This tool is part of the Samba suite.
rpcclient is a utility initially developed to test MS-RPC functionality in Samba itself. It has undergone several stages of development and stability. Many system administrators have now written scripts around it to manage Windows NT clients from their UNIX workstation.
NetBIOS name of Server to which to connect. The server can be any SMB/CIFS server. The name is resolved using the name resolve order line from smb.conf(5).
This option allows you to specify a file from which to read the username and password used in the connection. The format of the file is
username = <value> password = <value> domain = <value> |
Make certain that the permissions on the file restrict access from unwanted users.
execute semicolon separated commands (listed below))
IP address is the address of the server to connect to. It should be specified in standard "a.b.c.d" notation.
Normally the client would attempt to locate a named SMB/CIFS server by looking it up via the NetBIOS name resolution mechanism described above in the name resolve order parameter above. Using this parameter will force the client to assume that the server is on the machine with the specified IP address and the NetBIOS name component of the resource being connected to will be ignored.
There is no default for this parameter. If not supplied, it will be determined automatically by the client as described above.
File name for log/debug files. The extension '.client' will be appended. The log file is never removed by the client.
instruct rpcclient not to ask for a password. By default, rpcclient will prompt for a password. See also the -U option.
Specifies the location of the all-important smb.conf file.
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, then the LOGNAME variable and if either exists, the string is uppercased. If these environmental variables are not found, the username GUEST is 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.
Be cautious about including passwords in scripts. Also, on many systems the command line of a running process may be seen via the ps command. To be safe always allow rpcclient to prompt for a password and type it in directly.
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 server's NetBIOS name, it causes the client to log on using the server's local SAM (as opposed to the Domain SAM).
LSARPC
lsaquery
lookupsids - Resolve a list of SIDs to usernames.
lookupnames - Resolve a list of usernames to SIDs.
enumtrusts
SAMR
queryuser
querygroup
queryusergroups
querygroupmem
queryaliasmem
querydispinfo
querydominfo
enumdomgroups
SPOOLSS
adddriver <arch> <config> - Execute an AddPrinterDriver() RPC to install the printer driver information on the server. Note that the driver files should already exist in the directory returned by getdriverdir. Possible values for arch are the same as those for the getdriverdir command. The config parameter is defined as follows:
Long Printer Name:\ Driver File Name:\ Data File Name:\ Config File Name:\ Help File Name:\ Language Monitor Name:\ Default Data Type:\ Comma Separated list of Files |
Any empty fields should be enter as the string "NULL".
Samba does not need to support the concept of Print Monitors since these only apply to local printers whose driver can make use of a bi-directional link for communication. This field should be "NULL". On a remote NT print server, the Print Monitor for a driver must already be installed prior to adding the driver or else the RPC will fail.
addprinter <printername> <sharename> <drivername> <port> - Add a printer on the remote server. This printer will be automatically shared. Be aware that the printer driver must already be installed on the server (see adddriver) and the portmust be a valid port name (see enumports.
deldriver - Delete the specified printer driver for all architectures. This does not delete the actual driver files from the server, only the entry from the server's list of drivers.
enumdata - Enumerate all printer setting data stored on the server. On Windows NT clients, these values are stored in the registry, while Samba servers store them in the printers TDB. This command corresponds to the MS Platform SDK GetPrinterData() function (* This command is currently unimplemented).
enumjobs <printer> - List the jobs and status of a given printer. This command corresponds to the MS Platform SDK EnumJobs() function (* This command is currently unimplemented).
enumports [level] - Executes an EnumPorts() call using the specified info level. Currently only info levels 1 and 2 are supported.
enumdrivers [level] - Execute an EnumPrinterDrivers() call. This lists the various installed printer drivers for all architectures. Refer to the MS Platform SDK documentation for more details of the various flags and calling options. Currently supported info levels are 1, 2, and 3.
enumprinters [level] - Execute an EnumPrinters() call. This lists the various installed and share printers. Refer to the MS Platform SDK documentation for more details of the various flags and calling options. Currently supported info levels are 0, 1, and 2.
getdata <printername> - Retrieve the data for a given printer setting. See the enumdata command for more information. This command corresponds to the GetPrinterData() MS Platform SDK function (* This command is currently unimplemented).
getdriver <printername> - Retrieve the printer driver information (such as driver file, config file, dependent files, etc...) for the given printer. This command corresponds to the GetPrinterDriver() MS Platform SDK function. Currently info level 1, 2, and 3 are supported.
getdriverdir <arch> - Execute a GetPrinterDriverDirectory() RPC to retrieve the SMB share name and subdirectory for storing printer driver files for a given architecture. Possible values for arch are "Windows 4.0" (for Windows 95/98), "Windows NT x86", "Windows NT PowerPC", "Windows Alpha_AXP", and "Windows NT R4000".
getprinter <printername> - Retrieve the current printer information. This command corresponds to the GetPrinter() MS Platform SDK function.
openprinter <printername> - Execute an OpenPrinterEx() and ClosePrinter() RPC against a given printer.
setdriver <printername> <drivername> - Execute a SetPrinter() command to update the printer driver associated with an installed printer. The printer driver must already be correctly installed on the print server.
See also the enumprinters and enumdrivers commands for obtaining a list of of installed printers and drivers.
GENERAL OPTIONS
debuglevel - Set the current debug level used to log information.
help (?) - Print a listing of all known commands or extended help on a particular command.
quit (exit) - Exit rpcclient .
rpcclient is designed as a developer testing tool and may not be robust in certain areas (such as command line parsing). It has been known to generate a core dump upon failures when invalid parameters where passed to the interpreter.
From Luke Leighton's original rpcclient man page:
"WARNING! The MSRPC over SMB code has been developed from examining Network traces. No documentation is available from the original creators (Microsoft) on how MSRPC over SMB works, or how the individual MSRPC services work. Microsoft's implementation of these services has been demonstrated (and reported) to be... a bit flaky in places.
The development of Samba's implementation is also a bit rough, and as more of the services are understood, it can even result in versions of smbd(8) and rpcclient(1) that are incompatible for some commands or services. Additionally, the developers are sending reports to Microsoft, and problems found or reported to Microsoft are fixed in Service Packs, which may result in incompatibilities."
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 original rpcclient man page was written by Matthew Geddes, Luke Kenneth Casson Leighton, and rewritten by Gerald Carter. The conversion to DocBook for Samba 2.2 was done by Gerald Carter.