smbget

smbget is a command-line utility that is part of the Samba suite. It is used for non-interactively downloading files from SMB/CIFS shares, functioning similarly to the well-known wget command but specifically designed for the SMB protocol.

Purpose

• File Retrieval: Download files from SMB shares hosted on Windows or Samba servers.

• Automated Downloads: Useful for scripting and automation tasks, such as regularly retrieving files from a remote share.

• Recursive Downloading: Supports recursive downloads, allowing you to download entire directories from an SMB share.

Basic Syntax

smbget [options] URL...

• URL: Specifies the SMB URL of the file or directory to download. SMB URLs typically follow the format:

  smb://server/share/path/to/file

Common Options

• -u, --user=USER: Specify the username for authentication.

  smbget -u username smb://server/share/file.txt

• -p, --password=PASS: Specify the password for authentication. If omitted, smbget will prompt for it.

  smbget -u username -p secret smb://server/share/file.txt

• -R, --recursive: Enable recursive downloading of directories.

  smbget -R smb://server/share/directory/

• -c, --continue: Continue/resume a previously interrupted download.

  smbget -c smb://server/share/largefile.iso

• -d, --debug: Increase the debug level to get more verbose output, useful for troubleshooting.

  smbget -d 3 smb://server/share/file.txt

• -h, --help: Display help and usage information.

  smbget --help

Examples

1. Download a Single File

   Download a file from an SMB share:

   smbget smb://fileserver/shared/document.pdf

2. Download with Authentication

   Specify a username (and optionally a password):

   smbget -u alice smb://fileserver/shared/report.docx

   You will be prompted for the password if it is not provided via -p.

3. Recursive Download

   Download an entire directory recursively from an SMB share:

   smbget -R smb://fileserver/shared/photos/

4. Resume a Download

   Continue downloading a file that was previously interrupted:

   smbget -c smb://fileserver/shared/largefile.zip

Conclusion

smbget is a valuable tool for retrieving files from SMB shares in a non-interactive manner. Its support for authentication, recursive downloads, and download resumption makes it ideal for both manual file retrieval and automated backup or synchronization scripts in environments that utilize SMB/CIFS file sharing.