smbclient

TLDR

Connect to a share

$ smbclient //[server]/[share]

Connect with username

$ smbclient //[server]/[share] --user [username]

Connect with workgroup and username

$ smbclient //[server]/[share] --workgroup [domain] --user [username]

Connect with username and password

$ smbclient //[server]/[share] --user [username%password]

Download a file

$ smbclient //[server]/[share] --directory [path] --command "get [file.txt]"

Upload a file

$ smbclient //[server]/[share] --directory [path] --command "put [file.txt]"

List shares anonymously

$ smbclient --list=[server] --no-pass

SYNOPSIS

smbclient //server/share [OPTIONS]

smbclient is an FTP-like client for accessing SMB/CIFS network shares. It connects to Windows file servers and Samba shares, enabling file transfers, directory operations, and share browsing from the command line.
The tool supports interactive sessions with FTP-style commands or batch operations via -c flag. It can create tar backups of shares and browse available network resources.

PARAMETERS

-U, --user username[%password]

Specify username and optional password

-W, --workgroup domain

Set SMB workgroup/domain

-N, --no-pass

Suppress password prompt for anonymous access

-L, --list host

List available shares on server

-D, --directory path

Change to initial directory on connection

-c, --command commands

Execute semicolon-separated commands

-I, --ip-address ip

Specify server IP directly

-p, --port port

TCP port (default: 139 or 445)

-m, --max-protocol level

Maximum SMB protocol (NT1, SMB2, SMB3)

-A, --authentication-file file

Read credentials from file

-T, --tar options

Tar backup mode with flags

-d, --debuglevel level

Debug verbosity (0-10)

-n, --netbiosname name

Override client NetBIOS name

INTERACTIVE COMMANDS

get remote [local]

Download file from share

put local [remote]

Upload file to share

ls [pattern]

List directory contents

cd directory

Change remote directory

lcd directory

Change local directory

mkdir directory

Create remote directory

rm file

Delete remote file

exit

Close connection

CAVEATS

Password on command line is visible in process listings; use -A for credentials file. Some features require specific SMB protocol versions. Firewall rules may block SMB ports (139, 445). NTLM authentication is being deprecated in favor of Kerberos.

HISTORY

smbclient is part of Samba, created by Andrew Tridgell in 1992 after reverse-engineering the SMB protocol. Samba has evolved to support modern SMB2 and SMB3 protocols. The tool remains essential for cross-platform file sharing and accessing Windows shares from Linux.