SMBGET(1)

📦
version 4.24.7 · 27 versions
, in fedora 44

💖 SMBGET(1) — User Commands 💖

okay bestie, welcome to smbget, section 1 of the manual (User Commands, if we're being official about it). it's a whole utility for downloading files over SMB and it is genuinely so good. let's get into it 🦋

✨ NAME ✨

smbget — a wget-like utility for downloading files over SMB. yes, like wget but for SMB. iconic behavior honestly 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

smbget [-a, --guest] [-r, --resume] [--recursive] [-D, --dots]
 [-o, --outputfile] [-q, --quiet] [-v, --verbose] [-b, --blocksize]
 [-O, --stdout] [-u, --update] [-e, --encrypt] [--limit-rate=INT]
 [-?|--help] [--usage] [-d|--debuglevel=DEBUGLEVEL] [--debug-stdout]
 [-s|--configfile=CONFIGFILE] [--option=name=value]
 [-l|--log-basename=LOGFILEBASE] [--leak-report] [--leak-report-full]
 [-R|--name-resolve=NAME-RESOLVE-ORDER]
 [-O|--socket-options=SOCKETOPTIONS] [-m|--max-protocol=MAXPROTOCOL]
 [-n|--netbiosname=NETBIOSNAME] [--netbios-scope=SCOPE]
 [-W|--workgroup=WORKGROUP] [--realm=REALM]
 [-U|--user=[DOMAIN/]USERNAME%[PASSWORD]] [-N|--no-pass]
 [--password=STRING] [--pw-nt-hash] [-A|--authentication-file=FILE]
 [-P|--machine-pass] [--simple-bind-dn=DN]
 [--use-kerberos=desired|required|off] [--use-krb5-ccache=CCACHE]
 [--use-winbind-ccache] [--client-protection=sign|encrypt|off]
 [-V|--version] {smb://host/share/path/to/file} [smb://url2/] [...]

🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

This tool is part of the samba(7) suite. family reunion energy fr fr 🫶

smbget is a simple utility with wget-like semantics, that can download files from SMB servers. You can specify the files you would like to download on the command-line. no config file drama, no setup arc, you just tell it what you want and it goes and gets it. main character energy ⭐

The files should be in the smb-URL standard, e.g. use smb://host/share/file for the UNC path \\HOST\SHARE\file.

pro tip from me to you: that's the whole trick. smb://host/share/file is the vibe, \\HOST\SHARE\file is what it actually means. iykyk 🌈

💅 OPTIONS 💅

okay here comes the big list. every single one. buckle up bestie, this is the good part 🔥

  • -a, --guest — Work as user guest. no login, just vibes 🧚
  • -r, --resume — Automatically resume aborted files. download got interrupted? it picks right back up like nothing happened 💖
  • --recursive — Recursively download files. it goes deep, and it does not stop 🌀
  • -D, --dots — Show dots as progress indication. the humble . . . of progress. lowkey nostalgic 🍓
  • -o, --outputfile — Write the file that is being downloaded to the specified file. Can not be used together with -R.
⚠️ read that again: cannot be used together with -R. pick a lane bestie 😭
  • --stdout — Write the file that is being downloaded to standard output. straight into your terminal, no file left behind 💫
  • -q, --quiet — Be quiet. 🤫
  • -v, --verbose — Be verbose. the opposite of above. it will tell you everything 🗣️
  • -b, --blocksize — Number of bytes to download in a block. Defaults to 64000.
  • -u, --update — Download only when remote file is newer than local file or local file is missing. so it doesn't re-download stuff you already have. efficient queen 👑
  • -e, --encrypt — Enable SMB encryption. 🔒
  • --limit-rate=INT — Limit download rate by this many KB/s. throttle it, respectfully 🌊
  • -?|--help — Print a summary of command line options.
  • --usage — Display brief usage message.
  • -d|--debuglevel=level — level is an integer from 0 to 10. The default value if this parameter is not specified is 1 for client applications.

The higher this value, the more detail will be logged to the log files about the activities of the server. At level 0, only critical errors and serious warnings will be logged. Level 1 is a reasonable level for day-to-day running - it generates a small amount of information about operations carried out.

Levels above 1 will generate considerable amounts of log data, and should only be used when investigating a problem. Levels above 3 are designed for use only by developers and generate HUGE amounts of log data, most of which is extremely cryptic.

💀 not me warning you that level 3+ is for developers only and will flood you with cryptic nonsense. the manpage said HUGE in all caps, i am simply honoring that.

Note that specifying this parameter here will override the log level parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.

  • --debug-stdout — This will redirect debug output to STDOUT. By default all clients are logging to STDERR.
  • --configfile=<configuration file> — The file specified contains the configuration details required by the client. The information in this file can be general for client and server or only provide client specific like options such as client smb encrypt. See /etc/samba/smb.conf for more information. The default configuration file name is determined at compile time. 🛠️
  • --option=<name>=<value> — Set the smb.conf(5) option "<name>" to value "<value>" from the command line. This overrides compiled-in defaults and options read from the configuration file. If a name or a value includes a space, wrap whole --option=name=value into quotes.
wrap the whole thing in quotes if there's a space. that's it. that's the note 💅
  • -l|--log-basename=logdirectory — Base directory name for log/debug files. The extension ".progname" will be appended (e.g. log.smbclient, log.smbd, etc...). The log file is never removed by the client.
  • --leak-report — Enable talloc leak reporting on exit. 🕵️
  • --leak-report-full — Enable full talloc leak reporting on exit. the deluxe version of the above ✨
  • -V|--version — Prints the program version number.
  • -R|--name-resolve=NAME-RESOLVE-ORDER — This option is used to determine what naming services and in what order to resolve host names to IP addresses. The option takes a space-separated string of different name resolution options. The best is to wrap the whole --name-resolve=NAME-RESOLVE-ORDER into quotes.

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

  • lmhosts: Lookup an IP address in the Samba lmhosts file. If the line in lmhosts has no name type attached to the NetBIOS name (see the lmhosts(5) for details) then any name type matches for lookup.
  • host: Do a standard host name to IP address resolution, using the system /etc/hosts, NIS, or DNS lookups. This method of name resolution is operating system dependent, for instance on IRIX or Solaris this may be controlled by the /etc/nsswitch.conf file). Note that this method is only used if the NetBIOS name type being queried is the 0x20 (server) name type, otherwise it is ignored.
  • wins: Query a name with the IP address listed in the wins server parameter. If no WINS server has been specified this method will be ignored.
  • bcast: Do a broadcast on each of the known local interfaces listed in the interfaces parameter. This is the least reliable of the name resolution methods as it depends on the target host being on a locally connected subnet.

If this parameter is not set then the name resolve order defined in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file parameter (name resolve order) will be used.

The default order is lmhosts, host, wins, bcast. Without this parameter or any entry in the name resolve order parameter of the /etc/samba/smb.conf file, the name resolution methods will be attempted in this order.

so basically: it's an ordered to-do list for "how do i turn this name into an IP". bcast is the flaky one, don't trust it too hard 🙈
  • -O|--socket-options=SOCKETOPTIONS — TCP socket options to set on the client socket. See the socket options parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf manual page for the list of valid options.
  • -m|--max-protocol=MAXPROTOCOL — The value of the parameter (a string) is the highest protocol level that will be supported by the client.

Note that specifying this parameter here will override the client max protocol parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.

  • -n|--netbiosname=NETBIOSNAME — This option allows you to override the NetBIOS name that Samba uses for itself. This is identical to setting the netbios name parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file. However, a command line setting will take precedence over settings in /etc/samba/smb.conf.
  • --netbios-scope=SCOPE — This specifies a NetBIOS scope that nmblookup will use to communicate with when generating NetBIOS names. For details on the use of NetBIOS scopes, see rfc1001.txt and rfc1002.txt. NetBIOS scopes are very rarely used, only set this parameter if you are the system administrator in charge of all the NetBIOS systems you communicate with.
"very rarely used" is the manpage being polite. unless you're the sysadmin of every NetBIOS system you talk to, leave it alone bestie 🚫
  • -W|--workgroup=WORKGROUP — Set the SMB domain of the username. This overrides the default domain which is the domain defined in smb.conf. If the domain specified is the same as the servers NetBIOS name, it causes the client to log on using the servers local SAM (as opposed to the Domain SAM).

Note that specifying this parameter here will override the workgroup parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.

  • -r|--realm=REALM — Set the realm for the domain.

Note that specifying this parameter here will override the realm parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.

  • -U|--user=[DOMAIN\]USERNAME[%PASSWORD] — Sets the SMB username or username and password.

If %PASSWORD is not specified, the user will be prompted. The client will first check the USER environment variable (which is also permitted to also contain the password separated by a %), then the LOGNAME variable (which is not permitted to contain a password) and if either exists, the value is used. If these environmental variables are not found, the username found in a Kerberos Credentials cache may be used.

A third option is to use a credentials file which contains the plaintext of the username and password. This option is mainly provided for scripts where the admin does not wish to pass the credentials on the command line or via environment variables. If this method is used, make certain that the permissions on the file restrict access from unwanted users. See the -A for more details.

🚨 security check, for real: Be cautious about including passwords in scripts or passing user-supplied values onto the command line. For security it is better to let the Samba client tool ask for the password if needed, or obtain the password once with kinit.

While Samba will attempt to scrub the password from the process title (as seen in ps), this is after startup and so is subject to a race.

that last bit means: there's a tiny window where your password could still show up in ps. it's a race, and races are not guaranteed. protect your secrets 🫶
  • -N|--no-pass — If specified, this parameter suppresses the normal password prompt from the client to the user. This is useful when accessing a service that does not require a password.

Unless a password is specified on the command line or this parameter is specified, the client will request a password.

If a password is specified on the command line and this option is also defined the password on the command line will be silently ignored and no password will be used.

so -N wins, quietly, and your command-line password just evaporates. silently. 😶‍🌫️
  • --password — Specify the password on the commandline.
🚨 same warning, same energy: Be cautious about including passwords in scripts or passing user-supplied values onto the command line. For security it is better to let the Samba client tool ask for the password if needed, or obtain the password once with kinit.

If --password is not specified, the tool will check the PASSWD environment variable, followed by PASSWD_FD which is expected to contain an open file descriptor (FD) number.

and that's where part 1 leaves us bestie — the option list keeps going in part 2 💖

...and finally it goes hunting for PASSWD_FILE (which is just a path to a file it's gonna open). That file should contain nothing but the password, okay? And bestie, make sure the permissions on that file lock out anyone you don't want reading it! 🙈

While Samba will attempt to scrub the password from the process title (as seen in ps), this is after startup and so is subject to a race. So like… it tries to hide it, but there's a tiny window where it's still visible. Not the moment to be chill about it.

  • --pw-nt-hash — the password you handed over is the NT hash. That's it, that's the whole vibe.
  • -A|--authentication-file=filename — lets you point at a file to read the username and password for the connection from. The format of the file is literally this:
username = <value>
password = <value>
domain   = <value>

Make certain that the permissions on the file restrict access from unwanted users! Like fr fr, that's not a suggestion 💀

  • -P|--machine-pass — use the stored machine account password.
  • --simple-bind-dn=DN — the DN to use for a simple bind.
  • --use-kerberos=desired|required|off — this one decides whether Samba client tools are gonna try to authenticate using Kerberos. For Kerberos auth you should use DNS names instead of IP addresses when connecting to a service — that's just how it works, no cap. By default Samba client tools will try to use the default Kerberos credential cache (ccache). In case the ccache does not exist or -U|--user option was specified, clients will ask to enter a password and will obtain a Kerberos ticket (kinit) for you 🎟️. If you want to use an alternative Kerberos credentical cache, use the --use-krb5-ccache option.

Note that specifying this parameter here will override the client use kerberos parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.

  • --use-krb5-ccache=CCACHE — specifies the credential cache location for Kerberos authentication.

This will enforce --use-kerberos=required. So like, it's not asking, it's telling. 👑

  • --use-winbind-ccache — try to use the credential cache by winbind.
  • --client-protection=sign|encrypt|off — sets the connection protection the client tool should use.

Note that specifying this parameter here will override the client protection parameter in the /etc/samba/smb.conf file.

In case you need more fine grained control you can use: --option=clientsmbencrypt=OPTION, --option=clientipcsigning=OPTION, --option=clientsigning=OPTION. ✨

🌈 SMB URLS 🌈

SMB URL's should be specified in the following format:

smb://[[[domain;]user[:password@]]server[/share[/path[/file]]]]
  • smb:// means all the workgroups
  • smb://name/ means, if name is a workgroup, all the servers in this workgroup, or if name is a server, all the shares on this server. 🦋

💖 EXAMPLES 💖

# Recursively download 'src' directory
smbget --recursive smb://rhonwyn/jelmer/src
# Download FreeBSD ISO and enable resuming
smbget --resume smb://rhonwyn/isos/FreeBSD5.1.iso
# Recursively download all ISOs
smbget --recursive --resume smb://rhonwyn/isos
# Backup my data on rhonwyn
smbget --recursive -resume smb://rhonwyn/

(yes the last one really is -resume with one dash, we don't make the rules, we just report them 💅)

💀 BUGS 💀

Permission denied is returned in some cases where the cause of the error is unknown (such as an illegally formatted smb:// url or trying to get a directory without --resursive turned on). So you'll be out here staring at "permission denied" like 👁️👄👁️ and the actual problem is something else entirely. Classic.

⭐ VERSION ⭐

This man page is part of version 4.24.7 of the Samba suite.

👑 AUTHOR 👑

The original Samba software and related utilities were created by Andrew Tridgell. Samba is now developed by the Samba Team as an Open Source project similar to the way the Linux kernel is developed.

The smbget manpage was written by Jelmer Vernooij.

And that's the whole page bestie — brought to you by the Samba suite, version 4.24.7, dated 09/09/2026. Go forth and download your little files, and pls pls pls fix your password file permissions first 🫶✨

📦 where this page comes from