pdbedit

manages the Samba user database, allowing administrators to add

TLDR

List all Samba users with their settings

$ sudo pdbedit --list --verbose

Add an existing Unix user to Samba

$ sudo pdbedit --user [username] --create

Remove a Samba user

$ sudo pdbedit --user [username] --delete

Reset a Samba user's failed password counter

$ sudo pdbedit --user [username] --bad-password-count-reset

pdbedit manages the Samba user database (SAM database), allowing administrators to add, modify, and delete Samba user accounts. It provides more detailed control than smbpasswd, including access to user flags, password policies, and database import/export.Users must exist in the Unix system before being added to Samba. The tool can operate on different passdb backends including tdbsam (default) and ldapsam for LDAP integration.

PARAMETERS

-L, --list

List all Samba user accounts

-v, --verbose

Enable verbose listing mode

-u, --user username

Specify the user to operate on

-a, --create

Add a new user account (prompts for password)

-x, --delete

Delete specified user account

-z, --bad-password-count-reset

Reset bad password count for user

-t, --password-from-stdin

Read password from stdin

-w, --smbpasswd-style

Use smbpasswd-style output

-e, --export

Export user database to stdout

-i, --import

Import user database from stdin

-b, --backend name

Use specified passdb backend

-P, --account-policy

Display or change account policy

--policies-reset

Reset account policies to default

INSTALL

sudo apt install samba

sudo dnf install samba

sudo pacman -S samba

sudo apk add samba-common-tools

sudo zypper install samba

brew install samba

nix profile install nixpkgs#samba

CAVEATS

Requires root privileges. User must exist in Unix passwd database before adding to Samba. For simple user management, smbpasswd may be easier. Backend configuration depends on smb.conf settings.

HISTORY

Part of the Samba suite since Samba 3.0, replacing older password database tools. Provides a unified interface for managing various Samba passdb backends as Samba moved away from the legacy smbpasswd file format.