Linux findsmb command

Updated: 08/16/2021 by Computer Hope
findsmb command

On Unix-like operating systems, the findsmb command lists information about machines that respond to SMB name queries on a subnet.

Description

The findsmb software is a perl script, included as part of the Samba suite. findsmb is a perl script that prints out several pieces of information about machines on a subnet that respond to SMB name query requests. It uses nmblookup and smbclient to obtain this information.

Syntax

findsmb [subnet-broadcast-address]

Options

-r Controls whether findsmb takes bugs in Windows 95 into account when trying to find a NetBIOS name registered of the remote machine. This option is disabled by default because it is specific to Windows 95 and Windows 95 machines only. If set, nmblookup is called with -B option.
subnet-broadcast-address Without this option, findsmb probes the subnet of the machine where findsmb is run. This value is passed to nmblookup as part of the -B option.

Output

The output of findsmb lists the following information for all machines that respond to the initial nmblookup for any name.

  • IP address
  • NetBIOS name
  • Workgroup name
  • operating system
  • SMB server version

There is a "+" (plus sign) in front of the workgroup name for machines that are local primary browsers for that workgroup. There is an "*" (asterisk) in front of the workgroup name for machines that are the domain primary browser for that workgroup. Machines running Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95 or Windows 98 do not show any information about the operating system or server version.

The command with -r option must run on a system without nmbd running. If nmbd is running on the system, you only get the IP address and the DNS name of the machine. To get proper responses from Windows 95 and Windows 98 machines, the command must run as root and with -r option on a machine without nmbd running.

Examples

findsmb

findsmb displays information similar to the output below:

IP ADDR       NETBIOS NAME    WORKGROUP/OS/VERSION 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
192.168.35.10 MINESET-TEST1   [DMVENGR] 
192.168.35.55 LINUXBOX       *[MYGROUP] [Unix] [Samba 2.0.6] 
192.168.35.56 HERBNT2         [HERB-NT] 
192.168.35.63 GANDALF         [MVENGR] [Unix] [Samba 2.0.5a for IRIX] 
192.168.35.65 SAUNA           [WORKGROUP] [Unix] [Samba 1.9.18p10] 
192.168.35.71 FROGSTAR        [ENGR] [Unix] [Samba 2.0.0 for IRIX] 
192.168.35.78 BUDDYFRIEND    +[HERB] 
192.168.35.88 SCNT2          +[MVENGR] [Windows NT 4.0] [NT LAN Manager

smbclient — An ftp-like client for accessing SMB/CIFS resources on servers.