# smb.conf (5)

## Samba

## 23 Oct 1998

## NAME

smb.conf - The configuration file for the Samba suite

## SYNOPSIS

smb.conf The smb.conf file is a configuration file for the Samba suite. smb.conf contains runtime configuration information for the Samba programs. The smb.conf file is designed to be configured and administered by the swat (8) program. The complete description of the file format and possible parameters held within are here for reference purposes.

## FILE FORMAT

The file consists of sections and parameters. A section begins with the name of the section in square brackets and continues until the next section begins. Sections contain parameters of the form

`'name = value'`

The file is line-based - that is, each newline-terminated line represents either a comment, a section name or a parameter.

Section and parameter names are not case sensitive.

Only the first equals sign in a parameter is significant. Whitespace before or after the first equals sign is discarded. Leading, trailing and internal whitespace in section and parameter names is irrelevant. Leading and trailing whitespace in a parameter value is discarded. Internal whitespace within a parameter value is retained verbatim.

Any line beginning with a semicolon (';') or a hash ('#') character is ignored, as are lines containing only whitespace.

Any line ending in a `'\'` is "continued" on the next line in the customary UNIX fashion.

The values following the equals sign in parameters are all either a string (no quotes needed) or a boolean, which may be given as yes/no, 0/1 or true/false. Case is not significant in boolean values, but is preserved in string values. Some items such as create modes are numeric.

## SECTION DESCRIPTIONS

Each section in the configuration file (except for the [global] section) describes a shared resource (known as a "share"). The section name is the name of the shared resource and the parameters within the section define the shares attributes.

There are three special sections, [global], [homes] and [printers], which are described under 'special sections'. The following notes apply to ordinary section descriptions.

A share consists of a directory to which access is being given plus a description of the access rights which are granted to the user of the service. Some housekeeping options are also specifiable.

Sections are either filespace services (used by the client as an extension of their native file systems) or printable services (used by the client to access print services on the host running the server).

Sections may be designated guest services, in which case no password is required to access them. A specified UNIX guest account is used to define access privileges in this case.

Sections other than guest services will require a password to access them. The client provides the username. As older clients only provide passwords and not usernames, you may specify a list of usernames to check against the password using the "user=" option in the share definition. For modern clients such as Windows 95/98 and Windows NT, this should not be necessary.

Note that the access rights granted by the server are masked by the access rights granted to the specified or guest UNIX user by the host system. The server does not grant more access than the host system grants.

The following sample section defines a file space share. The user has write access to the path `/home/bar`. The share is accessed via the share name "foo":

     	[foo]
     		path = /home/bar
     		writeable = true

The following sample section defines a printable share. The share is readonly, but printable. That is, the only write access permitted is via calls to open, write to and close a spool file. The 'guest ok' parameter means access will be permitted as the default guest user (specified elsewhere):

     	[aprinter]
     		path = /usr/spool/public
     		writeable = false
     		printable = true
     		guest ok = true

## SPECIAL SECTIONS

The [global] section

  Parameters in this section apply to the server as a whole, or are defaults for sections which do not specifically define certain items. See the notes under 'PARAMETERS' for more information.

The [homes] section

  If a section called `'homes'` is included in the configuration file, services connecting clients to their home directories can be created on the fly by the server.

  When the connection request is made, the existing sections are scanned. If a match is found, it is used. If no match is found, the requested section name is treated as a user name and looked up in the local password file. If the name exists and the correct password has been given, a share is created by cloning the [homes] section.

  Some modifications are then made to the newly created share:

  - The share name is changed from `'homes'` to the located username

  - If no path was given, the path is set to the user's home directory.

  If you decide to use a path= line in your [homes] section then you may find it useful to use the %S macro. For example :

  `path=/data/pchome/%S`

  would be useful if you have different home directories for your PCs than for UNIX access.

  This is a fast and simple way to give a large number of clients access to their home directories with a minimum of fuss.

  A similar process occurs if the requested section name is `"homes"`, except that the share name is not changed to that of the requesting user. This method of using the [homes] section works well if different users share a client PC.

  The [homes] section can specify all the parameters a normal service section can specify, though some make more sense than others. The following is a typical and suitable [homes] section:

       	[homes]
       		writeable = yes

  An important point is that if guest access is specified in the [homes] section, all home directories will be visible to all clients without a password. In the very unlikely event that this is actually desirable, it would be wise to also specify read only access.

  Note that the browseable flag for auto home directories will be inherited from the global browseable flag, not the [homes] browseable flag. This is useful as it means setting browseable=no in the [homes] section will hide the [homes] share but make any auto home directories visible.

The [printers] section

  This section works like [homes], but for printers.

  If a [printers] section occurs in the configuration file, users are able to connect to any printer specified in the local host's printcap file.

  When a connection request is made, the existing sections are scanned. If a match is found, it is used. If no match is found, but a [homes] section exists, it is used as described above. Otherwise, the requested section name is treated as a printer name and the appropriate printcap file is scanned to see if the requested section name is a valid printer share name. If a match is found, a new printer share is created by cloning the [printers] section.

  A few modifications are then made to the newly created share:

  - The share name is set to the located printer name

  - If no printer name was given, the printer name is set to the located printer name

  - If the share does not permit guest access and no username was given, the username is set to the located printer name.

  Note that the [printers] service MUST be printable - if you specify otherwise, the server will refuse to load the configuration file.

  Typically the path specified would be that of a world-writeable spool directory with the sticky bit set on it. A typical [printers] entry would look like this:

       	[printers]
       		path = /usr/spool/public
       		guest ok = yes
       		printable = yes

  All aliases given for a printer in the printcap file are legitimate printer names as far as the server is concerned. If your printing subsystem doesn't work like that, you will have to set up a pseudo-printcap. This is a file consisting of one or more lines like this:

              alias|alias|alias|alias...

  Each alias should be an acceptable printer name for your printing subsystem. In the [global] section, specify the new file as your printcap. The server will then only recognize names found in your pseudo-printcap, which of course can contain whatever aliases you like. The same technique could be used simply to limit access to a subset of your local printers.

  An alias, by the way, is defined as any component of the first entry of a printcap record. Records are separated by newlines, components (if there are more than one) are separated by vertical bar symbols ("|").

  NOTE: On SYSV systems which use lpstat to determine what printers are defined on the system you may be able to use "printcap name = lpstat" to automatically obtain a list of printers. See the "printcap name" option for more details.

## PARAMETERS

Parameters define the specific attributes of sections.

Some parameters are specific to the [global] section (e.g., security). Some parameters are usable in all sections (e.g., create mode). All others are permissible only in normal sections. For the purposes of the following descriptions the [homes] and [printers] sections will be considered normal. The letter `'G'` in parentheses indicates that a parameter is specific to the [global] section. The letter `'S'` indicates that a parameter can be specified in a service specific section. Note that all `'S'` parameters can also be specified in the [global] section - in which case they will define the default behavior for all services.

Parameters are arranged here in alphabetical order - this may not create best bedfellows, but at least you can find them! Where there are synonyms, the preferred synonym is described, others refer to the preferred synonym.

## VARIABLE SUBSTITUTIONS

Many of the strings that are settable in the config file can take substitutions. For example the option `"path = /tmp/%u"` would be interpreted as `"path = /tmp/john"` if the user connected with the username john.

These substitutions are mostly noted in the descriptions below, but there are some general substitutions which apply whenever they might be relevant. These are:

- %S = the name of the current service, if any.

- %P = the root directory of the current service, if any.

- %u = user name of the current service, if any.

- %g = primary group name of %u.

- %U = session user name (the user name that the client wanted, not necessarily the same as the one they got).

- %G = primary group name of %U.

- %H = the home directory of the user given by %u.

- %v = the Samba version.

- %h = the internet hostname that Samba is running on.

- %m = the NetBIOS name of the client machine (very useful).

- %L = the NetBIOS name of the server. This allows you to change your config based on what the client calls you. Your server can have a "dual personality".

- %M = the internet name of the client machine.

- %N = the name of your NIS home directory server. This is obtained from your NIS auto.map entry. If you have not compiled Samba with the --with-automount option then this value will be the same as %L.

- %p = the path of the service's home directory, obtained from your NIS auto.map entry. The NIS auto.map entry is split up as "%N:%p".

- %R = the selected protocol level after protocol negotiation. It can be one of CORE, COREPLUS, LANMAN1, LANMAN2 or NT1.

- %d = The process id of the current server process.

- %a = the architecture of the remote machine. Only some are recognized, and those may not be 100% reliable. It currently recognizes Samba, WfWg, WinNT and Win95. Anything else will be known as "UNKNOWN". If it gets it wrong then sending a level 3 log to samba@samba.org should allow it to be fixed.

- %I = The IP address of the client machine.

- %T = the current date and time.

There are some quite creative things that can be done with these substitutions and other smb.conf options.

## NAME MANGLING

Samba supports "name mangling" so that DOS and Windows clients can use files that don't conform to the 8.3 format. It can also be set to adjust the case of 8.3 format filenames.

There are several options that control the way mangling is performed, and they are grouped here rather than listed separately. For the defaults look at the output of the testparm program.

All of these options can be set separately for each service (or globally, of course).

The options are:

"mangle case = yes/no" controls if names that have characters that aren't of the "default" case are mangled. For example, if this is yes then a name like `"Mail"` would be mangled. Default no.

"case sensitive = yes/no" controls whether filenames are case sensitive. If they aren't then Samba must do a filename search and match on passed names. Default no.

"default case = upper/lower" controls what the default case is for new filenames. Default lower.

"preserve case = yes/no" controls if new files are created with the case that the client passes, or if they are forced to be the `"default"` case. Default Yes.

"short preserve case = yes/no" controls if new files which conform to 8.3 syntax, that is all in upper case and of suitable length, are created upper case, or if they are forced to be the `"default"` case. This option can be use with "preserve case = yes" to permit long filenames to retain their case, while short names are lowered. Default Yes.

By default, Samba 2.0 has the same semantics as a Windows NT server, in that it is case insensitive but case preserving.

## NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION

There are a number of ways in which a user can connect to a service. The server follows the following steps in determining if it will allow a connection to a specified service. If all the steps fail then the connection request is rejected. If one of the steps pass then the following steps are not checked.

If the service is marked "guest only = yes" then steps 1 to 5 are skipped.

1. Step 1: If the client has passed a username/password pair and that username/password pair is validated by the UNIX system's password programs then the connection is made as that username. Note that this includes the `\\server\service%username` method of passing a username.

2. Step 2: If the client has previously registered a username with the system and now supplies a correct password for that username then the connection is allowed.

3. Step 3: The client's netbios name and any previously used user names are checked against the supplied password, if they match then the connection is allowed as the corresponding user.

4. Step 4: If the client has previously validated a username/password pair with the server and the client has passed the validation token then that username is used. This step is skipped if "revalidate = yes" for this service.

5. Step 5: If a "user = " field is given in the smb.conf file for the service and the client has supplied a password, and that password matches (according to the UNIX system's password checking) with one of the usernames from the user= field then the connection is made as the username in the "user=" line. If one of the username in the user= list begins with a `'@'` then that name expands to a list of names in the group of the same name.

6. Step 6: If the service is a guest service then a connection is made as the username given in the "guest account =" for the service, irrespective of the supplied password.

## COMPLETE LIST OF GLOBAL PARAMETERS

Here is a list of all global parameters. See the section of each parameter for details. Note that some are synonyms.

- add user script

- allow trusted domains

- announce as

- announce version

- auto services

- bind interfaces only

- browse list

- change notify timeout

- character set

- client code page

- coding system

- config file

- deadtime

- debug hires timestamp

- debug pid

- debug timestamp

- debug uid

- debug level

- default

- default service

- delete user script

- dfree command

- dns proxy

- domain admin group

- domain admin users

- domain groups

- domain guest group

- domain guest users

- domain logons

- domain master

- encrypt passwords

- getwd cache

- homedir map

- hosts equiv

- interfaces

- keepalive

- kernel oplocks

- ldap filter

- ldap port

- ldap root

- ldap root passwd

- ldap server

- ldap suffix

- lm announce

- lm interval

- load printers

- local master

- lock dir

- lock directory

- log file

- log level

- logon drive

- logon home

- logon path

- logon script

- lpq cache time

- machine password timeout

- mangled stack

- map to guest

- max disk size

- max log size

- max mux

- max open files

- max packet

- max ttl

- max wins ttl

- max xmit

- message command

- min passwd length

- min password length

- min wins ttl

- name resolve order

- netbios aliases

- netbios name

- netbios scope

- nis homedir

- nt acl support

- nt pipe support

- nt smb support

- null passwords

- ole locking compatibility

- oplock break wait time

- os level

- packet size

- panic action

- passwd chat

- passwd chat debug

- passwd program

- password level

- password server

- prefered master

- preferred master

- preload

- printcap

- printcap name

- printer driver file

- protocol

- read bmpx

- read prediction

- read raw

- read size

- remote announce

- remote browse sync

- restrict anonymous

- root

- root dir

- root directory

- security

- server string

- shared mem size

- smb passwd file

- smbrun

- socket address

- socket options

- source environment

- ssl

- ssl CA certDir

- ssl CA certFile

- ssl ciphers

- ssl client cert

- ssl client key

- ssl compatibility

- ssl hosts

- ssl hosts resign

- ssl require clientcert

- ssl require servercert

- ssl server cert

- ssl server key

- ssl version

- stat cache

- stat cache size

- strip dot

- syslog

- syslog only

- time offset

- time server

- timestamp logs

- unix password sync

- unix realname

- update encrypted

- use rhosts

- username level

- username map

- utmp consolidate

- utmp directory

- utmp hostname

- valid chars

- wins hook

- wins proxy

- wins server

- wins support

- workgroup

- write raw

- wtmp directory

## COMPLETE LIST OF SERVICE PARAMETERS

Here is a list of all service parameters. See the section of each parameter for details. Note that some are synonyms.

- admin users

- allow hosts

- alternate permissions

- available

- blocking locks

- browsable

- browseable

- case sensitive

- casesignames

- comment

- copy

- create mask

- create mode

- default case

- delete readonly

- delete veto files

- deny hosts

- directory

- directory mask

- directory mode

- directory security mask

- dont descend

- dos filetime resolution

- dos filetimes

- exec

- fake directory create times

- fake oplocks

- follow symlinks

- force create mode

- force directory mode

- force directory security mode

- force group

- force security mode

- force user

- fstype

- group

- guest account

- guest ok

- guest only

- hide dot files

- hide files

- hosts allow

- hosts deny

- include

- inherit permissions

- invalid users

- level2 oplocks

- locking

- lppause command

- lpq command

- lpresume command

- lprm command

- magic output

- magic script

- mangle case

- mangle locks

- mangled map

- mangled names

- mangling char

- map archive

- map hidden

- map system

- max connections

- min print space

- only guest

- only user

- oplock contention limit

- oplocks

- path

- postexec

- postscript

- preexec

- preexec close

- preserve case

- print command

- print ok

- printable

- printer

- printer driver

- printer driver location

- printer name

- printing

- public

- queuepause command

- queueresume command

- read list

- read only

- revalidate

- root postexec

- root preexec

- root preexec close

- security mask

- set directory

- share modes

- short preserve case

- status

- strict locking

- strict sync

- sync always

- user

- username

- users

- utmp

- valid users

- veto files

- veto oplock files

- volume

- wide links

- writable

- write cache size

- write list

- write ok

- writeable

## EXPLANATION OF EACH PARAMETER

add user script (G)

  This is the full pathname to a script that will be run AS ROOT by smbd (8) under special circumstances decribed below.

  Normally, a Samba server requires that UNIX users are created for all users accessing files on this server. For sites that use Windows NT account databases as their primary user database creating these users and keeping the user list in sync with the Windows NT PDC is an onerous task. This option allows smbd to create the required UNIX users ON DEMAND when a user accesses the Samba server.

  In order to use this option, smbd must be set to security=server or security=domain and "add user script" must be set to a full pathname for a script that will create a UNIX user given one argument of %u, which expands into the UNIX user name to create.

  When the Windows user attempts to access the Samba server, at "login"(session setup in the SMB protocol) time, smbd contacts the password server and attempts to authenticate the given user with the given password. If the authentication succeeds then smbd attempts to find a UNIX user in the UNIX password database to map the Windows user into. If this lookup fails, and "add user script" is set then smbd will call the specified script AS ROOT, expanding any %u argument to be the user name to create.

  If this script successfully creates the user then smbd will continue on as though the UNIX user already existed. In this way, UNIX users are dynamically created to match existing Windows NT accounts.

  See also security=server, security=domain, password server, delete user script.

  Default: `add user script = <empty string>`

  Example: `add user script = /usr/local/samba/bin/add_user %u`

admin users (S)

  This is a list of users who will be granted administrative privileges on the share. This means that they will do all file operations as the super-user (root).

  You should use this option very carefully, as any user in this list will be able to do anything they like on the share, irrespective of file permissions.

  Default:
  `no admin users`

  Example:
  `admin users = jason`

allow hosts (S)

  Synonym for hosts allow.

allow trusted domains (G)

  This option only takes effect when the security option is set to server or domain. If it is set to no, then attempts to connect to a resource from a domain or workgroup other than the one which smbd is running in will fail, even if that domain is trusted by the remote server doing the authentication.

  This is useful if you only want your Samba server to serve resources to users in the domain it is a member of. As an example, suppose that there are two domains DOMA and DOMB. DOMB is trusted by DOMA, which contains the Samba server. Under normal circumstances, a user with an account in DOMB can then access the resources of a UNIX account with the same account name on the Samba server even if they do not have an account in DOMA. This can make implementing a security boundary difficult.

  Default: `allow trusted domains = Yes`

  Example: `allow trusted domains = No`

alternate permissions (S)

  This is a deprecated parameter. It no longer has any effect in Samba2.0. In previous versions of Samba it affected the way the DOS "read only" attribute was mapped for a file. In Samba2.0 a file is marked "read only" if the UNIX file does not have the 'w' bit set for the owner of the file, regardless if the owner of the file is the currently logged on user or not.

announce as (G)

  This specifies what type of server nmbd will announce itself as, to a network neighborhood browse list. By default this is set to Windows NT. The valid options are : "NT", which is a synonym for "NT Server", "NT Server", "NT Workstation", "Win95" or "WfW" meaning Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation, Windows 95 and Windows for Workgroups respectively. Do not change this parameter unless you have a specific need to stop Samba appearing as an NT server as this may prevent Samba servers from participating as browser servers correctly.

  Default: `announce as = NT Server`

  Example `announce as = Win95`

announce version (G)

  This specifies the major and minor version numbers that nmbd will use when announcing itself as a server. The default is 4.2. Do not change this parameter unless you have a specific need to set a Samba server to be a downlevel server.

  Default: `announce version = 4.2`

  Example: `announce version = 2.0`

auto services (G)

  This is a list of services that you want to be automatically added to the browse lists. This is most useful for homes and printers services that would otherwise not be visible.

  Note that if you just want all printers in your printcap file loaded then the "load printers" option is easier.

  Default: `no auto services`

  Example: `auto services = fred lp colorlp`

available (S)

  This parameter lets you 'turn off' a service. If `'available = no'`, then ALL attempts to connect to the service will fail. Such failures are logged.

  Default: `available = yes`

  Example: `available = no`

bind interfaces only (G)

  This global parameter allows the Samba admin to limit what interfaces on a machine will serve smb requests. If affects file service smbd and name service nmbd in slightly different ways.

  For name service it causes nmbd to bind to ports 137 and 138 on the interfaces listed in the 'interfaces' parameter. nmbd also binds to the 'all addresses' interface (0.0.0.0) on ports 137 and 138 for the purposes of reading broadcast messages. If this option is not set then nmbd will service name requests on all of these sockets. If "bind interfaces only" is set then nmbd will check the source address of any packets coming in on the broadcast sockets and discard any that don't match the broadcast addresses of the interfaces in the 'interfaces' parameter list. As unicast packets are received on the other sockets it allows nmbd to refuse to serve names to machines that send packets that arrive through any interfaces not listed in the "interfaces" list. IP Source address spoofing does defeat this simple check, however so it must not be used seriously as a security feature for nmbd.

  For file service it causes smbd to bind only to the interface list given in the 'interfaces' parameter. This restricts the networks that smbd will serve to packets coming in those interfaces. Note that you should not use this parameter for machines that are serving PPP or other intermittent or non-broadcast network interfaces as it will not cope with non-permanent interfaces.

  If "bind interfaces only" is set then unless the network address 127.0.0.1 is added to the 'interfaces' parameter list smbpasswd and swat may not work as expected due to the reasons covered below.

  To change a users SMB password, the smbpasswd by default connects to the "localhost" - 127.0.0.1 address as an SMB client to issue the password change request. If "bind interfaces only" is set then unless the network address 127.0.0.1 is added to the 'interfaces' parameter list then smbpasswd will fail to connect in it's default mode. smbpasswd can be forced to use the primary IP interface of the local host by using its "-r remote machine" parameter, with "remote machine" set to the IP name of the primary interface of the local host.

  The swat status page tries to connect with smbd and nmbd at the address 127.0.0.1 to determine if they are running. Not adding 127.0.0.1 will cause smbd and nmbd to always show "not running" even if they really are. This can prevent swat from starting/stopping/restarting smbd and nmbd.

  Default: `bind interfaces only = False`

  Example: `bind interfaces only = True`

blocking locks (S)

  This parameter controls the behavior of smbd when given a request by a client to obtain a byte range lock on a region of an open file, and the request has a time limit associated with it.

  If this parameter is set and the lock range requested cannot be immediately satisfied, Samba 2.0 will internally queue the lock request, and periodically attempt to obtain the lock until the timeout period expires.

  If this parameter is set to "False", then Samba 2.0 will behave as previous versions of Samba would and will fail the lock request immediately if the lock range cannot be obtained.

  This parameter can be set per share.

  Default: `blocking locks = True`

  Example: `blocking locks = False`

browsable (S)

  Synonym for browseable.

browse list(G)

  This controls whether smbd will serve a browse list to a client doing a NetServerEnum call. Normally set to true. You should never need to change this.

  Default: `browse list = Yes`

browseable

  This controls whether this share is seen in the list of available shares in a net view and in the browse list.

  Default: `browseable = Yes`

  Example: `browseable = No`

case sensitive (S)

  See the discussion in the section NAME MANGLING.

casesignames (S)

  Synonym for "case sensitive".

change notify timeout (G)

  One of the new NT SMB requests that Samba 2.0 supports is the "ChangeNotify" requests. This SMB allows a client to tell a server to "watch" a particular directory for any changes and only reply to the SMB request when a change has occurred. Such constant scanning of a directory is expensive under UNIX, hence an smbd daemon only performs such a scan on each requested directory once every change notify timeout seconds.

  change notify timeout is specified in units of seconds.

  Default: `change notify timeout = 60`

  Example: `change notify timeout = 300`

  Would change the scan time to every 5 minutes.

character set (G)

  This allows a smbd to map incoming filenames from a DOS Code page (see the client code page parameter) to several built in UNIX character sets. The built in code page translations are:

  - ISO8859-1 Western European UNIX character set. The parameter client code page MUST be set to code page 850 if the character set parameter is set to iso8859-1 in order for the conversion to the UNIX character set to be done correctly.

  - ISO8859-2 Eastern European UNIX character set. The parameter client code page MUST be set to code page 852 if the character set parameter is set to ISO8859-2 in order for the conversion to the UNIX character set to be done correctly.

  - ISO8859-5 Russian Cyrillic UNIX character set. The parameter client code page MUST be set to code page 866 if the character set parameter is set to ISO8859-5 in order for the conversion to the UNIX character set to be done correctly.

  - ISO8859-7 Greek UNIX character set. The parameter client code page MUST be set to code page 737 if the character set parameter is set to ISO8859-7 in order for the conversion to the UNIX character set to be done correctly.

  - KOI8-R Alternate mapping for Russian Cyrillic UNIX character set. The parameter client code page MUST be set to code page 866 if the character set parameter is set to KOI8-R in order for the conversion to the UNIX character set to be done correctly.

  BUG. These MSDOS code page to UNIX character set mappings should be dynamic, like the loading of MS DOS code pages, not static.

  See also client code page. Normally this parameter is not set, meaning no filename translation is done.

  Default: `character set = <empty string>`

  Example: `character set = ISO8859-1`

client code page (G)

  This parameter specifies the DOS code page that the clients accessing Samba are using. To determine what code page a Windows or DOS client is using, open a DOS command prompt and type the command "chcp". This will output the code page. The default for USA MS-DOS, Windows 95, and Windows NT releases is code page 437. The default for western european releases of the above operating systems is code page 850.

  This parameter tells smbd which of the `codepage.XXX` files to dynamically load on startup. These files, described more fully in the manual page make_smbcodepage (1), tell smbd how to map lower to upper case characters to provide the case insensitivity of filenames that Windows clients expect.

  Samba currently ships with the following code page files :

  - Code Page 437 - MS-DOS Latin US

  - Code Page 737 - Windows '95 Greek

  - Code Page 850 - MS-DOS Latin 1

  - Code Page 852 - MS-DOS Latin 2

  - Code Page 861 - MS-DOS Icelandic

  - Code Page 866 - MS-DOS Cyrillic

  - Code Page 932 - MS-DOS Japanese SJIS

  - Code Page 936 - MS-DOS Simplified Chinese

  - Code Page 949 - MS-DOS Korean Hangul

  - Code Page 950 - MS-DOS Traditional Chinese

  Thus this parameter may have any of the values 437, 737, 850, 852, 861, 932, 936, 949, or 950. If you don't find the codepage you need, read the comments in one of the other codepage files and the make_smbcodepage (1) man page and write one. Please remember to donate it back to the Samba user community.

  This parameter co-operates with the "valid chars" parameter in determining what characters are valid in filenames and how capitalization is done. If you set both this parameter and the "valid chars" parameter the "client code page" parameter MUST be set before the "valid chars" parameter in the smb.conf file. The "valid chars" string will then augment the character settings in the "client code page" parameter.

  If not set, "client code page" defaults to 850.

  See also : "valid chars"

  Default: `client code page = 850`

  Example: `client code page = 936`

codingsystem (G)

  This parameter is used to determine how incoming Shift-JIS Japanese characters are mapped from the incoming "client code page" used by the client, into file names in the UNIX filesystem. Only useful if "client code page" is set to 932 (Japanese Shift-JIS).

  The options are :

  - SJIS Shift-JIS. Does no conversion of the incoming filename.

  - JIS8, J8BB, J8BH, J8@B, J8@J, J8@H Convert from incoming Shift-JIS to eight bit JIS code with different shift-in, shift out codes.

  - JIS7, J7BB, J7BH, J7@B, J7@J, J7@H Convert from incoming Shift-JIS to seven bit JIS code with different shift-in, shift out codes.

  - JUNET, JUBB, JUBH, JU@B, JU@J, JU@H Convert from incoming Shift-JIS to JUNET code with different shift-in, shift out codes.

  - EUC Convert an incoming Shift-JIS character to EUC code.

  - HEX Convert an incoming Shift-JIS character to a 3 byte hex representation, i.e. `:AB`.

  - CAP Convert an incoming Shift-JIS character to the 3 byte hex representation used by the Columbia AppleTalk Program (CAP), i.e. `:AB`. This is used for compatibility between Samba and CAP.

comment (S)

  This is a text field that is seen next to a share when a client does a queries the server, either via the network neighborhood or via "net view" to list what shares are available.

  If you want to set the string that is displayed next to the machine name then see the server string command.

  Default: `No comment string`

  Example: `comment = Fred's Files`

config file (G)

  This allows you to override the config file to use, instead of the default (usually smb.conf). There is a chicken and egg problem here as this option is set in the config file!

  For this reason, if the name of the config file has changed when the parameters are loaded then it will reload them from the new config file.

  This option takes the usual substitutions, which can be very useful.

  If the config file doesn't exist then it won't be loaded (allowing you to special case the config files of just a few clients).

  Example: `config file = /usr/local/samba/lib/smb.conf.%m`

copy (S)

  This parameter allows you to 'clone' service entries. The specified service is simply duplicated under the current service's name. Any parameters specified in the current section will override those in the section being copied.

  This feature lets you set up a 'template' service and create similar services easily. Note that the service being copied must occur earlier in the configuration file than the service doing the copying.

  Default: `none`

  Example: `copy = otherservice`

create mask (S)

  A synonym for this parameter is 'create mode'.

  When a file is created, the necessary permissions are calculated according to the mapping from DOS modes to UNIX permissions, and the resulting UNIX mode is then bit-wise 'AND'ed with this parameter. This parameter may be thought of as a bit-wise MASK for the UNIX modes of a file. Any bit *not* set here will be removed from the modes set on a file when it is created.

  The default value of this parameter removes the 'group' and 'other' write and execute bits from the UNIX modes.

  Following this Samba will bit-wise 'OR' the UNIX mode created from this parameter with the value of the "force create mode" parameter which is set to 000 by default.

  This parameter does not affect directory modes. See the parameter 'directory mode' for details.

  See also the "force create mode" parameter for forcing particular mode bits to be set on created files. See also the "directory mode" parameter for masking mode bits on created directories. See also the "inherit permissions" parameter.

  Default: `create mask = 0744`

  Example: `create mask = 0775`

create mode (S)

  This is a synonym for create mask.

deadtime (G)

  The value of the parameter (a decimal integer) represents the number of minutes of inactivity before a connection is considered dead, and it is disconnected. The deadtime only takes effect if the number of open files is zero.

  This is useful to stop a server's resources being exhausted by a large number of inactive connections.

  Most clients have an auto-reconnect feature when a connection is broken so in most cases this parameter should be transparent to users.

  Using this parameter with a timeout of a few minutes is recommended for most systems.

  A deadtime of zero indicates that no auto-disconnection should be performed.

  Default: `deadtime = 0`

  Example: `deadtime = 15`

debug hires timestamp (G)

  Sometimes the timestamps in the log messages are needed with a resolution of higher that seconds, this boolean parameter adds microsecond resolution to the timestamp message header when turned on.

  Note that the parameter debug timestamp must be on for this to have an effect.

  Default: `debug hires timestamp = No`

  Example: `debug hires timestamp = Yes`

debug timestamp (G)

  Samba2.0 debug log messages are timestamped by default. If you are running at a high "debug level" these timestamps can be distracting. This boolean parameter allows timestamping to be turned off.

  Default: `debug timestamp = Yes`

  Example: `debug timestamp = No`

debug pid (G)

  When using only one log file for more then one forked smbd-process there may be hard to follow which process outputs which message. This boolean parameter is adds the process-id to the timestamp message headers in the logfile when turned on.

  Note that the parameter debug timestamp must be on for this to have an effect.

  Default: `debug pid = No`

  Example: `debug pid = Yes`

debug uid (G)

  Samba is sometimes run as root and sometime run as the connected user, this boolean parameter inserts the current euid, egid, uid and gid to the timestamp message headers in the log file if turned on.

  Note that the parameter debug timestamp must be on for this to have an effect.

  Default: `debug uid = No`

  Example: `debug uid = Yes`

debug level (G)

  The value of the parameter (an integer) allows the debug level (logging level) to be specified in the smb.conf file. This is to give greater flexibility in the configuration of the system.

  The default will be the debug level specified on the command line or level zero if none was specified.

  Example: `debug level = 3`

default (G)

  A synonym for default service.

default case (S)

  See the section on "NAME MANGLING". Also note the "short preserve case" parameter.

default service (G)

  This parameter specifies the name of a service which will be connected to if the service actually requested cannot be found. Note that the square brackets are NOT given in the parameter value (see example below).

  There is no default value for this parameter. If this parameter is not given, attempting to connect to a nonexistent service results in an error.

  Typically the default service would be a guest ok, read-only service.

  Also note that the apparent service name will be changed to equal that of the requested service, this is very useful as it allows you to use macros like %S to make a wildcard service.

  Note also that any `'_'` characters in the name of the service used in the default service will get mapped to a `'/'`. This allows for interesting things.

  Example:

      	default service = pub

      	[pub]
      		path = /%S

delete user script (G)

  This is the full pathname to a script that will be run AS ROOT by smbd (8) under special circumstances decribed below.

  Normally, a Samba server requires that UNIX users are created for all users accessing files on this server. For sites that use Windows NT account databases as their primary user database creating these users and keeping the user list in sync with the Windows NT PDC is an onerous task. This option allows smbd to delete the required UNIX users ON DEMAND when a user accesses the Samba server and the Windows NT user no longer exists.

  In order to use this option, smbd must be set to security=domain and "delete user script" must be set to a full pathname for a script that will delete a UNIX user given one argument of %u, which expands into the UNIX user name to delete. NOTE that this is different to the add user script which will work with the security=server option as well as security=domain. The reason for this is only when Samba is a domain member does it get the information on an attempted user logon that a user no longer exists. In the security=server mode a missing user is treated the same as an invalid password logon attempt. Deleting the user in this circumstance would not be a good idea.

  When the Windows user attempts to access the Samba server, at "login"(session setup in the SMB protocol) time, smbd contacts the password server and attempts to authenticate the given user with the given password. If the authentication fails with the specific Domain error code meaning that the user no longer exists then smbd attempts to find a UNIX user in the UNIX password database that matches the Windows user account. If this lookup succeeds, and "delete user script" is set then smbd will call the specified script AS ROOT, expanding any %u argument to be the user name to delete.

  This script should delete the given UNIX username. In this way, UNIX users are dynamically deleted to match existing Windows NT accounts.

  See also security=domain, password server, add user script.

  Default: `delete user script = <empty string>`

  Example: `delete user script = /usr/local/samba/bin/del_user %u`

delete readonly (S)

  This parameter allows readonly files to be deleted. This is not normal DOS semantics, but is allowed by UNIX.

  This option may be useful for running applications such as rcs, where UNIX file ownership prevents changing file permissions, and DOS semantics prevent deletion of a read only file.

  Default: `delete readonly = No`

  Example: `delete readonly = Yes`

delete veto files (S)

  This option is used when Samba is attempting to delete a directory that contains one or more vetoed directories (see the 'veto files' option). If this option is set to False (the default) then if a vetoed directory contains any non-vetoed files or directories then the directory delete will fail. This is usually what you want.

  If this option is set to True, then Samba will attempt to recursively delete any files and directories within the vetoed directory. This can be useful for integration with file serving systems such as NetAtalk, which create meta-files within directories you might normally veto DOS/Windows users from seeing (e.g. `.AppleDouble`)

  Setting `'delete veto files = True'` allows these directories to be transparently deleted when the parent directory is deleted (so long as the user has permissions to do so).

  See also the veto files parameter.

  Default: `delete veto files = False`

  Example: `delete veto files = True`

deny hosts (S)

  Synonym for hosts deny.

dfree command (G)

  The dfree command setting should only be used on systems where a problem occurs with the internal disk space calculations. This has been known to happen with Ultrix, but may occur with other operating systems. The symptom that was seen was an error of "Abort Retry Ignore" at the end of each directory listing.

  This setting allows the replacement of the internal routines to calculate the total disk space and amount available with an external routine. The example below gives a possible script that might fulfill this function.

  The external program will be passed a single parameter indicating a directory in the filesystem being queried. This will typically consist of the string `"./"`. The script should return two integers in ascii. The first should be the total disk space in blocks, and the second should be the number of available blocks. An optional third return value can give the block size in bytes. The default blocksize is 1024 bytes.

  Note: Your script should NOT be setuid or setgid and should be owned by (and writeable only by) root!

  Default: `By default internal routines for determining the disk capacity and remaining space will be used.`

  Example: `dfree command = /usr/local/samba/bin/dfree`

  Where the script dfree (which must be made executable) could be:

      	#!/bin/sh
      	df $1 | tail -1 | awk '{print $2" "$4}'

  or perhaps (on Sys V based systems):

      	#!/bin/sh
      	/usr/bin/df -k $1 | tail -1 | awk '{print $3" "$5}'

  Note that you may have to replace the command names with full path names on some systems.

directory (S)

  Synonym for path.

directory mask (S)

  This parameter is the octal modes which are used when converting DOS modes to UNIX modes when creating UNIX directories.

  When a directory is created, the necessary permissions are calculated according to the mapping from DOS modes to UNIX permissions, and the resulting UNIX mode is then bit-wise 'AND'ed with this parameter. This parameter may be thought of as a bit-wise MASK for the UNIX modes of a directory. Any bit *not* set here will be removed from the modes set on a directory when it is created.

  The default value of this parameter removes the 'group' and 'other' write bits from the UNIX mode, allowing only the user who owns the directory to modify it.

  Following this Samba will bit-wise 'OR' the UNIX mode created from this parameter with the value of the "force directory mode" parameter. This parameter is set to 000 by default (i.e. no extra mode bits are added).

  See the "force directory mode" parameter to cause particular mode bits to always be set on created directories.

  See also the "create mode" parameter for masking mode bits on created files, and the "directory security mask" parameter.

  See also the "inherit permissions" parameter.

  Default: `directory mask = 0755`

  Example: `directory mask = 0775`

directory mode (S)

  Synonym for directory mask.

directory security mask (S)

  This parameter controls what UNIX permission bits can be modified when a Windows NT client is manipulating the UNIX permission on a directory using the native NT security dialog box.

  This parameter is applied as a mask (AND'ed with) to the changed permission bits, thus preventing any bits not in this mask from being modified. Essentially, zero bits in this mask may be treated as a set of bits the user is not allowed to change.

  If not set explicitly this parameter is set to the same value as the directory mask parameter. To allow a user to modify all the user/group/world permissions on a directory, set this parameter to 0777.

  Note that users who can access the Samba server through other means can easily bypass this restriction, so it is primarily useful for standalone "appliance" systems. Administrators of most normal systems will probably want to set it to 0777.

  See also the force directory security mode, security mask, force security mode parameters.

  Default: `directory security mask = <same as directory mask>`

  Example: `directory security mask = 0777`

dns proxy (G)

  Specifies that nmbd when acting as a WINS server and finding that a NetBIOS name has not been registered, should treat the NetBIOS name word-for-word as a DNS name and do a lookup with the DNS server for that name on behalf of the name-querying client.

  Note that the maximum length for a NetBIOS name is 15 characters, so the DNS name (or DNS alias) can likewise only be 15 characters, maximum.

  nmbd spawns a second copy of itself to do the DNS name lookup requests, as doing a name lookup is a blocking action.

  See also the parameter wins support.

  Default: `dns proxy = yes`

  domain admin group (G)

  This is an EXPERIMENTAL parameter that is part of the unfinished Samba NT Domain Controller Code. It may be removed in a later release. To work with the latest code builds that may have more support for Samba NT Domain Controller functionality please subscribe to the mailing list Samba-ntdom available by sending email to listproc@samba.org

domain admin users (G)

  This is an EXPERIMENTAL parameter that is part of the unfinished Samba NT Domain Controller Code. It may be removed in a later release. To work with the latest code builds that may have more support for Samba NT Domain Controller functionality please subscribe to the mailing list Samba-ntdom available by sending email to listproc@samba.org

domain groups (G)

  This is an EXPERIMENTAL parameter that is part of the unfinished Samba NT Domain Controller Code. It may be removed in a later release. To work with the latest code builds that may have more support for Samba NT Domain Controller functionality please subscribe to the mailing list Samba-ntdom available by sending email to listproc@samba.org

domain guest group (G)

  This is an EXPERIMENTAL parameter that is part of the unfinished Samba NT Domain Controller Code. It may be removed in a later release. To work with the latest code builds that may have more support for Samba NT Domain Controller functionality please subscribe to the mailing list Samba-ntdom available by sending email to listproc@samba.org

domain guest users (G)

  This is an EXPERIMENTAL parameter that is part of the unfinished Samba NT Domain Controller Code. It may be removed in a later release. To work with the latest code builds that may have more support for Samba NT Domain Controller functionality please subscribe to the mailing list Samba-ntdom available by sending email to listproc@samba.org

domain logons (G)

  If set to true, the Samba server will serve Windows 95/98 Domain logons for the workgroup it is in. For more details on setting up this feature see the file DOMAINS.txt in the Samba documentation directory `docs/` shipped with the source code.

  Note that Win95/98 Domain logons are NOT the same as Windows NT Domain logons. NT Domain logons require a Primary Domain Controller (PDC) for the Domain. It is intended that in a future release Samba will be able to provide this functionality for Windows NT clients also.

  Default: `domain logons = no`

domain master (G)

  Tell nmbd to enable WAN-wide browse list collation. Setting this option causes nmbd to claim a special domain specific NetBIOS name that identifies it as a domain master browser for its given workgroup. Local master browsers in the same workgroup on broadcast-isolated subnets will give this nmbd their local browse lists, and then ask smbd for a complete copy of the browse list for the whole wide area network. Browser clients will then contact their local master browser, and will receive the domain-wide browse list, instead of just the list for their broadcast-isolated subnet.

  Note that Windows NT Primary Domain Controllers expect to be able to claim this workgroup specific special NetBIOS name that identifies them as domain master browsers for that workgroup by default (i.e. there is no way to prevent a Windows NT PDC from attempting to do this). This means that if this parameter is set and nmbd claims the special name for a workgroup before a Windows NT PDC is able to do so then cross subnet browsing will behave strangely and may fail.

  Default: `domain master = no`

dont descend (S)

  There are certain directories on some systems (e.g., the `/proc` tree under Linux) that are either not of interest to clients or are infinitely deep (recursive). This parameter allows you to specify a comma-delimited list of directories that the server should always show as empty.

  Note that Samba can be very fussy about the exact format of the "dont descend" entries. For example you may need `"./proc"` instead of just `"/proc"`. Experimentation is the best policy :-)

  Default: `none (i.e., all directories are OK to descend)`

  Example: `dont descend = /proc,/dev`

dos filetime resolution (S)

  Under the DOS and Windows FAT filesystem, the finest granularity on time resolution is two seconds. Setting this parameter for a share causes Samba to round the reported time down to the nearest two second boundary when a query call that requires one second resolution is made to smbd.

  This option is mainly used as a compatibility option for Visual C++ when used against Samba shares. If oplocks are enabled on a share, Visual C++ uses two different time reading calls to check if a file has changed since it was last read. One of these calls uses a one-second granularity, the other uses a two second granularity. As the two second call rounds any odd second down, then if the file has a timestamp of an odd number of seconds then the two timestamps will not match and Visual C++ will keep reporting the file has changed. Setting this option causes the two timestamps to match, and Visual C++ is happy.

  Default: `dos filetime resolution = False`

  Example: `dos filetime resolution = True`

dos filetimes (S)

  Under DOS and Windows, if a user can write to a file they can change the timestamp on it. Under POSIX semantics, only the owner of the file or root may change the timestamp. By default, Samba runs with POSIX semantics and refuses to change the timestamp on a file if the user smbd is acting on behalf of is not the file owner. Setting this option to True allows DOS semantics and smbd will change the file timestamp as DOS requires.

  Default: `dos filetimes = False`

  Example: `dos filetimes = True`

encrypt passwords (G)

  This boolean controls whether encrypted passwords will be negotiated with the client. Note that Windows NT 4.0 SP3 and above and also Windows 98 will by default expect encrypted passwords unless a registry entry is changed. To use encrypted passwords in Samba see the file ENCRYPTION.txt in the Samba documentation directory `docs/` shipped with the source code.

  In order for encrypted passwords to work correctly smbd must either have access to a local smbpasswd (5) file (see the smbpasswd (8) program for information on how to set up and maintain this file), or set the security= parameter to either "server" or "domain" which causes smbd to authenticate against another server.

exec (S)

  This is a synonym for preexec.

fake directory create times (S)

  NTFS and Windows VFAT file systems keep a create time for all files and directories. This is not the same as the ctime - status change time - that Unix keeps, so Samba by default reports the earliest of the various times Unix does keep. Setting this parameter for a share causes Samba to always report midnight 1-1-1980 as the create time for directories.

  This option is mainly used as a compatibility option for Visual C++ when used against Samba shares. Visual C++ generated makefiles have the object directory as a dependency for each object file, and a make rule to create the directory. Also, when NMAKE compares timestamps it uses the creation time when examining a directory. Thus the object directory will be created if it does not exist, but once it does exist it will always have an earlier timestamp than the object files it contains.

  However, Unix time semantics mean that the create time reported by Samba will be updated whenever a file is created or deleted in the directory. NMAKE therefore finds all object files in the object directory bar the last one built are out of date compared to the directory and rebuilds them. Enabling this option ensures directories always predate their contents and an NMAKE build will proceed as expected.

  Default: `fake directory create times = False`

  Example: `fake directory create times = True`

fake oplocks (S)

  Oplocks are the way that SMB clients get permission from a server to locally cache file operations. If a server grants an oplock (opportunistic lock) then the client is free to assume that it is the only one accessing the file and it will aggressively cache file data. With some oplock types the client may even cache file open/close operations. This can give enormous performance benefits.

  When you set `"fake oplocks = yes"` smbd will always grant oplock requests no matter how many clients are using the file.

  It is generally much better to use the real oplocks support rather than this parameter.

  If you enable this option on all read-only shares or shares that you know will only be accessed from one client at a time such as physically read-only media like CDROMs, you will see a big performance improvement on many operations. If you enable this option on shares where multiple clients may be accessing the files read-write at the same time you can get data corruption. Use this option carefully!

  This option is disabled by default.

follow symlinks (S)

  This parameter allows the Samba administrator to stop smbd from following symbolic links in a particular share. Setting this parameter to "No" prevents any file or directory that is a symbolic link from being followed (the user will get an error). This option is very useful to stop users from adding a symbolic link to `/etc/passwd` in their home directory for instance. However it will slow filename lookups down slightly.

  This option is enabled (i.e. smbd will follow symbolic links) by default.

force create mode (S)

  This parameter specifies a set of UNIX mode bit permissions that will *always* be set on a file by Samba. This is done by bitwise 'OR'ing these bits onto the mode bits of a file that is being created or having its permissions changed. The default for this parameter is (in octal) 000. The modes in this parameter are bitwise 'OR'ed onto the file mode after the mask set in the "create mask" parameter is applied.

  See also the parameter "create mask" for details on masking mode bits on files.

  See also the "inherit permissions" parameter.

  Default: `force create mode = 000`

  Example: `force create mode = 0755`

  would force all created files to have read and execute permissions set for 'group' and 'other' as well as the read/write/execute bits set for the 'user'.

force directory mode (S)

  This parameter specifies a set of UNIX mode bit permissions that will *always* be set on a directory created by Samba. This is done by bitwise 'OR'ing these bits onto the mode bits of a directory that is being created. The default for this parameter is (in octal) 0000 which will not add any extra permission bits to a created directory. This operation is done after the mode mask in the parameter "directory mask" is applied.

  See also the parameter "directory mask" for details on masking mode bits on created directories.

  See also the "inherit permissions" parameter.

  Default: `force directory mode = 000`

  Example: `force directory mode = 0755`

  would force all created directories to have read and execute permissions set for 'group' and 'other' as well as the read/write/execute bits set for the 'user'.

force directory security mode (S)

  This parameter controls what UNIX permission bits can be modified when a Windows NT client is manipulating the UNIX permission on a directory using the native NT security dialog box.

  This parameter is applied as a mask (OR'ed with) to the changed permission bits, thus forcing any bits in this mask that the user may have modified to be on. Essentially, one bits in this mask may be treated as a set of bits that, when modifying security on a directory, the user has always set to be 'on'.

  If not set explicitly this parameter is set to the same value as the force directory mode parameter. To allow a user to modify all the user/group/world permissions on a directory, with restrictions set this parameter to 000.

  Note that users who can access the Samba server through other means can easily bypass this restriction, so it is primarily useful for standalone "appliance" systems. Administrators of most normal systems will probably want to set it to 0000.

  See also the directory security mask, security mask, force security mode parameters.

  Default: `force directory security mode = <same as force directory mode>`

  Example: `force directory security mode = 0`

force group (S)

  This specifies a UNIX group name that will be assigned as the default primary group for all users connecting to this service. This is useful for sharing files by ensuring that all access to files on service will use the named group for their permissions checking. Thus, by assigning permissions for this group to the files and directories within this service the Samba administrator can restrict or allow sharing of these files.

  In Samba 2.0.5 and above this parameter has extended functionality in the following way. If the group name listed here has a '+' character prepended to it then the current user accessing the share only has the primary group default assigned to this group if they are already assigned as a member of that group. This allows an administrator to decide that only users who are already in a particular group will create files with group ownership set to that group. This gives a finer granularity of ownership assignment. For example, the setting `force group = +sys` means that only users who are already in group sys will have their default primary group assigned to sys when accessing this Samba share. All other users will retain their ordinary primary group.

  If the "force user" parameter is also set the group specified in force group will override the primary group set in "force user".

  See also "force user"

  Default: `no forced group`

  Example: `force group = agroup`

force security mode (S)

  This parameter controls what UNIX permission bits can be modified when a Windows NT client is manipulating the UNIX permission on a file using the native NT security dialog box.

  This parameter is applied as a mask (OR'ed with) to the changed permission bits, thus forcing any bits in this mask that the user may have modified to be on. Essentially, one bits in this mask may be treated as a set of bits that, when modifying security on a file, the user has always set to be 'on'.

  If not set explicitly this parameter is set to the same value as the force create mode parameter. To allow a user to modify all the user/group/world permissions on a file, with no restrictions set this parameter to 000.

  Note that users who can access the Samba server through other means can easily bypass this restriction, so it is primarily useful for standalone "appliance" systems. Administrators of most normal systems will probably want to set it to 0000.

  See also the force directory security mode, directory security mask, security mask parameters.

  Default: `force security mode = <same as force create mode>`

  Example: `force security mode = 0`

force user (S)

  This specifies a UNIX user name that will be assigned as the default user for all users connecting to this service. This is useful for sharing files. You should also use it carefully as using it incorrectly can cause security problems.

  This user name only gets used once a connection is established. Thus clients still need to connect as a valid user and supply a valid password. Once connected, all file operations will be performed as the `"forced user"`, no matter what username the client connected as.

  This can be very useful.

  In Samba 2.0.5 and above this parameter also causes the primary group of the forced user to be used as the primary group for all file activity. Prior to 2.0.5 the primary group was left as the primary group of the connecting user (this was a bug).

  See also "force group"

  Default: `no forced user`

  Example: `force user = auser`

fstype (S)

  This parameter allows the administrator to configure the string that specifies the type of filesystem a share is using that is reported by smbd when a client queries the filesystem type for a share. The default type is "NTFS" for compatibility with Windows NT but this can be changed to other strings such as "Samba" or "FAT" if required.

  Default: `fstype = NTFS`

  Example: `fstype = Samba`

getwd cache (G)

  This is a tuning option. When this is enabled a caching algorithm will be used to reduce the time taken for getwd() calls. This can have a significant impact on performance, especially when the widelinks parameter is set to False.

  Default: `getwd cache = No`

  Example: `getwd cache = Yes`

group (S)

  Synonym for "force group".

guest account (S)

  This is a username which will be used for access to services which are specified as 'guest ok' (see below). Whatever privileges this user has will be available to any client connecting to the guest service. Typically this user will exist in the password file, but will not have a valid login. The user account "ftp" is often a good choice for this parameter. If a username is specified in a given service, the specified username overrides this one.

  One some systems the default guest account "nobody" may not be able to print. Use another account in this case. You should test this by trying to log in as your guest user (perhaps by using the `"su -"` command) and trying to print using the system print command such as lpr (1) or lp (1).

  Default: `specified at compile time, usually "nobody"`

  Example: `guest account = ftp`

guest ok (S)

  If this parameter is 'yes' for a service, then no password is required to connect to the service. Privileges will be those of the guest account.

  See the section below on security for more information about this option.

  Default: `guest ok = no`

  Example: `guest ok = yes`

guest only (S)

  If this parameter is 'yes' for a service, then only guest connections to the service are permitted. This parameter will have no affect if "guest ok" or "public" is not set for the service.

  See the section below on security for more information about this option.

  Default: `guest only = no`

  Example: `guest only = yes`

hide dot files (S)

  This is a boolean parameter that controls whether files starting with a dot appear as hidden files.

  Default: `hide dot files = yes`

  Example: `hide dot files = no`

hide files(S)

  This is a list of files or directories that are not visible but are accessible. The DOS 'hidden' attribute is applied to any files or directories that match.

  Each entry in the list must be separated by a `'/'`, which allows spaces to be included in the entry. `'*'` and `'?'` can be used to specify multiple files or directories as in DOS wildcards.

  Each entry must be a Unix path, not a DOS path and must not include the Unix directory separator `'/'`.

  Note that the case sensitivity option is applicable in hiding files.

  Setting this parameter will affect the performance of Samba, as it will be forced to check all files and directories for a match as they are scanned.

  See also "hide dot files", "veto files" and "case sensitive".

  Default

      	No files or directories are hidden by this option (dot files are
      	hidden by default because of the "hide dot files" option).

  Example `hide files = /.*/DesktopFolderDB/TrashFor%m/resource.frk/`

  The above example is based on files that the Macintosh SMB client (DAVE) available from Thursby creates for internal use, and also still hides all files beginning with a dot.

homedir map (G)

  If "nis homedir" is true, and smbd is also acting as a Win95/98 logon server then this parameter specifies the NIS (or YP) map from which the server for the user's home directory should be extracted. At present, only the Sun auto.home map format is understood. The form of the map is:

  `username server:/some/file/system`

  and the program will extract the servername from before the first `':'`. There should probably be a better parsing system that copes with different map formats and also Amd (another automounter) maps.

  NB: A working NIS is required on the system for this option to work.

  See also "nis homedir", domain logons.

  Default: `homedir map = auto.home`

  Example: `homedir map = amd.homedir`

hosts allow (S)

  A synonym for this parameter is 'allow hosts'

  This parameter is a comma, space, or tab delimited set of hosts which are permitted to access a service.

  If specified in the [global] section then it will apply to all services, regardless of whether the individual service has a different setting.

  You can specify the hosts by name or IP number. For example, you could restrict access to only the hosts on a Class C subnet with something like `"allow hosts = 150.203.5."`. The full syntax of the list is described in the man page hosts_access (5). Note that this man page may not be present on your system, so a brief description will be given here also.

  Note that the localhost address 127.0.0.1 will always be allowed access unless specifically denied by a "hosts deny" option.

  You can also specify hosts by network/netmask pairs and by netgroup names if your system supports netgroups. The EXCEPT keyword can also be used to limit a wildcard list. The following examples may provide some help:

  Example 1: allow all IPs in 150.203.*.* except one

  `hosts allow = 150.203. EXCEPT 150.203.6.66`

  Example 2: allow hosts that match the given network/netmask

  `hosts allow = 150.203.15.0/255.255.255.0`

  Example 3: allow a couple of hosts

  `hosts allow = lapland, arvidsjaur`

  Example 4: allow only hosts in NIS netgroup "foonet", but deny access from one particular host

  `hosts allow = @foonet`

  `hosts deny = pirate`

  Note that access still requires suitable user-level passwords.

  See testparm (1) for a way of testing your host access to see if it does what you expect.

  Default: `none (i.e., all hosts permitted access)`

  Example: `allow hosts = 150.203.5. myhost.mynet.edu.au`

hosts deny (S)

  The opposite of 'hosts allow' - hosts listed here are NOT permitted access to services unless the specific services have their own lists to override this one. Where the lists conflict, the 'allow' list takes precedence.

  Default: `none (i.e., no hosts specifically excluded)`

  Example: `hosts deny = 150.203.4. badhost.mynet.edu.au`

hosts equiv (G)

  If this global parameter is a non-null string, it specifies the name of a file to read for the names of hosts and users who will be allowed access without specifying a password.

  This is not be confused with hosts allow which is about hosts access to services and is more useful for guest services. hosts equiv may be useful for NT clients which will not supply passwords to samba.

  NOTE: The use of hosts equiv can be a major security hole. This is because you are trusting the PC to supply the correct username. It is very easy to get a PC to supply a false username. I recommend that the hosts equiv option be only used if you really know what you are doing, or perhaps on a home network where you trust your spouse and kids. And only if you really trust them :-).

  Default `No host equivalences`

  Example `hosts equiv = /etc/hosts.equiv`

include (G)

  This allows you to include one config file inside another. The file is included literally, as though typed in place.

  It takes the standard substitutions, except %u, %P and %S.

inherit permissions (S)

  The permissions on new files and directories are normally governed by "create mask", "directory mask", "force create mode" and "force directory mode" but the boolean inherit permissions parameter overrides this.

  New directories inherit the mode of the parent directory, including bits such as setgid.

  New files inherit their read/write bits from the parent directory. Their execute bits continue to be determined by "map archive", "map hidden" and "map system" as usual.

  Note that the setuid bit is *never* set via inheritance (the code explicitly prohibits this).

  This can be particularly useful on large systems with many users, perhaps several thousand, to allow a single [homes] share to be used flexibly by each user.

  See also "create mask", "directory mask", "force create mode" and "force directory mode".

  Default `inherit permissions = no`

  Example `inherit permissions = yes`

interfaces (G)

  This option allows you to override the default network interfaces list that Samba will use for browsing, name registration and other NBT traffic. By default Samba will query the kernel for the list of all active interfaces and use any interfaces except 127.0.0.1 that are broadcast capable.

  The option takes a list of interface strings. Each string can be in any of the following forms:

  - a network interface name (such as eth0). This may include shell-like wildcards so eth* will match any interface starting with the substring "eth"
  - an IP address. In this case the netmask is determined from the list of interfaces obtained from the kernel
  - an IP/mask pair.
  - a broadcast/mask pair.

  The "mask" parameters can either be a bit length (such as 24 for a C class network) or a full netmask in dotted decmal form.

  The "IP" parameters above can either be a full dotted decimal IP address or a hostname which will be looked up via the OSes normal hostname resolution mechanisms.

  For example, the following line:

  `interfaces = eth0 192.168.2.10/24 192.168.3.10/255.255.255.0`

  would configure three network interfaces corresponding to the eth0 device and IP addresses 192.168.2.10 and 192.168.3.10. The netmasks of the latter two interfaces would be set to 255.255.255.0.

  See also "bind interfaces only".

invalid users (S)

  This is a list of users that should not be allowed to login to this service. This is really a "paranoid" check to absolutely ensure an improper setting does not breach your security.

  A name starting with a `'@'` is interpreted as an NIS netgroup first (if your system supports NIS), and then as a UNIX group if the name was not found in the NIS netgroup database.

  A name starting with `'+'` is interpreted only by looking in the UNIX group database. A name starting with `'&'` is interpreted only by looking in the NIS netgroup database (this requires NIS to be working on your system). The characters `'+'` and `'&'` may be used at the start of the name in either order so the value `"+&group"` means check the UNIX group database, followed by the NIS netgroup database, and the value `"&+group"` means check the NIS netgroup database, followed by the UNIX group database (the same as the `'@'` prefix).

  The current servicename is substituted for %S. This is useful in the [homes] section.

  See also "valid users".

  Default: `No invalid users`

  Example: `invalid users = root fred admin @wheel`

keepalive (G)

  The value of the parameter (an integer) represents the number of seconds between 'keepalive' packets. If this parameter is zero, no keepalive packets will be sent. Keepalive packets, if sent, allow the server to tell whether a client is still present and responding.

  Keepalives should, in general, not be needed if the socket being used has the SO_KEEPALIVE attribute set on it (see "socket options"). Basically you should only use this option if you strike difficulties.

  Default: `keepalive = 0`

  Example: `keepalive = 60`

kernel oplocks (G)

  For UNIXs that support kernel based oplocks (currently only IRIX but hopefully also Linux and FreeBSD soon) this parameter allows the use of them to be turned on or off.

  Kernel oplocks support allows Samba oplocks to be broken whenever a local UNIX process or NFS operation accesses a file that smbd has oplocked. This allows complete data consistency between SMB/CIFS, NFS and local file access (and is a very cool feature :-).

  This parameter defaults to "On" on systems that have the support, and "off" on systems that don't. You should never need to touch this parameter.

  See also the "oplocks" and "level2 oplocks" parameters.

ldap filter (G)

  This parameter is part of the EXPERIMENTAL Samba support for a password database stored on an LDAP server back-end. These options are only available if your version of Samba was configured with the --with-ldap option.

  This parameter specifies an LDAP search filter used to search for a user name in the LDAP database. It must contain the string %u which will be replaced with the user being searched for.

  Default: `empty string.`

ldap port (G)

  This parameter is part of the EXPERIMENTAL Samba support for a password database stored on an LDAP server back-end. These options are only available if your version of Samba was configured with the --with-ldap option.

  This parameter specifies the TCP port number to use to contact the LDAP server on.

  Default: `ldap port = 389.`

ldap root (G)

  This parameter is part of the EXPERIMENTAL Samba support for a password database stored on an LDAP server back-end. These options are only available if your version of Samba was configured with the --with-ldap option.

  This parameter specifies the entity to bind to the LDAP server as (essentially the LDAP username) in order to be able to perform queries and modifications on the LDAP database.

  See also ldap root passwd.

  Default: `empty string (no user defined)`

ldap root passwd (G)

  This parameter is part of the EXPERIMENTAL Samba support for a password database stored on an LDAP server back-end. These options are only available if your version of Samba was configured with the --with-ldap option.

  This parameter specifies the password for the entity to bind to the LDAP server as (the password for this LDAP username) in order to be able to perform queries and modifications on the LDAP database.

  BUGS: This parameter should NOT be a readable parameter in the smb.conf file and will be removed once a correct storage place is found.

  See also ldap root.

  Default: `empty string.`

ldap server (G)

  This parameter is part of the EXPERIMENTAL Samba support for a password database stored on an LDAP server back-end. These options are only available if your version of Samba was configured with the --with-ldap option.

  This parameter specifies the DNS name of the LDAP server to use for SMB/CIFS authentication purposes.

  Default: `ldap server = localhost`

ldap suffix (G)

  This parameter is part of the EXPERIMENTAL Samba support for a password database stored on an LDAP server back-end. These options are only available if your version of Samba was configured with the --with-ldap option.

  This parameter specifies the `"dn"` or LDAP "distinguished name" that tells smbd to start from when searching for an entry in the LDAP password database.

  Default: `empty string.`

level2 oplocks (S)

  This parameter (new in Samba 2.0.5) controls whether Samba supports level2 (read-only) oplocks on a share. In Samba 2.0.5 this parameter defaults to "False" as the code is new, but will default to "True" in a later release.

  Level2, or read-only oplocks allow Windows NT clients that have an oplock on a file to downgrade from a read-write oplock to a read-only oplock once a second client opens the file (instead of releasing all oplocks on a second open, as in traditional, exclusive oplocks). This allows all openers of the file that support level2 oplocks to cache the file for read-ahead only (ie. they may not cache writes or lock requests) and increases performance for many acesses of files that are not commonly written (such as application .EXE files).

  Once one of the clients which have a read-only oplock writes to the file all clients are notified (no reply is needed or waited for) and told to break their oplocks to "none" and delete any read-ahead caches.

  It is recommended that this parameter be turned on to speed access to shared executables (and also to test the code :-).

  For more discussions on level2 oplocks see the CIFS spec.

  Currently, if "kernel oplocks" are supported then level2 oplocks are not granted (even if this parameter is set to `"true"`). Note also, the "oplocks" parameter must be set to "true" on this share in order for this parameter to have any effect.

  See also the "oplocks" and "kernel oplocks" parameters.

  Default: `level2 oplocks = False`

  Example: `level2 oplocks = True`

lm announce (G)

  This parameter determines if nmbd will produce Lanman announce broadcasts that are needed by OS/2 clients in order for them to see the Samba server in their browse list. This parameter can have three values, `"true"`, `"false"`, or `"auto"`. The default is `"auto"`. If set to `"false"` Samba will never produce these broadcasts. If set to `"true"` Samba will produce Lanman announce broadcasts at a frequency set by the parameter "lm interval". If set to `"auto"` Samba will not send Lanman announce broadcasts by default but will listen for them. If it hears such a broadcast on the wire it will then start sending them at a frequency set by the parameter "lm interval".

  See also "lm interval".

  Default: `lm announce = auto`

  Example: `lm announce = true`

lm interval (G)

  If Samba is set to produce Lanman announce broadcasts needed by OS/2 clients (see the "lm announce" parameter) then this parameter defines the frequency in seconds with which they will be made. If this is set to zero then no Lanman announcements will be made despite the setting of the "lm announce" parameter.

  See also "lm announce".

  Default: `lm interval = 60`

  Example: `lm interval = 120`

load printers (G)

  A boolean variable that controls whether all printers in the printcap will be loaded for browsing by default. See the "printers" section for more details.

  Default: `load printers = yes`

  Example: `load printers = no`

local master (G)

  This option allows nmbd to try and become a local master browser on a subnet. If set to False then nmbd will not attempt to become a local master browser on a subnet and will also lose in all browsing elections. By default this value is set to true. Setting this value to true doesn't mean that Samba will become the local master browser on a subnet, just that nmbd will participate in elections for local master browser.

  Setting this value to False will cause nmbd never to become a local master browser.

  Default: `local master = yes`

lock dir (G)

  Synonym for "lock directory".

lock directory (G)

  This option specifies the directory where lock files will be placed. The lock files are used to implement the "max connections" option.

  Default: `lock directory = /tmp/samba`

  Example: `lock directory = /usr/local/samba/var/locks`

locking (S)

  This controls whether or not locking will be performed by the server in response to lock requests from the client.

  If `"locking = no"`, all lock and unlock requests will appear to succeed and all lock queries will indicate that the queried lock is clear.

  If `"locking = yes"`, real locking will be performed by the server.

  This option may be useful for read-only filesystems which may not need locking (such as cdrom drives), although setting this parameter of `"no"` is not really recommended even in this case.

  Be careful about disabling locking either globally or in a specific service, as lack of locking may result in data corruption. You should never need to set this parameter.

  Default: `locking = yes`

  Example: `locking = no`

log file (G)

  This options allows you to override the name of the Samba log file (also known as the debug file).

  This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have separate log files for each user or machine.

  Example: `log file = /usr/local/samba/var/log.%m`

log level (G)

  Synonym for "debug level".

logon drive (G)

  This parameter specifies the local path to which the home directory will be connected (see "logon home") and is only used by NT Workstations.

  Note that this option is only useful if Samba is set up as a logon server.

  Example: `logon drive = h:`

logon home (G)

  This parameter specifies the home directory location when a Win95/98 or NT Workstation logs into a Samba PDC. It allows you to do

  `"NET USE H: /HOME"`

  from a command prompt, for example.

  This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have separate logon scripts for each user or machine.

  This parameter can be used with Win9X workstations to ensure that roaming profiles are stored in a subdirectory of the user's home directory. This is done in the following way:

  `" logon home = \\%L\%U\profile"`

  This tells Samba to return the above string, with substitutions made when a client requests the info, generally in a NetUserGetInfo request. Win9X clients truncate the info to \\server\share when a user does `"net use /home"`, but use the whole string when dealing with profiles.

  Note that in prior versions of Samba, the `"logon path"` was returned rather than `"logon home"`. This broke `"net use /home"` but allowed profiles outside the home directory. The current implementation is correct, and can be used for profiles if you use the above trick.

  Note that this option is only useful if Samba is set up as a logon server.

  Example: `logon home = "\\remote_smb_server\%U"`

  Default: `logon home = "\\%N\%U"`

logon path (G)

  This parameter specifies the home directory where roaming profiles (NTuser.dat etc files for Windows NT) are stored. Contrary to previous versions of these manual pages, it has nothing to do with Win 9X roaming profiles. To find out how to handle roaming profiles for Win 9X system, see the `"logon home"` parameter.

  This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have separate logon scripts for each user or machine. It also specifies the directory from which the `"application data"`, (`"desktop"`, `"start menu"`, `"network neighborhood"`, `"programs"` and other folders, and their contents, are loaded and displayed on your Windows NT client.

  The share and the path must be readable by the user for the preferences and directories to be loaded onto the Windows NT client. The share must be writeable when the logs in for the first time, in order that the Windows NT client can create the NTuser.dat and other directories.

  Thereafter, the directories and any of the contents can, if required, be made read-only. It is not advisable that the NTuser.dat file be made read-only - rename it to NTuser.man to achieve the desired effect (a MANdatory profile).

  Windows clients can sometimes maintain a connection to the [homes] share, even though there is no user logged in. Therefore, it is vital that the logon path does not include a reference to the homes share (i.e. setting this parameter to `\\%N\HOMES\profile_path` will cause problems).

  This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have separate logon scripts for each user or machine.

  Note that this option is only useful if Samba is set up as a logon server.

  Default: `logon path = \\%N\%U\profile`

  Example: `logon path = \\PROFILESERVER\HOME_DIR\%U\PROFILE`

logon script (G)

  This parameter specifies the batch file (.bat) or NT command file (.cmd) to be downloaded and run on a machine when a user successfully logs in. The file must contain the DOS style cr/lf line endings. Using a DOS-style editor to create the file is recommended.

  The script must be a relative path to the `[netlogon]` service. If the `[netlogon]` service specifies a path of /usr/local/samba/netlogon, and logon script = STARTUP.BAT, then the file that will be downloaded is:

  `/usr/local/samba/netlogon/STARTUP.BAT`

  The contents of the batch file is entirely your choice. A suggested command would be to add `NET TIME \\SERVER /SET /YES`, to force every machine to synchronize clocks with the same time server. Another use would be to add `NET USE U: \\SERVER\UTILS` for commonly used utilities, or `NET USE Q: \\SERVER\ISO9001_QA` for example.

  Note that it is particularly important not to allow write access to the `[netlogon]` share, or to grant users write permission on the batch files in a secure environment, as this would allow the batch files to be arbitrarily modified and security to be breached.

  This option takes the standard substitutions, allowing you to have separate logon scripts for each user or machine.

  Note that this option is only useful if Samba is set up as a logon server.

  Example: `logon script = scripts\%U.bat`

lppause command (S)

  This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server host in order to stop printing or spooling a specific print job.

  This command should be a program or script which takes a printer name and job number to pause the print job. One way of implementing this is by using job priorities, where jobs having a too low priority won't be sent to the printer.

  If a `"%p"` is given then the printername is put in its place. A `"%j"` is replaced with the job number (an integer). On HPUX (see printing=hpux), if the `"-p%p"` option is added to the lpq command, the job will show up with the correct status, i.e. if the job priority is lower than the set fence priority it will have the PAUSED status, whereas if the priority is equal or higher it will have the SPOOLED or PRINTING status.

  Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the lppause command as the PATH may not be available to the server.

  See also the "printing" parameter.

  Default: Currently no default value is given to this string, unless the value of the "printing" parameter is `SYSV`, in which case the default is :

  `lp -i %p-%j -H hold`

  or if the value of the "printing" parameter is `softq`, then the default is:

  `qstat -s -j%j -h`

  Example for HPUX: lppause command = /usr/bin/lpalt %p-%j -p0

lpq cache time (G)

  This controls how long lpq info will be cached for to prevent the lpq command being called too often. A separate cache is kept for each variation of the lpq command used by the system, so if you use different lpq commands for different users then they won't share cache information.

  The cache files are stored in `/tmp/lpq.xxxx` where xxxx is a hash of the lpq command in use.

  The default is 10 seconds, meaning that the cached results of a previous identical lpq command will be used if the cached data is less than 10 seconds old. A large value may be advisable if your lpq command is very slow.

  A value of 0 will disable caching completely.

  See also the "printing" parameter.

  Default: `lpq cache time = 10`

  Example: `lpq cache time = 30`

lpq command (S)

  This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server host in order to obtain `"lpq"`-style printer status information.

  This command should be a program or script which takes a printer name as its only parameter and outputs printer status information.

  Currently eight styles of printer status information are supported; BSD, AIX, LPRNG, PLP, SYSV, HPUX, QNX and SOFTQ. This covers most UNIX systems. You control which type is expected using the "printing =" option.

  Some clients (notably Windows for Workgroups) may not correctly send the connection number for the printer they are requesting status information about. To get around this, the server reports on the first printer service connected to by the client. This only happens if the connection number sent is invalid.

  If a `%p` is given then the printername is put in its place. Otherwise it is placed at the end of the command.

  Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the lpq command as the PATH may not be available to the server.

  See also the "printing" parameter.

  Default: `depends on the setting of printing =`

  Example: `lpq command = /usr/bin/lpq %p`

lpresume command (S)

  This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server host in order to restart or continue printing or spooling a specific print job.

  This command should be a program or script which takes a printer name and job number to resume the print job. See also the "lppause command" parameter.

  If a `%p` is given then the printername is put in its place. A `%j` is replaced with the job number (an integer).

  Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the lpresume command as the PATH may not be available to the server.

  See also the "printing" parameter.

  Default:

  Currently no default value is given to this string, unless the value of the "printing" parameter is `SYSV`, in which case the default is :

  `lp -i %p-%j -H resume`

  or if the value of the "printing" parameter is `softq`, then the default is:

  `qstat -s -j%j -r`

  Example for HPUX: `lpresume command = /usr/bin/lpalt %p-%j -p2`

lprm command (S)

  This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server host in order to delete a print job.

  This command should be a program or script which takes a printer name and job number, and deletes the print job.

  If a `%p` is given then the printername is put in its place. A `%j` is replaced with the job number (an integer).

  Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the lprm command as the PATH may not be available to the server.

  See also the "printing" parameter.

  Default: `depends on the setting of "printing ="`

  Example 1: `lprm command = /usr/bin/lprm -P%p %j`

  Example 2: `lprm command = /usr/bin/cancel %p-%j`

machine password timeout (G)

  If a Samba server is a member of an Windows NT Domain (see the "security=domain") parameter) then periodically a running smbd process will try and change the MACHINE ACCOUNT PASWORD stored in the file called `<Domain>.<Machine>.mac` where `<Domain>` is the name of the Domain we are a member of and `<Machine>` is the primary "NetBIOS name" of the machine smbd is running on. This parameter specifies how often this password will be changed, in seconds. The default is one week (expressed in seconds), the same as a Windows NT Domain member server.

  See also smbpasswd (8), and the "security=domain") parameter.

  Default: `machine password timeout = 604800`

magic output (S)

  This parameter specifies the name of a file which will contain output created by a magic script (see the "magic script" parameter below).

  Warning: If two clients use the same "magic script" in the same directory the output file content is undefined.

  Default: `magic output = <magic script name>.out`

  Example: `magic output = myfile.txt`

magic script (S)

  This parameter specifies the name of a file which, if opened, will be executed by the server when the file is closed. This allows a UNIX script to be sent to the Samba host and executed on behalf of the connected user.

  Scripts executed in this way will be deleted upon completion, permissions permitting.

  If the script generates output, output will be sent to the file specified by the "magic output" parameter (see above).

  Note that some shells are unable to interpret scripts containing carriage-return-linefeed instead of linefeed as the end-of-line marker. Magic scripts must be executable "as is" on the host, which for some hosts and some shells will require filtering at the DOS end.

  Magic scripts are EXPERIMENTAL and should NOT be relied upon.

  Default: `None. Magic scripts disabled.`

  Example: `magic script = user.csh`

mangle case (S)

  See the section on "NAME MANGLING".

mangle locks (S)

  This option is was introduced with Samba 2.0.4 and above and has been removed in Samba 2.0.6 as Samba now dynamically configures such things on 32 bit systems.

mangled map (S)

  This is for those who want to directly map UNIX file names which can not be represented on Windows/DOS. The mangling of names is not always what is needed. In particular you may have documents with file extensions that differ between DOS and UNIX. For example, under UNIX it is common to use `".html"` for HTML files, whereas under Windows/DOS `".htm"` is more commonly used.

  So to map `"html"` to `"htm"` you would use:

  `mangled map = (*.html *.htm)`

  One very useful case is to remove the annoying `";1"` off the ends of filenames on some CDROMS (only visible under some UNIXs). To do this use a map of (*;1 *).

  default: `no mangled map`

  Example: `mangled map = (*;1 *)`

mangled names (S)

  This controls whether non-DOS names under UNIX should be mapped to DOS-compatible names ("mangled") and made visible, or whether non-DOS names should simply be ignored.

  See the section on "NAME MANGLING" for details on how to control the mangling process.

  If mangling is used then the mangling algorithm is as follows:

  - The first (up to) five alphanumeric characters before the rightmost dot of the filename are preserved, forced to upper case, and appear as the first (up to) five characters of the mangled name.

  - A tilde `"~"` is appended to the first part of the mangled name, followed by a two-character unique sequence, based on the original root name (i.e., the original filename minus its final extension). The final extension is included in the hash calculation only if it contains any upper case characters or is longer than three characters.

    Note that the character to use may be specified using the "mangling char" option, if you don't like `'~'`.

  - The first three alphanumeric characters of the final extension are preserved, forced to upper case and appear as the extension of the mangled name. The final extension is defined as that part of the original filename after the rightmost dot. If there are no dots in the filename, the mangled name will have no extension (except in the case of "hidden files" - see below).

  - Files whose UNIX name begins with a dot will be presented as DOS hidden files. The mangled name will be created as for other filenames, but with the leading dot removed and `"___"` as its extension regardless of actual original extension (that's three underscores).

  The two-digit hash value consists of upper case alphanumeric characters.

  This algorithm can cause name collisions only if files in a directory share the same first five alphanumeric characters. The probability of such a clash is 1/1300.

  The name mangling (if enabled) allows a file to be copied between UNIX directories from Windows/DOS while retaining the long UNIX filename. UNIX files can be renamed to a new extension from Windows/DOS and will retain the same basename. Mangled names do not change between sessions.

  Default: `mangled names = yes`

  Example: `mangled names = no`

mangling char (S)

  This controls what character is used as the "magic" character in name mangling. The default is a `'~'` but this may interfere with some software. Use this option to set it to whatever you prefer.

  Default: `mangling char = ~`

  Example: `mangling char = ^`

mangled stack (G)

  This parameter controls the number of mangled names that should be cached in the Samba server smbd.

  This stack is a list of recently mangled base names (extensions are only maintained if they are longer than 3 characters or contains upper case characters).

  The larger this value, the more likely it is that mangled names can be successfully converted to correct long UNIX names. However, large stack sizes will slow most directory access. Smaller stacks save memory in the server (each stack element costs 256 bytes).

  It is not possible to absolutely guarantee correct long file names, so be prepared for some surprises!

  Default: `mangled stack = 50`

  Example: `mangled stack = 100`

map archive (S)

  This controls whether the DOS archive attribute should be mapped to the UNIX owner execute bit. The DOS archive bit is set when a file has been modified since its last backup. One motivation for this option it to keep Samba/your PC from making any file it touches from becoming executable under UNIX. This can be quite annoying for shared source code, documents, etc...

  Note that this requires the "create mask" parameter to be set such that owner execute bit is not masked out (i.e. it must include 100). See the parameter "create mask" for details.

  Default: `map archive = yes`

  Example: `map archive = no`

map hidden (S)

  This controls whether DOS style hidden files should be mapped to the UNIX world execute bit.

  Note that this requires the "create mask" to be set such that the world execute bit is not masked out (i.e. it must include 001). See the parameter "create mask" for details.

  Default: `map hidden = no`

  Example: `map hidden = yes`

map system (S)

  This controls whether DOS style system files should be mapped to the UNIX group execute bit.

  Note that this requires the "create mask" to be set such that the group execute bit is not masked out (i.e. it must include 010). See the parameter "create mask" for details.

  Default: `map system = no`

  Example: `map system = yes`

map to guest (G)

  This parameter is only useful in security modes other than "security=share" - i.e. user, server, and domain.

  This parameter can take three different values, which tell smbd what to do with user login requests that don't match a valid UNIX user in some way.

  The three settings are :

  - "Never" - Means user login requests with an invalid password are rejected. This is the default.

  - "Bad User" - Means user logins with an invalid password are rejected, unless the username does not exist, in which case it is treated as a guest login and mapped into the "guest account".

  - "Bad Password" - Means user logins with an invalid password are treated as a guest login and mapped into the "guest account". Note that this can cause problems as it means that any user incorrectly typing their password will be silently logged on a "guest" - and will not know the reason they cannot access files they think they should - there will have been no message given to them that they got their password wrong. Helpdesk services will *hate* you if you set the "map to guest" parameter this way :-).

  Note that this parameter is needed to set up "Guest" share services when using security modes other than share. This is because in these modes the name of the resource being requested is *not* sent to the server until after the server has successfully authenticated the client so the server cannot make authentication decisions at the correct time (connection to the share) for "Guest" shares.

  For people familiar with the older Samba releases, this parameter maps to the old compile-time setting of the GUEST_SESSSETUP value in local.h.

  Default: `map to guest = Never` Example: `map to guest = Bad User`

max connections (S)

  This option allows the number of simultaneous connections to a service to be limited. If "max connections" is greater than 0 then connections will be refused if this number of connections to the service are already open. A value of zero mean an unlimited number of connections may be made.

  Record lock files are used to implement this feature. The lock files will be stored in the directory specified by the "lock directory" option.

  Default: `max connections = 0`

  Example: `max connections = 10`

max disk size (G)

  This option allows you to put an upper limit on the apparent size of disks. If you set this option to 100 then all shares will appear to be not larger than 100 MB in size.

  Note that this option does not limit the amount of data you can put on the disk. In the above case you could still store much more than 100 MB on the disk, but if a client ever asks for the amount of free disk space or the total disk size then the result will be bounded by the amount specified in "max disk size".

  This option is primarily useful to work around bugs in some pieces of software that can't handle very large disks, particularly disks over 1GB in size.

  A "max disk size" of 0 means no limit.

  Default: `max disk size = 0`

  Example: `max disk size = 1000`

max log size (G)

  This option (an integer in kilobytes) specifies the max size the log file should grow to. Samba periodically checks the size and if it is exceeded it will rename the file, adding a `".old"` extension.

  A size of 0 means no limit.

  Default: `max log size = 5000`

  Example: `max log size = 1000`

max mux (G)

  This option controls the maximum number of outstanding simultaneous SMB operations that samba tells the client it will allow. You should never need to set this parameter.

  Default: `max mux = 50`

max open files (G)

  This parameter limits the maximum number of open files that one smbd file serving process may have open for a client at any one time. The default for this parameter is set very high (10,000) as Samba uses only one bit per unopened file.

  The limit of the number of open files is usually set by the UNIX per-process file descriptor limit rather than this parameter so you should never need to touch this parameter.

  Default: `max open files = 10000`

max packet (G)

  Synonym for "packet size".

max ttl (G)

  This option tells nmbd what the default 'time to live' of NetBIOS names should be (in seconds) when nmbd is requesting a name using either a broadcast packet or from a WINS server. You should never need to change this parameter. The default is 3 days.

  Default: `max ttl = 259200`

max wins ttl (G)

  This option tells nmbd when acting as a WINS server (wins support =true) what the maximum 'time to live' of NetBIOS names that nmbd will grant will be (in seconds). You should never need to change this parameter. The default is 6 days (518400 seconds).

  See also the "min wins ttl" parameter.

  Default: `max wins ttl = 518400`

max xmit (G)

  This option controls the maximum packet size that will be negotiated by Samba. The default is 65535, which is the maximum. In some cases you may find you get better performance with a smaller value. A value below 2048 is likely to cause problems.

  Default: `max xmit = 65535`

  Example: `max xmit = 8192`

message command (G)

  This specifies what command to run when the server receives a WinPopup style message.

  This would normally be a command that would deliver the message somehow. How this is to be done is up to your imagination.

  An example is:

  `message command = csh -c 'xedit %s;rm %s' &`

  This delivers the message using xedit, then removes it afterwards. NOTE THAT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS COMMAND RETURN IMMEDIATELY. That's why I have the `'&'` on the end. If it doesn't return immediately then your PCs may freeze when sending messages (they should recover after 30secs, hopefully).

  All messages are delivered as the global guest user. The command takes the standard substitutions, although %u won't work (%U may be better in this case).

  Apart from the standard substitutions, some additional ones apply. In particular:

  - `"%s"` = the filename containing the message.

  - `"%t"` = the destination that the message was sent to (probably the server name).

  - `"%f"` = who the message is from.

  You could make this command send mail, or whatever else takes your fancy. Please let us know of any really interesting ideas you have.

  Here's a way of sending the messages as mail to root:

  `message command = /bin/mail -s 'message from %f on %m' root < %s; rm %s`

  If you don't have a message command then the message won't be delivered and Samba will tell the sender there was an error. Unfortunately WfWg totally ignores the error code and carries on regardless, saying that the message was delivered.

  If you want to silently delete it then try:

  `"message command = rm %s"`.

  Default: `no message command`

  Example: `message command = csh -c 'xedit %s;rm %s' &`

min print space (S)

  This sets the minimum amount of free disk space that must be available before a user will be able to spool a print job. It is specified in kilobytes. The default is 0, which means a user can always spool a print job.

  See also the printing parameter.

  Default: `min print space = 0`

  Example: `min print space = 2000`

min passwd length (G)

  Synonym for "min password length".

min password length (G)

  This option sets the minimum length in characters of a plaintext password than smbd will accept when performing UNIX password changing.

  See also "unix password sync", "passwd program" and "passwd chat debug".

  Default: `min password length = 5`

min wins ttl (G)

  This option tells nmbd when acting as a WINS server (wins support = true) what the minimum 'time to live' of NetBIOS names that nmbd will grant will be (in seconds). You should never need to change this parameter. The default is 6 hours (21600 seconds).

  Default: `min wins ttl = 21600`

name resolve order (G)

  This option is used by the programs in the Samba suite to determine what naming services and in what order to resolve host names to IP addresses. The option takes a space separated string of different name resolution options.

  The options are :"lmhosts", "host", "wins" and "bcast". They cause names to be resolved as follows :

  - lmhosts : Lookup an IP address in the Samba lmhosts file. If the line in lmhosts has no name type attached to the NetBIOS name (see the lmhosts (5) for details) then any name type matches for lookup.

  - host : Do a standard host name to IP address resolution, using the system /etc/hosts, NIS, or DNS lookups. This method of name resolution is operating system depended 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.

  Default: `name resolve order = lmhosts host wins bcast`

  Example: `name resolve order = lmhosts bcast host`

  This will cause the local lmhosts file to be examined first, followed by a broadcast attempt, followed by a normal system hostname lookup.

netbios aliases (G)

  This is a list of NetBIOS names that nmbd will advertise as additional names by which the Samba server is known. This allows one machine to appear in browse lists under multiple names. If a machine is acting as a browse server or logon server none of these names will be advertised as either browse server or logon servers, only the primary name of the machine will be advertised with these capabilities.

  See also "netbios name".

  Default: `empty string (no additional names)`

  Example: `netbios aliases = TEST TEST1 TEST2`

netbios name (G)

  This sets the NetBIOS name by which a Samba server is known. By default it is the same as the first component of the host's DNS name. If a machine is a browse server or logon server this name (or the first component of the hosts DNS name) will be the name that these services are advertised under.

  See also "netbios aliases".

  Default: `Machine DNS name.`

  Example: `netbios name = MYNAME`

netbios scope (G)

  This sets the NetBIOS scope that Samba will operate under. This should not be set unless every machine on your LAN also sets this value.

nis homedir (G)

  Get the home share server from a NIS map. For UNIX systems that use an automounter, the user's home directory will often be mounted on a workstation on demand from a remote server.

  When the Samba logon server is not the actual home directory server, but is mounting the home directories via NFS then two network hops would be required to access the users home directory if the logon server told the client to use itself as the SMB server for home directories (one over SMB and one over NFS). This can be very slow.

  This option allows Samba to return the home share as being on a different server to the logon server and as long as a Samba daemon is running on the home directory server, it will be mounted on the Samba client directly from the directory server. When Samba is returning the home share to the client, it will consult the NIS map specified in "homedir map" and return the server listed there.

  Note that for this option to work there must be a working NIS system and the Samba server with this option must also be a logon server.

  Default: `nis homedir = false`

  Example: `nis homedir = true`

nt acl support (G)

  This boolean parameter controls whether smbd will attempt to map UNIX permissions into Windows NT access control lists.

  Default: `nt acl support = yes`

  Example: `nt acl support = no`

nt pipe support (G)

  This boolean parameter controls whether smbd will allow Windows NT clients to connect to the NT SMB specific `IPC$` pipes. This is a developer debugging option and can be left alone.

  Default: `nt pipe support = yes`

nt smb support (G)

  This boolean parameter controls whether smbd will negotiate NT specific SMB support with Windows NT clients. Although this is a developer debugging option and should be left alone, benchmarking has discovered that Windows NT clients give faster performance with this option set to `"no"`. This is still being investigated. If this option is set to `"no"` then Samba offers exactly the same SMB calls that versions prior to Samba2.0 offered. This information may be of use if any users are having problems with NT SMB support.

  Default: `nt support = yes`

null passwords (G)

  Allow or disallow client access to accounts that have null passwords.

  See also smbpasswd (5).

  Default: `null passwords = no`

  Example: `null passwords = yes`

ole locking compatibility (G)

  This parameter allows an administrator to turn off the byte range lock manipulation that is done within Samba to give compatibility for OLE applications. Windows OLE applications use byte range locking as a form of inter-process communication, by locking ranges of bytes around the 2^32 region of a file range. This can cause certain UNIX lock managers to crash or otherwise cause problems. Setting this parameter to `"no"` means you trust your UNIX lock manager to handle such cases correctly.

  Default: `ole locking compatibility = yes`

  Example: `ole locking compatibility = no`

only guest (S)

  A synonym for "guest only".

only user (S)

  This is a boolean option that controls whether connections with usernames not in the user= list will be allowed. By default this option is disabled so a client can supply a username to be used by the server.

  Note that this also means Samba won't try to deduce usernames from the service name. This can be annoying for the [homes] section. To get around this you could use "user = %S" which means your "user" list will be just the service name, which for home directories is the name of the user.

  See also the user parameter.

  Default: `only user = False`

  Example: `only user = True`

oplocks (S)

  This boolean option tells smbd whether to issue oplocks (opportunistic locks) to file open requests on this share. The oplock code can dramatically (approx. 30% or more) improve the speed of access to files on Samba servers. It allows the clients to aggressively cache files locally and you may want to disable this option for unreliable network environments (it is turned on by default in Windows NT Servers). For more information see the file Speed.txt in the Samba docs/ directory.

  Oplocks may be selectively turned off on certain files on a per share basis. See the 'veto oplock files' parameter. On some systems oplocks are recognized by the underlying operating system. This allows data synchronization between all access to oplocked files, whether it be via Samba or NFS or a local UNIX process. See the kernel oplocks parameter for details.

  See also the "kernel oplocks" and "level2 oplocks" parameters.

  Default: `oplocks = True`

  Example: `oplocks = False`

oplock break wait time (G)

  This is a tuning parameter added due to bugs in both Windows 9x and WinNT. If Samba responds to a client too quickly when that client issues an SMB that can cause an oplock break request, then the client redirector can fail and not respond to the break request. This tuning parameter (which is set in milliseconds) is the amount of time Samba will wait before sending an oplock break request to such (broken) clients.

  DO NOT CHANGE THIS PARAMETER UNLESS YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THE SAMBA OPLOCK CODE.

  Default: `oplock break wait time = 10`

oplock contention limit (S)

  This is a very advanced smbd tuning option to improve the efficiency of the granting of oplocks under multiple client contention for the same file.

  In brief it specifies a number, which causes smbd not to grant an oplock even when requested if the approximate number of clients contending for an oplock on the same file goes over this limit. This causes smbd to behave in a similar way to Windows NT.

  DO NOT CHANGE THIS PARAMETER UNLESS YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTOOD THE SAMBA OPLOCK CODE.

  Default: `oplock contention limit = 2`

os level (G)

  This integer value controls what level Samba advertises itself as for browse elections. The value of this parameter determines whether nmbd has a chance of becoming a local master browser for the WORKGROUP in the local broadcast area. The default is zero, which means nmbd will lose elections to Windows machines. See BROWSING.txt in the Samba docs/ directory for details.

  Default: `os level = 20`

  Example: `os level = 65 ; This will win against any NT Server`

packet size (G)

  This is a deprecated parameter that has no effect on the current Samba code. It is left in the parameter list to prevent breaking old smb.conf files.

panic action (G)

  This is a Samba developer option that allows a system command to be called when either smbd or nmbd crashes. This is usually used to draw attention to the fact that a problem occurred.

  Default: `panic action = <empty string>`

passwd chat (G)

  This string controls the "chat" conversation that takes places between smbd and the local password changing program to change the users password. The string describes a sequence of response-receive pairs that smbd uses to determine what to send to the passwd program and what to expect back. If the expected output is not received then the password is not changed.

  This chat sequence is often quite site specific, depending on what local methods are used for password control (such as NIS etc).

  The string can contain the macros `"%o"` and `"%n"` which are substituted for the old and new passwords respectively. It can also contain the standard macros `"\n"`, `"\r"`, `"\t"` and `"\s"` to give line-feed, carriage-return, tab and space.

  The string can also contain a `'*'` which matches any sequence of characters.

  Double quotes can be used to collect strings with spaces in them into a single string.

  If the send string in any part of the chat sequence is a fullstop `"."` then no string is sent. Similarly, is the expect string is a fullstop then no string is expected.

  Note that if the "unix password sync" parameter is set to true, then this sequence is called *AS ROOT* when the SMB password in the smbpasswd file is being changed, without access to the old password cleartext. In this case the old password cleartext is set to `""` (the empty string).

  See also "unix password sync", "passwd program" and "passwd chat debug".

  Example:

       passwd chat = "*Enter OLD password*" %o\n "*Enter NEW password*" %n\n "*Reenter NEW password*" %n\n "*Password changed*"

  Default:

             passwd chat = *old*password* %o\n *new*password* %n\n *new*password* %n\n *changed*

passwd chat debug (G)

  This boolean specifies if the passwd chat script parameter is run in `"debug"` mode. In this mode the strings passed to and received from the passwd chat are printed in the smbd log with a "debug level" of 100. This is a dangerous option as it will allow plaintext passwords to be seen in the smbd log. It is available to help Samba admins debug their "passwd chat" scripts when calling the "passwd program" and should be turned off after this has been done. This parameter is off by default.

  See also "passwd chat", "passwd program".

  Example: `passwd chat debug = True`

  Default: `passwd chat debug = False`

passwd program (G)

  The name of a program that can be used to set UNIX user passwords. Any occurrences of %u will be replaced with the user name. The user name is checked for existence before calling the password changing program.

  Also note that many passwd programs insist in "reasonable" passwords, such as a minimum length, or the inclusion of mixed case chars and digits. This can pose a problem as some clients (such as Windows for Workgroups) uppercase the password before sending it.

  Note that if the "unix password sync" parameter is set to `"True"` then this program is called *AS ROOT* before the SMB password in the smbpasswd file is changed. If this UNIX password change fails, then smbd will fail to change the SMB password also (this is by design).

  If the "unix password sync" parameter is set this parameter MUST USE ABSOLUTE PATHS for ALL programs called, and must be examined for security implications. Note that by default "unix password sync" is set to `"False"`.

  See also "unix password sync".

  Default: `passwd program = /bin/passwd`

  Example: `passwd program = /sbin/passwd %u`

password level (G)

  Some client/server combinations have difficulty with mixed-case passwords. One offending client is Windows for Workgroups, which for some reason forces passwords to upper case when using the LANMAN1 protocol, but leaves them alone when using COREPLUS!

  This parameter defines the maximum number of characters that may be upper case in passwords.

  For example, say the password given was `"FRED"`. If password level is set to 1, the following combinations would be tried if `"FRED"` failed:

  `"Fred"`, `"fred"`, `"fRed"`, `"frEd"`, `"freD"`

  If password level was set to 2, the following combinations would also be tried:

  `"FRed"`, `"FrEd"`, `"FreD"`, `"fREd"`, `"fReD"`, `"frED"`, `..`

  And so on.

  The higher value this parameter is set to the more likely it is that a mixed case password will be matched against a single case password. However, you should be aware that use of this parameter reduces security and increases the time taken to process a new connection.

  A value of zero will cause only two attempts to be made - the password as is and the password in all-lower case.

  Default: `password level = 0`

  Example: `password level = 4`

password server (G)

  By specifying the name of another SMB server (such as a WinNT box) with this option, and using "security = domain" or "security = server" you can get Samba to do all its username/password validation via a remote server.

  This options sets the name of the password server to use. It must be a NetBIOS name, so if the machine's NetBIOS name is different from its internet name then you may have to add its NetBIOS name to the lmhosts file which is stored in the same directory as the smb.conf file.

  The name of the password server is looked up using the parameter "name resolve order=" and so may resolved by any method and order described in that parameter.

  The password server much be a machine capable of using the "LM1.2X002" or the "LM NT 0.12" protocol, and it must be in user level security mode.

  NOTE: Using a password server means your UNIX box (running Samba) is only as secure as your password server. DO NOT CHOOSE A PASSWORD SERVER THAT YOU DON'T COMPLETELY TRUST.

  Never point a Samba server at itself for password serving. This will cause a loop and could lock up your Samba server!

  The name of the password server takes the standard substitutions, but probably the only useful one is %m, which means the Samba server will use the incoming client as the password server. If you use this then you better trust your clients, and you better restrict them with hosts allow!

  If the "security" parameter is set to "domain", then the list of machines in this option must be a list of Primary or Backup Domain controllers for the Domain or the character `*`, as the Samba server is cryptographicly in that domain, and will use cryptographicly authenticated RPC calls to authenticate the user logging on. The advantage of using "security=domain" is that if you list several hosts in the "password server" option then smbd will try each in turn till it finds one that responds. This is useful in case your primary server goes down.

  If the "password server" option is set to the character `*`, then Samba will attempt to auto-locate the Primary or Backup Domain controllers to authenticate against by doing a query for the name `WORKGROUP<1C>` and then contacting each server returned in the list of IP addresses from the name resolution source.

  If the "security" parameter is set to "server", then there are different restrictions that "security=domain" doesn't suffer from:

  - You may list several password servers in the "password server" parameter, however if an smbd makes a connection to a password server, and then the password server fails, no more users will be able to be authenticated from this smbd. This is a restriction of the SMB/CIFS protocol when in "security=server" mode and cannot be fixed in Samba.

  - If you are using a Windows NT server as your password server then you will have to ensure that your users are able to login from the Samba server, as when in "security=server" mode the network logon will appear to come from there rather than from the users workstation.

  See also the "security" parameter.

  Default: `password server = <empty string>`

  Example: `password server = NT-PDC, NT-BDC1, NT-BDC2`

  Example: `password server = *`

path (S)

  This parameter specifies a directory to which the user of the service is to be given access. In the case of printable services, this is where print data will spool prior to being submitted to the host for printing.

  For a printable service offering guest access, the service should be readonly and the path should be world-writeable and have the sticky bit set. This is not mandatory of course, but you probably won't get the results you expect if you do otherwise.

  Any occurrences of %u in the path will be replaced with the UNIX username that the client is using on this connection. Any occurrences of %m will be replaced by the NetBIOS name of the machine they are connecting from. These replacements are very useful for setting up pseudo home directories for users.

  Note that this path will be based on "root dir" if one was specified.

  Default: `none`

  Example: `path = /home/fred`

postexec (S)

  This option specifies a command to be run whenever the service is disconnected. It takes the usual substitutions. The command may be run as the root on some systems.

  An interesting example may be do unmount server resources:

  `postexec = /etc/umount /cdrom`

  See also preexec.

  Default: `none (no command executed)`

  Example: `postexec = echo "%u disconnected from %S from %m (%I)" >> /tmp/log`

postscript (S)

  This parameter forces a printer to interpret the print files as postscript. This is done by adding a `%!` to the start of print output.

  This is most useful when you have lots of PCs that persist in putting a control-D at the start of print jobs, which then confuses your printer.

  Default: `postscript = False`

  Example: `postscript = True`

preexec (S)

  This option specifies a command to be run whenever the service is connected to. It takes the usual substitutions.

  An interesting example is to send the users a welcome message every time they log in. Maybe a message of the day? Here is an example:

      	preexec = csh -c 'echo \"Welcome to %S!\" | /usr/local/samba/bin/smbclient -M %m -I %I' &

  Of course, this could get annoying after a while :-)

  See also preexec close and postexec.

  Default: `none (no command executed)`

  Example: `preexec = echo \"%u connected to %S from %m (%I)\" >> /tmp/log`

preexec close (S)

  This boolean option controls whether a non-zero return code from "preexec" should close the service being connected to.

  Default: `preexec close = no`

  Example: `preexec close = yes`

preferred master (G)

  This boolean parameter controls if nmbd is a preferred master browser for its workgroup.

  If this is set to true, on startup, nmbd will force an election, and it will have a slight advantage in winning the election. It is recommended that this parameter is used in conjunction with "domain master = yes", so that nmbd can guarantee becoming a domain master.

  Use this option with caution, because if there are several hosts (whether Samba servers, Windows 95 or NT) that are preferred master browsers on the same subnet, they will each periodically and continuously attempt to become the local master browser. This will result in unnecessary broadcast traffic and reduced browsing capabilities.

  See also os level.

  Default: `preferred master = no`

  Example: `preferred master = yes`

prefered master (G)

  Synonym for "preferred master" for people who cannot spell :-).

preload
  Synonym for "auto services".

preserve case (S)

  This controls if new filenames are created with the case that the client passes, or if they are forced to be the `"default"` case.

  Default: `preserve case = yes`

  See the section on "NAME MANGLING" for a fuller discussion.

print command (S)

  After a print job has finished spooling to a service, this command will be used via a `system()` call to process the spool file. Typically the command specified will submit the spool file to the host's printing subsystem, but there is no requirement that this be the case. The server will not remove the spool file, so whatever command you specify should remove the spool file when it has been processed, otherwise you will need to manually remove old spool files.

  The print command is simply a text string. It will be used verbatim, with two exceptions: All occurrences of `"%s"` and `"%f"` will be replaced by the appropriate spool file name, and all occurrences of `"%p"` will be replaced by the appropriate printer name. The spool file name is generated automatically by the server, the printer name is discussed below.

  The print command MUST contain at least one occurrence of `"%s"` or `"%f"` - the `"%p"` is optional. At the time a job is submitted, if no printer name is supplied the `"%p"` will be silently removed from the printer command.

  If specified in the "[global]" section, the print command given will be used for any printable service that does not have its own print command specified.

  If there is neither a specified print command for a printable service nor a global print command, spool files will be created but not processed and (most importantly) not removed.

  Note that printing may fail on some UNIXs from the `"nobody"` account. If this happens then create an alternative guest account that can print and set the "guest account" in the "[global]" section.

  You can form quite complex print commands by realizing that they are just passed to a shell. For example the following will log a print job, print the file, then remove it. Note that `';'` is the usual separator for command in shell scripts.

  `print command = echo Printing %s >> /tmp/print.log; lpr -P %p %s; rm %s`

  You may have to vary this command considerably depending on how you normally print files on your system. The default for the parameter varies depending on the setting of the "printing=" parameter.

  Default: For "printing=" BSD, AIX, QNX, LPRNG or PLP : `print command = lpr -r -P%p %s`

  For "printing=" SYS or HPUX : `print command = lp -c -d%p %s; rm %s`

  For "printing=" SOFTQ : `print command = lp -d%p -s %s; rm %s`

  Example: `print command = /usr/local/samba/bin/myprintscript %p %s`

print ok (S)

  Synonym for printable.

printable (S)

  If this parameter is `"yes"`, then clients may open, write to and submit spool files on the directory specified for the service.

  Note that a printable service will ALWAYS allow writing to the service path (user privileges permitting) via the spooling of print data. The "writeable" parameter controls only non-printing access to the resource.

  Default: `printable = no`

  Example: `printable = yes`

printcap (G)

  Synonym for printcapname.

printcap name (G)

  This parameter may be used to override the compiled-in default printcap name used by the server (usually /etc/printcap). See the discussion of the [printers] section above for reasons why you might want to do this.

  On System V systems that use lpstat to list available printers you can use `"printcap name = lpstat"` to automatically obtain lists of available printers. This is the default for systems that define SYSV at configure time in Samba (this includes most System V based systems). If "printcap name" is set to lpstat on these systems then Samba will launch `"lpstat -v"` and attempt to parse the output to obtain a printer list.

  A minimal printcap file would look something like this:

      	print1|My Printer 1
      	print2|My Printer 2
      	print3|My Printer 3
      	print4|My Printer 4
      	print5|My Printer 5

  where the `'|'` separates aliases of a printer. The fact that the second alias has a space in it gives a hint to Samba that it's a comment.

  NOTE: Under AIX the default printcap name is `"/etc/qconfig"`. Samba will assume the file is in AIX `"qconfig"` format if the string `"/qconfig"` appears in the printcap filename.

  Default: `printcap name = /etc/printcap`

  Example: `printcap name = /etc/myprintcap`

printer (S)

  This parameter specifies the name of the printer to which print jobs spooled through a printable service will be sent.

  If specified in the [global] section, the printer name given will be used for any printable service that does not have its own printer name specified.

  Default: none (but may be `"lp"` on many systems)

  Example: printer name = laserwriter

printer driver (S)

  This option allows you to control the string that clients receive when they ask the server for the printer driver associated with a printer. If you are using Windows95 or WindowsNT then you can use this to automate the setup of printers on your system.

  You need to set this parameter to the exact string (case sensitive) that describes the appropriate printer driver for your system. If you don't know the exact string to use then you should first try with no "printer driver" option set and the client will give you a list of printer drivers. The appropriate strings are shown in a scrollbox after you have chosen the printer manufacturer.

  See also "printer driver file".

  Example: printer driver = HP LaserJet 4L

printer driver file (G)

  This parameter tells Samba where the printer driver definition file, used when serving drivers to Windows 95 clients, is to be found. If this is not set, the default is :

  `SAMBA_INSTALL_DIRECTORY/lib/printers.def`

  This file is created from Windows 95 `"msprint.def"` files found on the Windows 95 client system. For more details on setting up serving of printer drivers to Windows 95 clients, see the documentation file in the docs/ directory, PRINTER_DRIVER.txt.

  Default: `None (set in compile).`

  Example: `printer driver file = /usr/local/samba/printers/drivers.def`

  See also "printer driver location".

printer driver location (S)

  This parameter tells clients of a particular printer share where to find the printer driver files for the automatic installation of drivers for Windows 95 machines. If Samba is set up to serve printer drivers to Windows 95 machines, this should be set to

  `\\MACHINE\PRINTER$`

  Where MACHINE is the NetBIOS name of your Samba server, and PRINTER$ is a share you set up for serving printer driver files. For more details on setting this up see the documentation file in the docs/ directory, PRINTER_DRIVER.txt.

  Default: `None`

  Example: `printer driver location = \\MACHINE\PRINTER$`

  See also "printer driver file".

printer name (S)

  Synonym for printer.

printing (S)

  This parameters controls how printer status information is interpreted on your system. It also affects the default values for the "print command", "lpq command" "lppause command", "lpresume command", and "lprm command" if specified in the [global] section.

  Currently eight printing styles are supported. They are "printing=BSD", "printing=AIX", "printing=LPRNG", "printing=PLP", "printing=SYSV","printing="HPUX","printing=QNX" and "printing=SOFTQ".

  To see what the defaults are for the other print commands when using the various options use the "testparm" program.

  This option can be set on a per printer basis

  See also the discussion in the [printers] section.

protocol (G)

  The value of the parameter (a string) is the highest protocol level that will be supported by the server.

  Possible values are :

  - CORE: Earliest version. No concept of user names.

  - COREPLUS: Slight improvements on CORE for efficiency.

  - LANMAN1: First "modern" version of the protocol. Long filename support.

  - LANMAN2: Updates to Lanman1 protocol.

  - NT1: Current up to date version of the protocol. Used by Windows NT. Known as CIFS.

  Normally this option should not be set as the automatic negotiation phase in the SMB protocol takes care of choosing the appropriate protocol.

  Default: `protocol = NT1`

  Example: `protocol = LANMAN1`

public (S)

  Synonym for "guest ok".

queuepause command (S)

  This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server host in order to pause the printerqueue.

  This command should be a program or script which takes a printer name as its only parameter and stops the printerqueue, such that no longer jobs are submitted to the printer.

  This command is not supported by Windows for Workgroups, but can be issued from the Printer's window under Windows 95 & NT.

  If a `"%p"` is given then the printername is put in its place. Otherwise it is placed at the end of the command.

  Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the command as the PATH may not be available to the server.

  Default: `depends on the setting of "printing ="`

  Example: `queuepause command = disable %p`

queueresume command (S)

  This parameter specifies the command to be executed on the server host in order to resume the printerqueue. It is the command to undo the behavior that is caused by the previous parameter ("queuepause command).

  This command should be a program or script which takes a printer name as its only parameter and resumes the printerqueue, such that queued jobs are resubmitted to the printer.

  This command is not supported by Windows for Workgroups, but can be issued from the Printer's window under Windows 95 & NT.

  If a `"%p"` is given then the printername is put in its place. Otherwise it is placed at the end of the command.

  Note that it is good practice to include the absolute path in the command as the PATH may not be available to the server.

  Default: `depends on the setting of "printing ="`

  Example: `queuepause command = enable %p`

read bmpx (G)

  This boolean parameter controls whether smbd will support the "Read Block Multiplex" SMB. This is now rarely used and defaults to off. You should never need to set this parameter.

  Default: read bmpx = No

read list (S)

  This is a list of users that are given read-only access to a service. If the connecting user is in this list then they will not be given write access, no matter what the "writeable" option is set to. The list can include group names using the syntax described in the "invalid users" parameter.

  See also the "write list" parameter and the "invalid users" parameter.

  Default: `read list = <empty string>`

  Example: `read list = mary, @students`

read only (S)

  Note that this is an inverted synonym for "writeable".

read prediction (G)

  NOTE: This code is currently disabled in Samba2.0 and may be removed at a later date. Hence this parameter has no effect.

  This options enables or disables the read prediction code used to speed up reads from the server. When enabled the server will try to pre-read data from the last accessed file that was opened read-only while waiting for packets.

  Default: `read prediction = False`

read raw (G)

  This parameter controls whether or not the server will support the raw read SMB requests when transferring data to clients.

  If enabled, raw reads allow reads of 65535 bytes in one packet. This typically provides a major performance benefit.

  However, some clients either negotiate the allowable block size incorrectly or are incapable of supporting larger block sizes, and for these clients you may need to disable raw reads.

  In general this parameter should be viewed as a system tuning tool and left severely alone. See also "write raw".

  Default: `read raw = yes`

read size (G)

  The option "read size" affects the overlap of disk reads/writes with network reads/writes. If the amount of data being transferred in several of the SMB commands (currently SMBwrite, SMBwriteX and SMBreadbraw) is larger than this value then the server begins writing the data before it has received the whole packet from the network, or in the case of SMBreadbraw, it begins writing to the network before all the data has been read from disk.

  This overlapping works best when the speeds of disk and network access are similar, having very little effect when the speed of one is much greater than the other.

  The default value is 16384, but very little experimentation has been done yet to determine the optimal value, and it is likely that the best value will vary greatly between systems anyway. A value over 65536 is pointless and will cause you to allocate memory unnecessarily.

  Default: `read size = 16384`

  Example: `read size = 8192`

remote announce (G)

  This option allows you to setup nmbd to periodically announce itself to arbitrary IP addresses with an arbitrary workgroup name.

  This is useful if you want your Samba server to appear in a remote workgroup for which the normal browse propagation rules don't work. The remote workgroup can be anywhere that you can send IP packets to.

  For example:

  `remote announce = 192.168.2.255/SERVERS 192.168.4.255/STAFF`

  the above line would cause nmbd to announce itself to the two given IP addresses using the given workgroup names. If you leave out the workgroup name then the one given in the "workgroup" parameter is used instead.

  The IP addresses you choose would normally be the broadcast addresses of the remote networks, but can also be the IP addresses of known browse masters if your network config is that stable.

  See the documentation file BROWSING.txt in the docs/ directory.

  Default: `remote announce = <empty string>`

  Example: `remote announce = 192.168.2.255/SERVERS 192.168.4.255/STAFF`

remote browse sync (G)

  This option allows you to setup nmbd to periodically request synchronization of browse lists with the master browser of a samba server that is on a remote segment. This option will allow you to gain browse lists for multiple workgroups across routed networks. This is done in a manner that does not work with any non-samba servers.

  This is useful if you want your Samba server and all local clients to appear in a remote workgroup for which the normal browse propagation rules don't work. The remote workgroup can be anywhere that you can send IP packets to.

  For example:

  `remote browse sync = 192.168.2.255 192.168.4.255`

  the above line would cause nmbd to request the master browser on the specified subnets or addresses to synchronize their browse lists with the local server.

  The IP addresses you choose would normally be the broadcast addresses of the remote networks, but can also be the IP addresses of known browse masters if your network config is that stable. If a machine IP address is given Samba makes NO attempt to validate that the remote machine is available, is listening, nor that it is in fact the browse master on it's segment.

  Default: `remote browse sync = <empty string>`

  Example: `remote browse sync = 192.168.2.255 192.168.4.255`

restrict anonymous (G)

  This is a boolean parameter. If it is true, then anonymous access to the server will be restricted, namely in the case where the server is expecting the client to send a username, but it doesn't. Setting it to true will force these anonymous connections to be denied, and the client will be required to always supply a username and password when connecting. Use of this parameter is only recommened for homogenous NT client environments.

  This parameter makes the use of macro expansions that rely on the username (%U, %G, etc) consistant. NT 4.0 likes to use anonymous connections when refreshing the share list, and this is a way to work around that.

  When restrict anonymous is true, all anonymous connections are denied no matter what they are for. This can effect the ability of a machine to access the samba Primary Domain Controller to revalidate it's machine account after someone else has logged on the client interactively. The NT client will display a message saying that the machine's account in the domain doesn't exist or the password is bad. The best way to deal with this is to reboot NT client machines between interactive logons, using "Shutdown and Restart", rather than "Close all programs and logon as a different user".

  Default: `restrict anonymous = false`

  Example: `restrict anonymous = true`

revalidate (S)

  Note that this option only works with "security=share" and will be ignored if this is not the case.

  This option controls whether Samba will allow a previously validated username/password pair to be used to attach to a share. Thus if you connect to `\\server\share1` then to `\\server\share2` it won't automatically allow the client to request connection to the second share as the same username as the first without a password.

  If "revalidate" is `"True"` then the client will be denied automatic access as the same username.

  Default: `revalidate = False`

  Example: `revalidate = True`

root (G)

  Synonym for "root directory".

root dir (G)

  Synonym for "root directory".

root directory (G)

  The server will `"chroot()"` (i.e. Change it's root directory) to this directory on startup. This is not strictly necessary for secure operation. Even without it the server will deny access to files not in one of the service entries. It may also check for, and deny access to, soft links to other parts of the filesystem, or attempts to use `".."` in file names to access other directories (depending on the setting of the "wide links" parameter).

  Adding a "root directory" entry other than `"/"` adds an extra level of security, but at a price. It absolutely ensures that no access is given to files not in the sub-tree specified in the "root directory" option, *including* some files needed for complete operation of the server. To maintain full operability of the server you will need to mirror some system files into the "root directory" tree. In particular you will need to mirror /etc/passwd (or a subset of it), and any binaries or configuration files needed for printing (if required). The set of files that must be mirrored is operating system dependent.

  Default: `root directory = /`

  Example: `root directory = /homes/smb`

root postexec (S)

  This is the same as the "postexec" parameter except that the command is run as root. This is useful for unmounting filesystems (such as cdroms) after a connection is closed.

  See also "postexec".

root preexec (S)

  This is the same as the "preexec" parameter except that the command is run as root. This is useful for mounting filesystems (such as cdroms) before a connection is finalized.

  See also "preexec" and "root preexec close".

root preexec close (S)

  This is the same as the "preexec close" parameter except that the command is run as root.

  See also "preexec", "preexec close".

security (G)

  This option affects how clients respond to Samba and is one of the most important settings in the smb.conf file.

  The option sets the `"security mode bit"` in replies to protocol negotiations with smbd to turn share level security on or off. Clients decide based on this bit whether (and how) to transfer user and password information to the server.

  The default is "security=user", as this is the most common setting needed when talking to Windows 98 and Windows NT.

  The alternatives are "security = share", "security = server" or "security=domain".

  *****NOTE THAT THIS DEFAULT IS DIFFERENT IN SAMBA2.0 THAN FOR PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF SAMBA *******.

  In previous versions of Samba the default was "security=share" mainly because that was the only option at one stage.

  There is a bug in WfWg that has relevance to this setting. When in user or server level security a WfWg client will totally ignore the password you type in the "connect drive" dialog box. This makes it very difficult (if not impossible) to connect to a Samba service as anyone except the user that you are logged into WfWg as.

  If your PCs use usernames that are the same as their usernames on the UNIX machine then you will want to use "security = user". If you mostly use usernames that don't exist on the UNIX box then use "security = share".

  You should also use security=share if you want to mainly setup shares without a password (guest shares). This is commonly used for a shared printer server. It is more difficult to setup guest shares with security=user, see the "map to guest"parameter for details.

  It is possible to use smbd in a "hybrid mode" where it is offers both user and share level security under different NetBIOS aliases. See the NetBIOS aliases and the include parameters for more information.

  The different settings will now be explained.

  "security=share"
    When clients connect to a share level security server then need not log onto the server with a valid username and password before attempting to connect to a shared resource (although modern clients such as Windows 95/98 and Windows NT will send a logon request with a username but no password when talking to a security=share server). Instead, the clients send authentication information (passwords) on a per-share basis, at the time they attempt to connect to that share.

    Note that smbd *ALWAYS* uses a valid UNIX user to act on behalf of the client, even in "security=share" level security.

    As clients are not required to send a username to the server in share level security, smbd uses several techniques to determine the correct UNIX user to use on behalf of the client.

    A list of possible UNIX usernames to match with the given client password is constructed using the following methods :

    - If the "guest only" parameter is set, then all the other stages are missed and only the "guest account" username is checked.

    - Is a username is sent with the share connection request, then this username (after mapping - see "username map"), is added as a potential username.

    - If the client did a previous "logon" request (the SessionSetup SMB call) then the username sent in this SMB will be added as a potential username.

    - The name of the service the client requested is added as a potential username.

    - The NetBIOS name of the client is added to the list as a potential username.

    - Any users on the "user" list are added as potential usernames.

    If the "guest only" parameter is not set, then this list is then tried with the supplied password. The first user for whom the password matches will be used as the UNIX user.

    If the "guest only" parameter is set, or no username can be determined then if the share is marked as available to the "guest account", then this guest user will be used, otherwise access is denied.

    Note that it can be *very* confusing in share-level security as to which UNIX username will eventually be used in granting access.

    See also the section "NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION".

  "security=user"

    This is the default security setting in Samba2.0. With user-level security a client must first `"log-on"` with a valid username and password (which can be mapped using the "username map" parameter). Encrypted passwords (see the "encrypted passwords" parameter) can also be used in this security mode. Parameters such as "user" and "guest only", if set are then applied and may change the UNIX user to use on this connection, but only after the user has been successfully authenticated.

    Note that the name of the resource being requested is *not* sent to the server until after the server has successfully authenticated the client. This is why guest shares don't work in user level security without allowing the server to automatically map unknown users into the "guest account". See the "map to guest" parameter for details on doing this.

    See also the section "NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION".

  "security=server"

    In this mode Samba will try to validate the username/password by passing it to another SMB server, such as an NT box. If this fails it will revert to "security = user", but note that if encrypted passwords have been negotiated then Samba cannot revert back to checking the UNIX password file, it must have a valid smbpasswd file to check users against. See the documentation file in the docs/ directory ENCRYPTION.txt for details on how to set this up.

    Note that from the clients point of view "security=server" is the same as "security=user". It only affects how the server deals with the authentication, it does not in any way affect what the client sees.

    Note that the name of the resource being requested is *not* sent to the server until after the server has successfully authenticated the client. This is why guest shares don't work in server level security without allowing the server to automatically map unknown users into the "guest account". See the "map to guest" parameter for details on doing this.

    See also the section "NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION".

    See also the "password server" parameter. and the "encrypted passwords" parameter.

  "security=domain"

    This mode will only work correctly if smbpasswd has been used to add this machine into a Windows NT Domain. It expects the "encrypted passwords" parameter to be set to `"true"`. In this mode Samba will try to validate the username/password by passing it to a Windows NT Primary or Backup Domain Controller, in exactly the same way that a Windows NT Server would do.

    Note that a valid UNIX user must still exist as well as the account on the Domain Controller to allow Samba to have a valid UNIX account to map file access to.

    Note that from the clients point of view "security=domain" is the same as "security=user". It only affects how the server deals with the authentication, it does not in any way affect what the client sees.

    Note that the name of the resource being requested is *not* sent to the server until after the server has successfully authenticated the client. This is why guest shares don't work in domain level security without allowing the server to automatically map unknown users into the "guest account". See the "map to guest" parameter for details on doing this.

    BUG: There is currently a bug in the implementation of "security=domain with respect to multi-byte character set usernames. The communication with a Domain Controller must be done in UNICODE and Samba currently does not widen multi-byte user names to UNICODE correctly, thus a multi-byte username will not be recognized correctly at the Domain Controller. This issue will be addressed in a future release.

    See also the section "NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION".

    See also the "password server" parameter. and the "encrypted passwords" parameter.

  Default: `security = USER`

  Example: `security = DOMAIN`

security mask (S)

  This parameter controls what UNIX permission bits can be modified when a Windows NT client is manipulating the UNIX permission on a file using the native NT security dialog box.

  This parameter is applied as a mask (AND'ed with) to the changed permission bits, thus preventing any bits not in this mask from being modified. Essentially, zero bits in this mask may be treated as a set of bits the user is not allowed to change.

  If not set explicitly this parameter is set to the same value as the create mask parameter. To allow a user to modify all the user/group/world permissions on a file, set this parameter to 0777.

  Note that users who can access the Samba server through other means can easily bypass this restriction, so it is primarily useful for standalone "appliance" systems. Administrators of most normal systems will probably want to set it to 0777.

  See also the force directory security mode, directory security mask, force security mode parameters.

  Default: `security mask = <same as create mask>`

  Example: `security mask = 0777`

server string (G)

  This controls what string will show up in the printer comment box in print manager and next to the IPC connection in `"net view"`. It can be any string that you wish to show to your users.

  It also sets what will appear in browse lists next to the machine name.

  A `"%v"` will be replaced with the Samba version number.

  A `"%h"` will be replaced with the hostname.

  Default: `server string = Samba %v`

  Example: `server string = University of GNUs Samba Server`

set directory (S)

  If `"set directory = no"`, then users of the service may not use the setdir command to change directory.

  The setdir command is only implemented in the Digital Pathworks client. See the Pathworks documentation for details.

  Default: `set directory = no`

  Example: `set directory = yes`

share modes (S)

  This enables or disables the honoring of the `"share modes"` during a file open. These modes are used by clients to gain exclusive read or write access to a file.

  These open modes are not directly supported by UNIX, so they are simulated using shared memory, or lock files if your UNIX doesn't support shared memory (almost all do).

  The share modes that are enabled by this option are DENY_DOS, DENY_ALL, DENY_READ, DENY_WRITE, DENY_NONE and DENY_FCB.

  This option gives full share compatibility and enabled by default.

  You should *NEVER* turn this parameter off as many Windows applications will break if you do so.

  Default: `share modes = yes`

shared mem size (G)

  It specifies the size of the shared memory (in bytes) to use between smbd processes. This parameter defaults to one megabyte of shared memory. It is possible that if you have a large server with many files open simultaneously that you may need to increase this parameter. Signs that this parameter is set too low are users reporting strange problems trying to save files (locking errors) and error messages in the smbd log looking like `"ERROR smb_shm_alloc : alloc of XX bytes failed"`.

  If your OS refuses the size that Samba asks for then Samba will try a smaller size, reducing by a factor of 0.8 until the OS accepts it.

  Default: `shared mem size = 1048576`

  Example: `shared mem size = 5242880 ; Set to 5mb for a large number of files.`

short preserve case (S)

  This boolean parameter controls if new files which conform to 8.3 syntax, that is all in upper case and of suitable length, are created upper case, or if they are forced to be the `"default"` case. This option can be use with "preserve case =yes" to permit long filenames to retain their case, while short names are lowered. Default Yes.

  See the section on NAME MANGLING.

  Default: `short preserve case = yes`

smb passwd file (G)

  This option sets the path to the encrypted smbpasswd file. By default the path to the smbpasswd file is compiled into Samba.

  Default: `smb passwd file= <compiled default>`

  Example: `smb passwd file = /usr/samba/private/smbpasswd`

smbrun (G)

  This sets the full path to the smbrun binary. This defaults to the value in the Makefile.

  You must get this path right for many services to work correctly.

  You should not need to change this parameter so long as Samba is installed correctly.

  Default: `smbrun=<compiled default>`

  Example: `smbrun = /usr/local/samba/bin/smbrun`

socket address (G)

  This option allows you to control what address Samba will listen for connections on. This is used to support multiple virtual interfaces on the one server, each with a different configuration.

  By default samba will accept connections on any address.

  Example: `socket address = 192.168.2.20`

socket options (G)

  This option allows you to set socket options to be used when talking with the client.

  Socket options are controls on the networking layer of the operating systems which allow the connection to be tuned.

  This option will typically be used to tune your Samba server for optimal performance for your local network. There is no way that Samba can know what the optimal parameters are for your net, so you must experiment and choose them yourself. We strongly suggest you read the appropriate documentation for your operating system first (perhaps "man setsockopt" will help).

  You may find that on some systems Samba will say "Unknown socket option" when you supply an option. This means you either incorrectly typed it or you need to add an include file to includes.h for your OS. If the latter is the case please send the patch to samba@samba.org.

  Any of the supported socket options may be combined in any way you like, as long as your OS allows it.

  This is the list of socket options currently settable using this option:

  - SO_KEEPALIVE

  - SO_REUSEADDR

  - SO_BROADCAST

  - TCP_NODELAY

  - IPTOS_LOWDELAY

  - IPTOS_THROUGHPUT

  - SO_SNDBUF *

  - SO_RCVBUF *

  - SO_SNDLOWAT *

  - SO_RCVLOWAT *

  Those marked with a `*` take an integer argument. The others can optionally take a 1 or 0 argument to enable or disable the option, by default they will be enabled if you don't specify 1 or 0.

  To specify an argument use the syntax SOME_OPTION=VALUE for example `SO_SNDBUF=8192`. Note that you must not have any spaces before or after the = sign.

  If you are on a local network then a sensible option might be

  `socket options = IPTOS_LOWDELAY`

  If you have a local network then you could try:

  `socket options = IPTOS_LOWDELAY TCP_NODELAY`

  If you are on a wide area network then perhaps try setting IPTOS_THROUGHPUT.

  Note that several of the options may cause your Samba server to fail completely. Use these options with caution!

  Default: `socket options = TCP_NODELAY`

  Example: `socket options = IPTOS_LOWDELAY`

source environment (G)

  This parameter causes Samba to set environment variables as per the content of the file named.

  The file must be owned by root and not world writable in order to be read (this is a security check).

  If the value of this parameter starts with a "|" character then Samba will treat that value as a pipe command to open and will set the environment variables from the oput of the pipe. This command must not be world writable and must reside in a directory that is not world writable.

  The contents of the file or the output of the pipe should be formatted as the output of the standard Unix env(1) command. This is of the form :

  Example environment entry: `SAMBA_NETBIOS_NAME=myhostname`

  Default: `No default value`

  Examples:

  `source environment = |/etc/smb.conf.sh`

  `source environment = /usr/local/smb_env_vars`

ssl (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  This variable enables or disables the entire SSL mode. If it is set to "no", the SSL enabled samba behaves exactly like the non-SSL samba. If set to "yes", it depends on the variables "ssl hosts" and "ssl hosts resign" whether an SSL connection will be required.

  Default: `ssl=no` Example: `ssl=yes`

ssl CA certDir (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  This variable defines where to look up the Certification Authorities. The given directory should contain one file for each CA that samba will trust. The file name must be the hash value over the "Distinguished Name" of the CA. How this directory is set up is explained later in this document. All files within the directory that don't fit into this naming scheme are ignored. You don't need this variable if you don't verify client certificates.

  Default: `ssl CA certDir = /usr/local/ssl/certs`

ssl CA certFile (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  This variable is a second way to define the trusted CAs. The certificates of the trusted CAs are collected in one big file and this variable points to the file. You will probably only use one of the two ways to define your CAs. The first choice is preferable if you have many CAs or want to be flexible, the second is preferable if you only have one CA and want to keep things simple (you won't need to create the hashed file names). You don't need this variable if you don't verify client certificates.

  Default: `ssl CA certFile = /usr/local/ssl/certs/trustedCAs.pem`

ssl ciphers (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  This variable defines the ciphers that should be offered during SSL negotiation. You should not set this variable unless you know what you are doing.

ssl client cert (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  The certificate in this file is used by smbclient if it exists. It's needed if the server requires a client certificate.

  Default: `ssl client cert = /usr/local/ssl/certs/smbclient.pem`

ssl client key (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  This is the private key for smbclient. It's only needed if the client should have a certificate.

  Default: `ssl client key = /usr/local/ssl/private/smbclient.pem`

ssl compatibility (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  This variable defines whether SSLeay should be configured for bug compatibility with other SSL implementations. This is probably not desirable because currently no clients with SSL implementations other than SSLeay exist.

  Default: `ssl compatibility = no`

ssl hosts (G)

  See "ssl hosts resign".

ssl hosts resign (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  These two variables define whether samba will go into SSL mode or not. If none of them is defined, samba will allow only SSL connections. If the "ssl hosts" variable lists hosts (by IP-address, IP-address range, net group or name), only these hosts will be forced into SSL mode. If the "ssl hosts resign" variable lists hosts, only these hosts will NOT be forced into SSL mode. The syntax for these two variables is the same as for the "hosts allow" and "hosts deny" pair of variables, only that the subject of the decision is different: It's not the access right but whether SSL is used or not. See the "allow hosts" parameter for details. The example below requires SSL connections from all hosts outside the local net (which is 192.168.*.*).

  Default: `ssl hosts = <empty string>` `ssl hosts resign = <empty string>`

  Example: `ssl hosts resign = 192.168.`

ssl require clientcert (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  If this variable is set to `"yes"`, the server will not tolerate connections from clients that don't have a valid certificate. The directory/file given in "ssl CA certDir" and "ssl CA certFile" will be used to look up the CAs that issued the client's certificate. If the certificate can't be verified positively, the connection will be terminated. If this variable is set to `"no"`, clients don't need certificates. Contrary to web applications you really *should* require client certificates. In the web environment the client's data is sensitive (credit card numbers) and the server must prove to be trustworthy. In a file server environment the server's data will be sensitive and the clients must prove to be trustworthy.

  Default: `ssl require clientcert = no`

ssl require servercert (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  If this variable is set to `"yes"`, the smbclient will request a certificate from the server. Same as "ssl require clientcert" for the server.

  Default: `ssl require servercert = no`

ssl server cert (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  This is the file containing the server's certificate. The server _must_ have a certificate. The file may also contain the server's private key. See later for how certificates and private keys are created.

  Default: `ssl server cert = <empty string>`

ssl server key (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  This file contains the private key of the server. If this variable is not defined, the key is looked up in the certificate file (it may be appended to the certificate). The server *must* have a private key and the certificate *must* match this private key.

  Default: `ssl server key = <empty string>`

ssl version (G)

  This variable is part of SSL-enabled Samba. This is only available if the SSL libraries have been compiled on your system and the configure option `"--with-ssl"` was given at configure time.

  Note that for export control reasons this code is **NOT** enabled by default in any current binary version of Samba.

  This enumeration variable defines the versions of the SSL protocol that will be used. `"ssl2or3"` allows dynamic negotiation of SSL v2 or v3, `"ssl2"` results in SSL v2, `"ssl3"` results in SSL v3 and "tls1" results in TLS v1. TLS (Transport Layer Security) is the (proposed?) new standard for SSL.

  Default: `ssl version = "ssl2or3"`

stat cache (G)

  This parameter determines if smbd will use a cache in order to speed up case insensitive name mappings. You should never need to change this parameter.

  Default: `stat cache = yes`

stat cache size (G)

  This parameter determines the number of entries in the stat cache. You should never need to change this parameter.

  Default: `stat cache size = 50`

status (G)

  This enables or disables logging of connections to a status file that smbstatus can read.

  With this disabled smbstatus won't be able to tell you what connections are active. You should never need to change this parameter.

  Default: status = yes

strict locking (S)

  This is a boolean that controls the handling of file locking in the server. When this is set to `"yes"` the server will check every read and write access for file locks, and deny access if locks exist. This can be slow on some systems.

  When strict locking is `"no"` the server does file lock checks only when the client explicitly asks for them.

  Well behaved clients always ask for lock checks when it is important, so in the vast majority of cases "strict locking = no" is preferable.

  Default: `strict locking = no`

  Example: `strict locking = yes`

strict sync (S)

  Many Windows applications (including the Windows 98 explorer shell) seem to confuse flushing buffer contents to disk with doing a sync to disk. Under UNIX, a sync call forces the process to be suspended until the kernel has ensured that all outstanding data in kernel disk buffers has been safely stored onto stable storage. This is very slow and should only be done rarely. Setting this parameter to "no" (the default) means that smbd ignores the Windows applications requests for a sync call. There is only a possibility of losing data if the operating system itself that Samba is running on crashes, so there is little danger in this default setting. In addition, this fixes many performance problems that people have reported with the new Windows98 explorer shell file copies.

  See also the "sync always" parameter.

  Default: `strict sync = no`

  Example: `strict sync = yes`

strip dot (G)

  This is a boolean that controls whether to strip trailing dots off UNIX filenames. This helps with some CDROMs that have filenames ending in a single dot.

  Default: `strip dot = no`

  Example: `strip dot = yes`

sync always (S)

  This is a boolean parameter that controls whether writes will always be written to stable storage before the write call returns. If this is false then the server will be guided by the client's request in each write call (clients can set a bit indicating that a particular write should be synchronous). If this is true then every write will be followed by a fsync() call to ensure the data is written to disk. Note that the "strict sync" parameter must be set to `"yes"` in order for this parameter to have any affect.

  See also the "strict sync" parameter.

  Default: `sync always = no`

  Example: `sync always = yes`

syslog (G)

  This parameter maps how Samba debug messages are logged onto the system syslog logging levels. Samba debug level zero maps onto syslog LOG_ERR, debug level one maps onto LOG_WARNING, debug level two maps onto LOG_NOTICE, debug level three maps onto LOG_INFO. All higher levels are mapped to LOG_DEBUG.

  This paramter sets the threshold for sending messages to syslog. Only messages with debug level less than this value will be sent to syslog.

  Default: `syslog = 1`

syslog only (G)

  If this parameter is set then Samba debug messages are logged into the system syslog only, and not to the debug log files.

  Default: `syslog only = no`

time offset (G)

  This parameter is a setting in minutes to add to the normal GMT to local time conversion. This is useful if you are serving a lot of PCs that have incorrect daylight saving time handling.

  Default: `time offset = 0`

  Example: `time offset = 60`

time server (G)

  This parameter determines if nmbd advertises itself as a time server to Windows clients. The default is False.

  Default: `time server = False`

  Example: `time server = True`

timestamp logs (G)

  Synonym for "debug timestamp".

unix password sync (G)

  This boolean parameter controls whether Samba attempts to synchronize the UNIX password with the SMB password when the encrypted SMB password in the smbpasswd file is changed. If this is set to true the program specified in the "passwd program" parameter is called *AS ROOT* - to allow the new UNIX password to be set without access to the old UNIX password (as the SMB password has change code has no access to the old password cleartext, only the new). By default this is set to `"false"`.

  See also "passwd program", "passwd chat".

  Default: `unix password sync = False`

  Example: `unix password sync = True`

unix realname (G)

  This boolean parameter when set causes samba to supply the real name field from the unix password file to the client. This is useful for setting up mail clients and WWW browsers on systems used by more than one person.

  Default: `unix realname = no`

  Example: `unix realname = yes`

update encrypted (G)

  This boolean parameter allows a user logging on with a plaintext password to have their encrypted (hashed) password in the smbpasswd file to be updated automatically as they log on. This option allows a site to migrate from plaintext password authentication (users authenticate with plaintext password over the wire, and are checked against a UNIX account database) to encrypted password authentication (the SMB challenge/response authentication mechanism) without forcing all users to re-enter their passwords via smbpasswd at the time the change is made. This is a convenience option to allow the change over to encrypted passwords to be made over a longer period. Once all users have encrypted representations of their passwords in the smbpasswd file this parameter should be set to `"off"`.

  In order for this parameter to work correctly the "encrypt passwords" parameter must be set to `"no"` when this parameter is set to `"yes"`.

  Note that even when this parameter is set a user authenticating to smbd must still enter a valid password in order to connect correctly, and to update their hashed (smbpasswd) passwords.

  Default: `update encrypted = no`

  Example: `update encrypted = yes`

use rhosts (G)

  If this global parameter is a true, it specifies that the UNIX users `".rhosts"` file in their home directory will be read to find the names of hosts and users who will be allowed access without specifying a password.

  NOTE: The use of use rhosts can be a major security hole. This is because you are trusting the PC to supply the correct username. It is very easy to get a PC to supply a false username. I recommend that the use rhosts option be only used if you really know what you are doing.

  Default: `use rhosts = no`

  Example: `use rhosts = yes`

user (S)

  Synonym for "username".

users (S)

  Synonym for "username".

username (S)

  Multiple users may be specified in a comma-delimited list, in which case the supplied password will be tested against each username in turn (left to right).

  The username= line is needed only when the PC is unable to supply its own username. This is the case for the COREPLUS protocol or where your users have different WfWg usernames to UNIX usernames. In both these cases you may also be better using the `\\server\share%user` syntax instead.

  The username= line is not a great solution in many cases as it means Samba will try to validate the supplied password against each of the usernames in the username= line in turn. This is slow and a bad idea for lots of users in case of duplicate passwords. You may get timeouts or security breaches using this parameter unwisely.

  Samba relies on the underlying UNIX security. This parameter does not restrict who can login, it just offers hints to the Samba server as to what usernames might correspond to the supplied password. Users can login as whoever they please and they will be able to do no more damage than if they started a telnet session. The daemon runs as the user that they log in as, so they cannot do anything that user cannot do.

  To restrict a service to a particular set of users you can use the "valid users=" parameter.

  If any of the usernames begin with a `'@'` then the name will be looked up first in the yp netgroups list (if Samba is compiled with netgroup support), followed by a lookup in the UNIX groups database and will expand to a list of all users in the group of that name.

  If any of the usernames begin with a `'+'` then the name will be looked up only in the UNIX groups database and will expand to a list of all users in the group of that name.

  If any of the usernames begin with a `'&'` then the name will be looked up only in the yp netgroups database (if Samba is compiled with netgroup support) and will expand to a list of all users in the netgroup group of that name.

  Note that searching though a groups database can take quite some time, and some clients may time out during the search.

  See the section "NOTE ABOUT USERNAME/PASSWORD VALIDATION" for more information on how this parameter determines access to the services.

  Default: `The guest account if a guest service, else the name of the service.`

  Examples:

       	username = fred
       	username = fred, mary, jack, jane, @users, @pcgroup

username level (G)

  This option helps Samba to try and 'guess' at the real UNIX username, as many DOS clients send an all-uppercase username. By default Samba tries all lowercase, followed by the username with the first letter capitalized, and fails if the username is not found on the UNIX machine.

  If this parameter is set to non-zero the behavior changes. This parameter is a number that specifies the number of uppercase combinations to try whilst trying to determine the UNIX user name. The higher the number the more combinations will be tried, but the slower the discovery of usernames will be. Use this parameter when you have strange usernames on your UNIX machine, such as `"AstrangeUser"`.

  Default: `username level = 0`

  Example: `username level = 5`

username map (G)

  This option allows you to specify a file containing a mapping of usernames from the clients to the server. This can be used for several purposes. The most common is to map usernames that users use on DOS or Windows machines to those that the UNIX box uses. The other is to map multiple users to a single username so that they can more easily share files.

  The map file is parsed line by line. Each line should contain a single UNIX username on the left then a `'='` followed by a list of usernames on the right. The list of usernames on the right may contain names of the form @group in which case they will match any UNIX username in that group. The special client name `'*'` is a wildcard and matches any name. Each line of the map file may be up to 1023 characters long.

  The file is processed on each line by taking the supplied username and comparing it with each username on the right hand side of the `'='` signs. If the supplied name matches any of the names on the right hand side then it is replaced with the name on the left. Processing then continues with the next line.

  If any line begins with a `'#'` or a `';'` then it is ignored

  If any line begins with an `'!'` then the processing will stop after that line if a mapping was done by the line. Otherwise mapping continues with every line being processed. Using `'!'` is most useful when you have a wildcard mapping line later in the file.

  For example to map from the name `"admin"` or `"administrator"` to the UNIX name `"root"` you would use:

  `root = admin administrator`

  Or to map anyone in the UNIX group `"system"` to the UNIX name `"sys"` you would use:

  `sys = @system`

  You can have as many mappings as you like in a username map file.

  If your system supports the NIS NETGROUP option then the netgroup database is checked before the `/etc/group` database for matching groups.

  You can map Windows usernames that have spaces in them by using double quotes around the name. For example:

  `tridge = "Andrew Tridgell"`

  would map the windows username `"Andrew Tridgell"` to the unix username tridge.

  The following example would map mary and fred to the unix user sys, and map the rest to guest. Note the use of the `'!'` to tell Samba to stop processing if it gets a match on that line.

      	!sys = mary fred
      	guest = *

  Note that the remapping is applied to all occurrences of usernames. Thus if you connect to `"\\server\fred"` and `"fred"` is remapped to `"mary"` then you will actually be connecting to `"\\server\mary"` and will need to supply a password suitable for `"mary"` not `"fred"`. The only exception to this is the username passed to the "password server" (if you have one). The password server will receive whatever username the client supplies without modification.

  Also note that no reverse mapping is done. The main effect this has is with printing. Users who have been mapped may have trouble deleting print jobs as PrintManager under WfWg will think they don't own the print job.

  Default: `no username map`

  Example: `username map = /usr/local/samba/lib/users.map`

utmp (S)

  This boolean parameter is only available if Samba has been configured and compiled with the option `--with-utmp`. If set to True then Samba will attempt to add utmp or utmpx records (depending on the UNIX system) whenever a connection is made to a Samba server. Sites may use this to record the user connecting to a Samba share.

  See also the "utmp directory" parameter.

  Default: `utmp = False`

  Example: `utmp = True`

utmp consolidate(G)

  This parameter is only available if Samba has been configured and compiled with the option `--with-utmp`. Normally each share create a utmp record, but if there are many connections each with many shares, it can be desirable to consolidate the shares down to one-per-connection.

  Default: `utmp consolidate = no`

  Example: `utmp consolidate = yes`

utmp directory(G)

  This parameter is only available if Samba has been configured and compiled with the option `--with-utmp`. It specifies a directory pathname that is used to store the utmp or utmpx files (depending on the UNIX system) that record user connections to a Samba server. See also the "utmp" parameter. By default this is not set, meaning the system will use whatever utmp file the native system is set to use (usually /var/run/utmp on Linux).

  Default: `no utmp directory`

  Example: `utmp directory = /var/adm/`

utmp hostname(G)

  This parameter is only available if Samba has been configured and compiled with the option `--with-utmp`. It specifies the ut_host field of the utmp and wtmp records. The default is the NetBIOS name (%m), but a very useful alternative might be the Internet/DNS anme (%M).

  Default: `utmp hostname = %m`

  Example: `utmp hostname = %M`

valid chars (G)

  The option allows you to specify additional characters that should be considered valid by the server in filenames. This is particularly useful for national character sets, such as adding u-umlaut or a-ring.

  The option takes a list of characters in either integer or character form with spaces between them. If you give two characters with a colon between them then it will be taken as an lowercase:uppercase pair.

  If you have an editor capable of entering the characters into the config file then it is probably easiest to use this method. Otherwise you can specify the characters in octal, decimal or hexadecimal form using the usual C notation.

  For example to add the single character `'Z'` to the charset (which is a pointless thing to do as it's already there) you could do one of the following

      	valid chars = Z
      	valid chars = z:Z
      	valid chars = 0132:0172

  The last two examples above actually add two characters, and alter the uppercase and lowercase mappings appropriately.

  Note that you MUST specify this parameter after the "client code page" parameter if you have both set. If "client code page" is set after the "valid chars" parameter the "valid chars" settings will be overwritten.

  See also the "client code page" parameter.

  Default:

      	Samba defaults to using a reasonable set of valid characters
      	for English systems

  Example `valid chars = 0345:0305 0366:0326 0344:0304`

  The above example allows filenames to have the Swedish characters in them.

  NOTE: It is actually quite difficult to correctly produce a "valid chars" line for a particular system. To automate the process tino@augsburg.net has written a package called "validchars" which will automatically produce a complete "valid chars" line for a given client system. Look in the examples/validchars/ subdirectory of your Samba source code distribution for this package.

valid users (S)

  This is a list of users that should be allowed to login to this service. Names starting with `'@'`, `'+'` and `'&'` are interpreted using the same rules as described in the "invalid users" parameter.

  If this is empty (the default) then any user can login. If a username is in both this list and the "invalid users" list then access is denied for that user.

  The current servicename is substituted for "%S". This is useful in the [homes] section.

  See also "invalid users".

  Default: `No valid users list. (anyone can login)`

  Example: `valid users = greg, @pcusers`

veto files(S)

  This is a list of files and directories that are neither visible nor accessible. Each entry in the list must be separated by a `'/'`, which allows spaces to be included in the entry. `'*'` and `'?'` can be used to specify multiple files or directories as in DOS wildcards.

  Each entry must be a unix path, not a DOS path and must *not* include the unix directory separator `'/'`.

  Note that the "case sensitive" option is applicable in vetoing files.

  One feature of the veto files parameter that it is important to be aware of, is that if a directory contains nothing but files that match the veto files parameter (which means that Windows/DOS clients cannot ever see them) is deleted, the veto files within that directory *are automatically deleted* along with it, if the user has UNIX permissions to do so.

  Setting this parameter will affect the performance of Samba, as it will be forced to check all files and directories for a match as they are scanned.

  See also "hide files" and "case sensitive".

  Default: `No files or directories are vetoed.`

  Examples:

  Example 1.

          Veto any files containing the word Security,
          any ending in .tmp, and any directory containing the
          word root.

      	veto files = /*Security*/*.tmp/*root*/

  Example 2.

          Veto the Apple specific files that a NetAtalk server
          creates.

          veto files = /.AppleDouble/.bin/.AppleDesktop/Network Trash Folder/

veto oplock files (S)

  This parameter is only valid when the "oplocks" parameter is turned on for a share. It allows the Samba administrator to selectively turn off the granting of oplocks on selected files that match a wildcarded list, similar to the wildcarded list used in the "veto files" parameter.

  Default: `No files are vetoed for oplock grants.`

  Examples:

  You might want to do this on files that you know will be heavily contended for by clients. A good example of this is in the NetBench SMB benchmark program, which causes heavy client contention for files ending in `".SEM"`. To cause Samba not to grant oplocks on these files you would use the line (either in the [global] section or in the section for the particular NetBench share :

  `veto oplock files = /*.SEM/`

volume (S)

  This allows you to override the volume label returned for a share. Useful for CDROMs with installation programs that insist on a particular volume label.

  The default is the name of the share.

wide links (S)

  This parameter controls whether or not links in the UNIX file system may be followed by the server. Links that point to areas within the directory tree exported by the server are always allowed; this parameter controls access only to areas that are outside the directory tree being exported. Note that only links to directories are restricted by this parameter setting. Links directly to files are not disallowed.

  Note that setting this parameter can have a negative effect on your server performance due to the extra system calls that Samba has to do in order to perform the link checks.

  Default: `wide links = yes`

  Example: `wide links = no`

wins proxy (G)

  This is a boolean that controls if nmbd will respond to broadcast name queries on behalf of other hosts. You may need to set this to `"yes"` for some older clients.

  Default: `wins proxy = no`

wins server (G)

  This specifies the IP address (or DNS name: IP address for preference) of the WINS server that nmbd should register with. If you have a WINS server on your network then you should set this to the WINS server's IP.

  You should point this at your WINS server if you have a multi-subnetted network.

  NOTE. You need to set up Samba to point to a WINS server if you have multiple subnets and wish cross-subnet browsing to work correctly.

  See the documentation file BROWSING.txt in the docs/ directory of your Samba source distribution.

  Default: `wins server =`

  Example: `wins server = 192.9.200.1`

wins hook (G)

  When Samba is running as a WINS server this allows you to call an external program for all changes to the WINS database. The primary use for this option is to allow the dynamic update of external name resolution databases such as dynamic DNS.

  The wins hook parameter specifies the name of a script or executable that will be called as follows:

  wins_hook operation name nametype ttl IP_list

  The first argument is the operation and is one of "add", "delete", or "refresh". In most cases the operation can be ignored as the rest of the parameters provide sufficient information. Note that "refresh" may sometimes be called when the name has not previously been added, in that case it should be treated as an add.

  The second argument is the netbios name. If the name is not a legal name then the wins hook is not called. Legal names contain only letters, digits, hyphens, underscores and periods.

  The third argument is the netbios name type as a 2 digit hexadecimal number.

  The fourth argument is the TTL (time to live) for the name in seconds.

  The fifth and subsequent arguments are the IP addresses currently registered for that name. If this list is empty then the name should be deleted.

  An example script that calls the BIND dynamic DNS update program "nsupdate" is provided in the examples directory of the Samba source code.

wins support (G)

  This boolean controls if the nmbd process in Samba will act as a WINS server. You should not set this to true unless you have a multi-subnetted network and you wish a particular nmbd to be your WINS server. Note that you should *NEVER* set this to true on more than one machine in your network.

  Default: `wins support = no`

workgroup (G)

  This controls what workgroup your server will appear to be in when queried by clients. Note that this parameter also controls the Domain name used with the "security=domain" setting.

  Default: `set at compile time to WORKGROUP`

  Example: workgroup = MYGROUP

writable (S)

  Synonym for "writeable" for people who can't spell :-).

write list (S)

  This is a list of users that are given read-write access to a service. If the connecting user is in this list then they will be given write access, no matter what the "writeable" option is set to. The list can include group names using the @group syntax.

  Note that if a user is in both the read list and the write list then they will be given write access.

  See also the "read list" option.

  Default: `write list = <empty string>`

  Example: `write list = admin, root, @staff`

write cache size (S)

  This integer parameter (new with Samba 2.0.7) if set to non-zero causes Samba to create an in-memory cache for each oplocked file (it does not do this for non-oplocked files). All writes that the client does not request to be flushed directly to disk will be stored in this cache if possible. The cache is flushed onto disk when a write comes in whose offset would not fit into the cache or when the file is closed by the client. Reads for the file are also served from this cache if the data is stored within it.

  This cache allows Samba to batch client writes into a more efficient write size for RAID disks (ie. writes may be tuned to be the RAID stripe size) and can improve performance on systems where the disk subsystem is a bottleneck but there is free memory for userspace programs.

  The integer parameter specifies the size of this cache (per oplocked file) in bytes.

  Default: `write cache size = 0`

  Example: `write cache size = 262144` for a 256k cache size per file.

write ok (S)

  Synonym for writeable.

write raw (G)

  This parameter controls whether or not the server will support raw writes SMB's when transferring data from clients. You should never need to change this parameter.

  Default: `write raw = yes`

writeable

  An inverted synonym is "read only".

  If this parameter is `"no"`, then users of a service may not create or modify files in the service's directory.

  Note that a printable service ("printable = yes") will *ALWAYS* allow writing to the directory (user privileges permitting), but only via spooling operations.

  Default: `writeable = no`

  Examples:

       	read only = no
       	writeable = yes
       	write ok = yes

wtmp directory(G)

  This parameter is only available if Samba has been configured and compiled with the option `--with-utmp`. It specifies a directory pathname that is used to store the wtmp or wtmpx files (depending on the UNIX system) that record user connections to a Samba server. See also the "utmp directory" parameter. By default this is not set, meaning the system will use either what has been set by "utmp" or whatever wtmp file the native system is set to use (usually /var/run/wtmp on Linux).

  Default: `no wtmp directory`

  Example: `wtmp directory = /var/adm/`

## WARNINGS

Although the configuration file permits service names to contain spaces, your client software may not. Spaces will be ignored in comparisons anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem - but be aware of the possibility.

On a similar note, many clients - especially DOS clients - limit service names to eight characters. Smbd has no such limitation, but attempts to connect from such clients will fail if they truncate the service names. For this reason you should probably keep your service names down to eight characters in length.

Use of the [homes] and [printers] special sections make life for an administrator easy, but the various combinations of default attributes can be tricky. Take extreme care when designing these sections. In particular, ensure that the permissions on spool directories are correct.

## VERSION

This man page is correct for version 2.0 of the Samba suite.

## SEE ALSO

smbd (8), smbclient (1), nmbd (8), testparm (1), testprns (1), Samba, nmblookup (1), smbpasswd (5), smbpasswd (8).

## AUTHOR

The original Samba software and related utilities were created by Andrew Tridgell samba@samba.org. Samba is now developed by the Samba Team as an Open Source project similar to the way the Linux kernel is developed.

The original Samba man pages were written by Karl Auer. The man page sources were converted to YODL format (another excellent piece of Open Source software, available at ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/) and updated for the Samba2.0 release by Jeremy Allison. samba@samba.org.

See samba (7) to find out how to get a full list of contributors and details on how to submit bug reports, comments etc.