'\" t
.\"     Title: samba-dcerpcd
.\"    Author: [see the "AUTHOR" section]
.\" Generator: DocBook XSL Stylesheets vsnapshot <http://docbook.sf.net/>
.\"      Date: 07/01/2026
.\"    Manual: System Administration tools
.\"    Source: Samba 4.24.4
.\"  Language: English
.\"
.TH "SAMBA\-DCERPCD" "8" "07/01/2026" "Samba 4\&.24\&.4" "System Administration tools"
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.SH "NAME"
samba-dcerpcd \- This is one of Samba\*(Aqs DCERPC server processes that can listen on sockets where RPC services are offered and is the parent process of the DCERPC services it invokes\&. Unless separately invoked it is started on demand from smbd or winbind and serves DCERPC only over named pipes (np) as a helper process\&. This will be the standard setup for most installations (standalone/member server/AD server) unless they modify their startup scripts\&. Note in when Samba is configured as an Active Directory Domain controller the samba process that invokes smbd will still provide its normal DCERPC services, not samba\-dcerpcd\&. When separately invoked by system startup scripts or a daemon, the global smb\&.conf option \m[blue]\fBrpc start on demand helpers = false\fR\m[] MUST be set to allow samba\-dcerpcd to start standalone\&.
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.HP \w'\ 'u
samba\-dcerpcd [\-D|\-\-daemon] [\-i|\-\-interactive] [\-F|\-\-foreground] [\-\-no\-process\-group] [\-d\ <debug\ level>] [\-\-debug\-stdout] [\-\-configfile=<configuration\ file>] [\-\-option=<name>=<value>] [\-\-leak\-report] [\-\-leak\-report\-full] [\-V|\-\-version] [\-\-libexec\-rpcds] [\-\-np\-helper] [\-\-ready\-signal\-fd=<fd>] [<SERVICE_1>] [<SERVICE_2>] [<\&.\&.\&.>]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP
This tool is part of the
\fBsamba\fR(7)
suite\&.
.PP
samba\-dcerpcd can be used in two ways\&. In the normal case without startup script modification and the global smb\&.conf option
\m[blue]\fBrpc start on demand helpers = true\fR\m[]
is set (the default setting), it is invoked on demand from
smbd
or
winbind
with a command line containing \-\-np\-helper to serve DCERPC over named pipes (np)\&. It can also be used in a standalone mode where it is started separately from
smbd
or
winbind
via system startup scripts\&. If invoked as a standalone daemon or started from system startup scripts the global smb\&.conf option
\m[blue]\fBrpc start on demand helpers = false\fR\m[]
MUST be set to false\&. If the global smb\&.conf option
\m[blue]\fBrpc start on demand helpers = true\fR\m[]
is set to true or left as default,
samba\-dcerpcd
will fail to start and log an error message\&.
.PP
Note that when Samba is run in the Active Directory Domain Controller mode the
samba
AD code will still provide its normal DCERPC services whilst allowing samba\-dcerpcd to provide services like SRVSVC in the same way that
smbd
used to in this configuration\&.
.PP
The standalone mode can also be useful for use outside of the Samba framework, for example, use with the Linux kernel SMB2 server ksmbd or possibly other SMB2 server implementations\&. In this mode it behaves like inetd and listens on sockets on behalf of RPC server implementations\&.
.PP
When a client connects,
samba\-dcerpcd
will start the relevant RPC service binary on demand and hand over the connection to that service\&. When an RPC service has been idle for a while,
samba\-dcerpcd
will ask it to shut down again\&.
.SH "OPTIONS"
.PP
\-D|\-\-daemon
.RS 4
If specified, this parameter causes the server to operate as a daemon\&. That is, it detaches itself and runs in the background, fielding requests on the appropriate port\&. Operating the server as a daemon is useful for running
samba\-dcerpcd
outside of the Samba framework\&. However, it can also be used in this way within Samba for member servers if configured to start up via system startup scripts\&. This switch is assumed if
samba\-dcerpcd
is executed on the command line of a shell\&.
.RE
.PP
\-i|\-\-interactive
.RS 4
If this parameter is specified it causes the server to run "interactively", not as a daemon, even if the server is executed on the command line of a shell\&. Setting this parameter negates the implicit daemon mode when run from the command line\&.
samba\-dcerpcd
will only accept one connection and terminate\&. It will also log to standard output, as if the
\-S
parameter had been given\&.
.RE
.PP
\-F|\-\-foreground
.RS 4
If specified, this parameter causes the main
samba\-dcerpcd
process to not daemonize, i\&.e\&. double\-fork and disassociate with the terminal\&. Child processes are still spawned as normal to service each connection request, but the main process does not exit\&. This operation mode is suitable for running
samba\-dcerpcd
under process supervisors such as
supervise
and
svscan
from Daniel J\&. Bernstein\*(Aqs
daemontools
package, or the AIX process monitor\&.
.RE
.PP
\-\-no\-process\-group
.RS 4
Do not create a new process group for samba\-dcerpcd\&.
.RE
.PP
\-\-libexec\-rpcds
.RS 4
Offer RPC services for all daemons in Samba\*(Aqs LIBEXECDIR, all programs starting with "rpcd_" are assumed to offer RPC services\&. If you don\*(Aqt use the
\-\-libexec\-rpcds
option, you can explicitly list all RPC service helpers explicitly on the command line\&.
.RE
.PP
\-\-np\-helper
.RS 4
Run
samba\-dcerpcd
on demand opening named pipe sockets as helpers for
smbd
or
winbind\&. In order to run in this mode, the global smb\&.conf option
\m[blue]\fBrpc start on demand helpers = true\fR\m[]
must be set to true (this is the default setting)\&.
.RE
.PP
\-\-ready\-signal\-fd=<fd>
.RS 4
Report service readiness via this fd to
smbd
or
winbind\&. Only for internal use\&.
.RE
.SH "AUTHOR"
.PP
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\&.
