path: root/docs/docbook/manpages/smbpasswd.8.sgml

<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.1//EN">
<refentry id="smbpasswd">

<refmeta>
	<refentrytitle>smbpasswd</refentrytitle>
	<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
</refmeta>


<refnamediv>
	<refname>smbpasswd</refname>
	<refpurpose>change a users SMB password</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>

<refsynopsisdiv>
	<cmdsynopsis>
		<command>smbpasswd</command>
		<arg choice="opt">-a</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-x</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-d</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-e</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-D debuglevel</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-n</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-r &lt;remote machine&gt;</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-R &lt;name resolve order&gt;</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-m</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-j DOMAIN</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-U username</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-h</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">-s</arg>	
		<arg choice="opt">username</arg>	
	</cmdsynopsis>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
	<title>DESCRIPTION</title>

	<para>This tool is part of the <ulink url="samba.7.html">
	Samba</ulink> suite.</para>
	
	<para>The smbpasswd program has several different 
	functions, depending on whether it is run by the <emphasis>root</emphasis> 
	user or not. When run as a normal user it allows the user to change 
	the password used for their SMB sessions on any machines that store 
	SMB passwords. </para>

	<para>By default (when run with no arguments) it will attempt to 
	change the current users SMB password on the local machine. This is 
	similar to the way the <command>passwd(1)</command> program works. 
	<command>smbpasswd</command> differs from how the passwd program works 
	however in that it is not <emphasis>setuid root</emphasis> but works in 
	a client-server mode and communicates with a locally running
	<command>smbd(8)</command>. As a consequence in order for this to 
	succeed the smbd daemon must be running on the local machine. On a 
	UNIX machine the encrypted SMB passwords are usually stored in 
	the <filename>smbpasswd(5)</filename> file. </para>

	<para>When run by an ordinary user with no options. smbpasswd 
	will prompt them for their old smb password and then ask them 
	for their new password twice, to ensure that the new password
	was typed correctly. No passwords will be echoed on the screen 
	whilst being typed. If you have a blank smb password (specified by 
	the string "NO PASSWORD" in the smbpasswd file) then just press 
	the &lt;Enter&gt; key when asked for your old password. </para>

	<para>smbpasswd can also be used by a normal user to change their
	SMB password on remote machines, such as Windows NT Primary Domain 
	Controllers.   See the (-r) and -U options below. </para>

	<para>When run by root, smbpasswd allows new users to be added 
	and deleted in the smbpasswd file, as well as allows changes to 
	the attributes of the user in this file to be made. When run by root, 
	<command>smbpasswd</command> accesses the local smbpasswd file 
	directly, thus enabling changes to be made even if smbd is not 
	running. </para>
</refsect1>

<refsect1>
	<title>OPTIONS</title>
	<variablelist>
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-a</term>
		<listitem><para>This option specifies that the username 
		following should be added to the local smbpasswd file, with the 
		new password typed (type &lt;Enter&gt; for the old password). This 
		option is ignored if the username following already exists in 
		the smbpasswd file and it is treated like a regular change 
		password command. Note that the user to be added must already exist 
		in the system password file (usually <filename>/etc/passwd</filename>)
		else the request to add the user will fail. </para>
		
		<para>This option is only available when running smbpasswd 
		as root. </para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-x</term>
		<listitem><para>This option specifies that the username 
		following should be deleted from the local smbpasswd file.
		</para>

		<para>This option is only available when running smbpasswd as 
		root.</para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-d</term>
		<listitem><para>This option specifies that the username following 
		should be <constant>disabled</constant> in the local smbpasswd 
		file. This is done by writing a <constant>'D'</constant> flag 
		into the account control space in the smbpasswd file. Once this 
		is done all attempts to authenticate via SMB using this username 
		will fail. </para>
		
		<para>If the smbpasswd file is in the 'old' format (pre-Samba 2.0 
		format) there is no space in the users password entry to write
		this information and so the user is disabled by writing 'X' characters 
		into the password space in the smbpasswd file. See <command>smbpasswd(5)
		</command> for details on the 'old' and new password file formats.
		</para>

		<para>This option is only available when running smbpasswd as 
		root.</para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-e</term>
		<listitem><para>This option specifies that the username following 
		should be <constant>enabled</constant> in the local smbpasswd file, 
		if the account was previously disabled. If the account was not 
		disabled this option has no effect. Once the account is enabled then 
		the user will be able to authenticate via SMB once again. </para>
		
		<para>If the smbpasswd file is in the 'old' format, then <command>
		smbpasswd</command> will prompt for a new password for this user, 
		otherwise the account will be enabled by removing the <constant>'D'
		</constant> flag from account control space in the <filename>
		smbpasswd</filename> file. See <command>smbpasswd (5)</command> for 
		details on the 'old' and new password file formats. </para>

		<para>This option is only available when running smbpasswd as root. 
		</para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		


		<varlistentry>
		<term>-D debuglevel</term>
		<listitem><para><parameter>debuglevel</parameter> is an integer 
		from 0 to 10.  The default value if this parameter is not specified 
		is zero. </para>

		<para>The higher this value, the more detail will be logged to the 
		log files about the activities of smbpasswd. At level 0, only 
		critical errors and serious warnings will be logged. </para>

		<para>Levels above 1 will generate considerable amounts of log 
		data, and should only be used when investigating a problem. Levels 
		above 3 are designed for use only by developers and generate
		HUGE amounts of log data, most of which is extremely cryptic. 
		</para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-n</term>
		<listitem><para>This option specifies that the username following 
		should have their password set to null (i.e. a blank password) in 
		the local smbpasswd file. This is done by writing the string "NO 
		PASSWORD" as the first part of the first password stored in the 
		smbpasswd file. </para>

		<para>Note that to allow users to logon to a Samba server once 
		the password has been set to "NO PASSWORD" in the smbpasswd
		file the administrator must set the following parameter in the [global]
		section of the <filename>smb.conf</filename> file : </para>
		
		<para><command>null passwords = yes</command></para> 
		
		<para>This option is only available when running smbpasswd as 
		root.</para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-r remote machine name</term>
		<listitem><para>This option allows a user to specify what machine 
		they wish to change their password on. Without this parameter 
		smbpasswd defaults to the local host. The <replaceable>remote 
		machine name</replaceable> is the NetBIOS name of the SMB/CIFS 
		server to contact to attempt the password change. This name is 
		resolved into an IP address using the standard name resolution 
		mechanism in all programs of the Samba suite. See the <parameter>-R 
		name resolve order</parameter> parameter for details on changing 
		this resolving mechanism. </para>

		<para>The username whose password is changed is that of the 
		current UNIX logged on user. See the <parameter>-U username</parameter>
		parameter for details on changing the password for a different 
		username. </para>

		<para>Note that if changing a Windows NT Domain password the 
		remote machine specified must be the Primary Domain Controller for 
		the domain (Backup Domain Controllers only have a read-only
		copy of the user account database and will not allow the password 
		change).</para>
		
		<para><emphasis>Note</emphasis> that Windows 95/98 do not have 
		a real password database so it is not possible to change passwords 
		specifying a Win95/98  machine as remote machine target. </para>
		</listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-R name resolve order</term>
		<listitem><para>This option allows the user of smbclient to determine 
		what name resolution services to use when looking up the NetBIOS
		name of the host being connected to. </para>

		<para>The options are :"lmhosts", "host", "wins" and "bcast". They cause 
		names to be resolved as follows : </para>
			<itemizedlist>
				<listitem><para><constant>lmhosts</constant> : 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 <ulink 
            url="lmhosts.5.html">lmhosts(5)</ulink> for details) then
            any name type matches for lookup.</para></listitem>

            <listitem><para><constant>host</constant> : Do a standard host 
            name to IP address resolution, using the system <filename>/etc/hosts
            </filename>, 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 <filename>/etc/nsswitch.conf</filename> 
            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.</para></listitem>

            <listitem><para><constant>wins</constant> : Query a name with 
            the IP address listed in the <parameter>wins server</parameter> 
				parameter.  If no WINS server has been specified this method 
				will be ignored.</para></listitem>

            <listitem><para><constant>bcast</constant> : Do a broadcast on 
            each of the known local interfaces listed in the
            <parameter>interfaces</parameter> parameter. This is the least 
				reliable of the name resolution methods as it depends on the 
				target host being on a locally connected subnet.</para></listitem>
		</itemizedlist>
		
		<para>The default order is <command>lmhosts, host, wins, bcast</command> 
		and without this parameter or any entry in the 
		<filename>smb.conf</filename> file the name resolution methods will 
		be attempted in this order. </para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-m</term>
		<listitem><para>This option tells smbpasswd that the account 
		being changed is a MACHINE account. Currently this is used 
		when Samba is being used as an NT Primary Domain Controller.</para>

		<para>This option is only available when running smbpasswd as root. 	
		</para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-j DOMAIN</term>
		<listitem><para>This option is used to add a Samba server 
		into a Windows NT Domain, as a Domain member capable of authenticating 
		user accounts to any Domain Controller in the same way as a Windows 
		NT Server. See the <command>security = domain</command> option in 
		the <filename>smb.conf(5)</filename> man page. </para>
		
		<para>In order to be used in this way, the Administrator for 
		the Windows NT Domain must have used the program "Server Manager 
		for Domains" to add the primary NetBIOS name of  the Samba server 
		as a member of the Domain. </para>
		
		<para>After this has been done, to join the Domain invoke <command>
		smbpasswd</command> with this parameter. smbpasswd will then 
		look up the Primary Domain Controller for the Domain (found in 
		the <filename>smb.conf</filename> file in the parameter 
		<parameter>password server</parameter> and change the machine account 
		password used to create the secure Domain communication.  This 
		password is then stored by smbpasswd in a TDB, writeable only by root, 
		called <filename>secrets.tdb</filename> </para>
		
		<para>Once this operation has been performed the <filename>
		smb.conf</filename> file may be updated to set the <command>
		security = domain</command> option and all future logins
		to the Samba server will be authenticated to the Windows NT 
		PDC. </para>
		
		<para>Note that even though the authentication is being 
		done to the PDC all users accessing the Samba server must still 
		have a valid UNIX account on that machine. </para>


		<para>This option is only available when running smbpasswd as root. 
		</para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-U username</term>
		<listitem><para>This option may only be used in conjunction 
		with the <parameter>-r</parameter> option. When changing
		a password on a remote machine it allows the user to specify 
		the user name on that machine whose password will be changed. It 
		is present to allow users who have different user names on 
		different systems to change these passwords. </para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-h</term>
		<listitem><para>This option prints the help string for <command>
		smbpasswd</command>, selecting the correct one for running as root 
		or as an ordinary user. </para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>-s</term>
		<listitem><para>This option causes smbpasswd to be silent (i.e. 
		not issue prompts) and to read it's old and new passwords from 
		standard  input, rather than from <filename>/dev/tty</filename> 
		(like the <command>passwd(1)</command> program does). This option 
		is to aid people writing scripts to drive smbpasswd</para>
		</listitem>
		</varlistentry>
		
		
		
		<varlistentry>
		<term>username</term>
		<listitem><para>This specifies the username for all of the 
		<emphasis>root only</emphasis> options to operate on. Only root 
		can specify this parameter as only root has the permission needed 
		to modify attributes directly in the local smbpasswd file. 
		</para></listitem>
		</varlistentry>
	</variablelist>
</refsect1>


<refsect1>
	<title>NOTES</title>
	
	<para>Since <command>smbpasswd</command> works in client-server 
	mode communicating  with a local smbd for a non-root user then 
	the smbd daemon must be running for this to work. A common problem 
	is to add a restriction to the hosts that may access the <command>
	smbd</command> running on the local machine by specifying a 
	<parameter>allow hosts</parameter> or <parameter>deny hosts</parameter> 
	entry in the <filename>smb.conf</filename> file and neglecting to 
	allow "localhost" access to the smbd. </para>

	<para>In addition, the smbpasswd command is only useful if Samba
	has been set up to use encrypted passwords. See the file 
	<filename>ENCRYPTION.txt</filename> in the docs directory for details 
	on how to do this. </para>
</refsect1>


<refsect1>
	<title>VERSION</title>

	<para>This man page is correct for version 2.2 of 
	the Samba suite.</para>
</refsect1>

<refsect1>
	<title>SEE ALSO</title>
	<para><ulink url="smbpasswd.5.html"><filename>smbpasswd(5)</filename></ulink>, 
	<ulink url="samba.7.html">samba(7)</ulink>
	</para>
</refsect1>

<refsect1>
	<title>AUTHOR</title>
	
	<para>The original Samba software and related utilities 
	were created by Andrew Tridgell. Samba is now developed
	by the Samba Team as an Open Source project similar 
	to the way the Linux kernel is developed.</para>
	
	<para>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
	<ulink url="ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/">
	ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix/</ulink>) and updated for the Samba 2.0 
	release by Jeremy Allison.  The conversion to DocBook for 
	Samba 2.2 was done by Gerald Carter</para>
</refsect1>

</refentry>