NT1 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.
-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.
• n - In combination with the c flag, do not actually
create the archive, instead perform a dry run that
attempts everything that involved in creation other than
writing the file.
• 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.
• v - Verbose. Makes tar print out the files being
processed. By default tar is not verbose. This is the
same as tarmode verbose.
• 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 -'.
-?|--help
Print a summary of command line options.
--usage
Display brief usage message.
-d|--debuglevel=level
level is an integer from 0 to 10. The default value if this
parameter is not specified is 1 for client applications.
The higher this value, the more detail will be logged to the log
files about the activities of the server. At level 0, only critical
errors and serious warnings will be logged. Level 1 is a reasonable
level for day-to-day running - it generates a small amount of
information about operations carried out.
Levels above 1 will generate considerable amounts of log data, and
should only be used when investigating a problem. Levels above 3 are
designed for use only by developers and generate HUGE amounts of log
data, most of which is extremely cryptic.
Note that specifying this parameter here will override the log level
parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.
--debug-stdout
This will redirect debug output to STDOUT. By default all clients
are logging to STDERR.
--configfile=<configuration file>
The file specified contains the configuration details required by
the client. The information in this file can be general for client
and server or only provide client specific like options such as
client smb encrypt. See /etc/samba/smb.conf for more information.
The default configuration file name is determined at compile time.
--option=<name>=<value>
Set the smb.conf(5) option "<name>" to value "<value>" from the
command line. This overrides compiled-in defaults and options read
from the configuration file. If a name or a value includes a space,
wrap whole --option=name=value into quotes.
-l|--log-basename=logdirectory
Base directory name for log/debug files. The extension ".progname"
will be appended (e.g. log.smbclient, log.smbd, etc...). The log
file is never removed by the client.
--leak-report
Enable talloc leak reporting on exit.
--leak-report-full
Enable full talloc leak reporting on exit.
-V|--version
Prints the program version number.
-R|--name-resolve=NAME-RESOLVE-ORDER
This option is used 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
best is to wrap the whole --name-resolve=NAME-RESOLVE-ORDER into
quotes.
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 /etc/samba/smb.conf file parameter (name resolve order) will be
used.
The default order is lmhosts, host, wins, bcast. Without this
parameter or any entry in the name resolve order parameter of the
/etc/samba/smb.conf file, the name resolution methods will be
attempted in this order.
-O|--socket-options=SOCKETOPTIONS
TCP socket options to set on the client socket. See the socket
options parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf manual page for the
list of valid options.
-m|--max-protocol=MAXPROTOCOL
The value of the parameter (a string) is the highest protocol level
that will be supported by the client.
Note that specifying this parameter here will override the client
max protocol parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.
-n|--netbiosname=NETBIOSNAME
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 /etc/samba/smb.conf file. However, a command line setting
will take precedence over settings in /etc/samba/smb.conf.
--netbios-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=WORKGROUP
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).
Note that specifying this parameter here will override the workgroup
parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.
-r|--realm=REALM
Set the realm for the domain.
Note that specifying this parameter here will override the realm
parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.
-U|--user=[DOMAIN\]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 (which is also
permitted to also contain the password separated by a %), then the
LOGNAME variable (which is not permitted to contain a password) and
if either exists, the value is used. If these environmental
variables are not found, the username found in a Kerberos
Credentials cache may be 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 or passing
user-supplied values onto the command line. For security it is
better to let the Samba client tool ask for the password if needed,
or obtain the password once with kinit.
While Samba will attempt to scrub the password from the process
title (as seen in ps), this is after startup and so is subject to a
race.
-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
ignored and no password will be used.
--password
Specify the password on the commandline.
Be cautious about including passwords in scripts or passing
user-supplied values onto the command line. For security it is
better to let the Samba client tool ask for the password if needed,
or obtain the password once with kinit.
If --password is not specified, the tool will check the PASSWD
environment variable, followed by PASSWD_FD which is expected to
contain an open file descriptor (FD) number.
Finally it will check PASSWD_FILE (containing a file path to be
opened). The file should only contain the password. Make certain
that the permissions on the file restrict access from unwanted
users!
While Samba will attempt to scrub the password from the process
title (as seen in ps), this is after startup and so is subject to a
race.
--pw-nt-hash
The supplied password is the NT hash.
-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!
-P|--machine-pass
Use stored machine account password.
--simple-bind-dn=DN
DN to use for a simple bind.
--use-kerberos=desired|required|off
This parameter determines whether Samba client tools will try to
authenticate using Kerberos. For Kerberos authentication you need to
use dns names instead of IP addresses when connecting to a service.
Note that specifying this parameter here will override the client
use kerberos parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.
--use-krb5-ccache=CCACHE
Specifies the credential cache location for Kerberos authentication.
This will set --use-kerberos=required too.
--use-winbind-ccache
Try to use the credential cache by winbind.
--client-protection=sign|encrypt|off
Sets the connection protection the client tool should use.
Note that specifying this parameter here will override the client
protection parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.
In case you need more fine grained control you can use:
--option=clientsmbencrypt=OPTION, --option=clientipcsigning=OPTION,
--option=clientsigning=OPTION.
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.
deltree <mask>
The client will request that the server attempt to delete all files
and directories matching mask from the current working directory on
the server. Note this will recursively delete files and directories
within the directories selected even without the recurse command
being set. If any of the delete requests fail the command will stop
processing at that point, leaving files and directories not yet
processed untouched. This is by design.
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.
posix_whoami
Query the remote server for the user token using the CIFS UNIX
extensions WHOAMI call. Prints out the guest status, user, group,
group list and sid list that the remote server is using on behalf of
the logged on user.
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> [-f]
Rename files in the current working directory on the server from old
filename to new filename. The optional -f switch allows for
superseding the destination file, if it exists. This is supported by
NT1 protocol dialect and SMB2 protocol family.
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|verbose|noverbose>
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.
utimes <filename> <create time> <access time> <write time> < change
time>
Changes the timestamps on a file by name. Times should be specified
in the format [YY]YY:MM:DD-HH:MM:SS or -1 for no change.
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
See the --user and --password options for details on ways to specify a
username and password via an environment variable.
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 part of version 4.22.11-Debian-4.22.11+dfsg-0+deb13u1
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.
Samba 4.22.11-Debian-4.22.11+d 07/28/2026 SMBCLIENT(1)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Sat Oct 3 04:19:54 CEST 2026.