&author.jht; May 28, 2008 tdb Trivial Database Samba uses a lightweight database called Trivial Database (tdb) in which it stores persistent and transient data. Some tdb files can be disposed of before restarting Samba, but others are used to store information that is vital to Samba configuration and behavior. The following information is provided to help administrators who are seeking to better manage their Samba installations. tdb currupted backup restore Those who package Samba for commercial distribution with operating systems and appliances would do well to take note that tdb files can get corrupted, and for this reason ought to be backed up regularly. An appropriate time is at system shutdown (backup) and startup (restore from backup). File namePreserveDescriptionaccount_policy.tdbY NT account policy settings such as pw expiration, etc...brlock.tdbN Byte range locks.browse.datN Browse lists - gets rebuilt automatically.connections.tdbN Share connections. Used to enforce max connections, etc.gencache.tdbN Generic caching database.group_mapping.tdbY Stores group mapping information. Not used when using LDAP backend. lang_en.tdbY Stores language encoding information.locking.tdbN Stores share mode and oplock information.login_cache.tdbN Keeps a log of bad pw attempts.messages.tdbN Used to keep track of Samba internal messaging.netsamlogon_cache.tdbY Cache of user net_info_3 struct from net_samlogon() requests from domain member machines. ntdrivers.tdbY Stores installed printer driver information.ntforms.tdbY Stores installed printer forms information.ntprinters.tdbY Stores installed printers information.printing directoryY Directory containing tdb per print queue of cached lpq output.registry.tdbY Windows registry skeleton (connect via regedit.exe).sessionid.tdbN Session information to support utmp = yes capabilities.share_info.tdbY Stores share-level ACL configuration settings. Default ACL is Everyone - Full Control. unexpected.tdbN Unexpected packet queue needed to support windows clients that respond on a different port that the originating reques. winbindd_cache.tdbN Winbind's cache of user lists.winbindd_idmap.tdbY Winbind's local IDMAP database.wins.datN WINS database iused only when wins support = yes has been set. This gets rebuilt or updated at every restart. wins.tdbY The working permanent storage for all WINS data. This database is used only when wins support = yes has been set in the &smb.conf; file. Note: This retains all manually configured WINS entries. Manual setting can be done use the net utility. secrets.tdbY This tdb file stores internal settings such as the machine and the domain SID, secret passwords that are used with LDAP, the machine secret token, etc. This is an essential file that is stored in a secure area. Vendors locate this in various folders. Check smbd -b to find its location on your system. schannel_store.tdbY This stores secure channel access token information used with SMB signing. passdb.tdbY This stores the Samba SAM account information when using a tdbsam password backend. The tdbbackup utility is a tool that may be used to backup samba tdb files. This tool may also be used to verify the integrity of the tdb files prior to Samba startup or during normal operation. If it finds file damage it will search for a prior backup the backup file from which the damaged tdb file will be restored. The tdbbackup utility can safely be run at any time. It was designed so that it can be used at any time to validate the integrity of tdb files, even during Samba operation. It is recommended to backup all tdb files as part of the Samba start-up scripts on a Samba server. The following command syntax can be used: myserver# > cd /var/lib/samba myserver@ > tdbbackup *.tdb The default extension is .bak. Any alternate extension can be specified by executing tdbbackup -s 'new_extension' *.tdb as part of your startup script.