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jcb344
Asked: 2010-07-15 08:57:55 +0800 CST

Listing available smb shares on a network through the command line in linux

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I was wondering if there is a way of listing all the smb servers on a local network (like looking at a network neighborhood in windows) via the command line in fedora.

samba server-message-block fedora

6 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    This command is a very little known secret of Samba. It returns IP adresses of all Samba servers in one's own broadcast domain:

    nmblookup __SAMBA__

    This one returns a list of all NetBIOS names and their aliases of all Samba servers in the neighbourhood (it does a 'node status query'):

    nmblookup -S __SAMBA__

    This one returns a list of all IP adresses of SMB servers (that is, Linux+Unix/Samba or Windows) in the neighbourhood:

    nmblookup '*'

    Finally, all NetBIOS names and their aliases of all SMB servers (Linux+Unix/Samba or Windows):

    nmblookup -S '*'

    The command given in the other answer nmblookup -S WORKGROUP does NOT return all Samba or all SMB servers from the neighbourhood. Instead, it returns all servers' NetBIOS names who happen to be members of a workgroup named 'WORKGROUP'. The results are independent of the servers' OS (wether that is Windows, or wether that is Linux/Samba) -- and it is a well known fact that sometimes lots of Windows member server are part of a Samba-controlled domain or workgroup. [Yes, it happens that Samba's default workgroup name is 'WORKGROUP'... but so what??]. -- But the question was 'How do I get to know all SMB (Samba?!?) servers in my network neighbourhood?'

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  3. On my network - as of this writing (things do change) - smbtree is my preferred solution. It asks for your password (meaning your Samba password), and then it gives a nicely detailed list that includes netbios name, available shares, and the share description.

    nmblookup, on the other hand, does not list all the available shares on my network. I do not know why it does not, but it doesn't.

    From the smbtree man page:

    smbtree is a smb browser program in text mode. It is similar to the "Network Neighborhood" found on Windows computers. It prints a tree with all the known domains, the servers in those domains and the shares on the servers.

    The nmblookup command does have more switches and options. The nmblookup man page: nmblookup man page

    Noted for posterity - as these answers do stick around - and as I said, I find that smbtree would be a better answer to the OP on my network.

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  4. In samba version 4, nmblookup '*' no longer works; it only gives the local server. It used to work in samba version 3.

    Now, you have to use nmblookup WORKGROUP, which as Kurt mentioned, only returns servers in workgroup WORKGROUP.

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  5. Another way to do this is via Avahi (Bonjour), as long as the servers are publishing:

    avahi-browse -r _smb._tcp
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  6. a better way, more fiendly printed, is to use smbtree.

    $ smbtree
Enter user01's password: DOMAIN_A
        \\FREEBOX_SERVER                Freebox Server
                \\FREEBOX_SERVER\IPC$                   IPC Service (Freebox Server)
                \\FREEBOX_SERVER\Disque dur             AutoShare of fbxhdiskd partition 2
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