Practical commands to find and inspect SMB/CIFS shares on your network, fast. 15.01.2026 | reading time: 2 min SMB/CIFS shares are everywhere on mixed Windows/Linux networks; knowing how to enumerate them from the command line gives the admin immediate visibility into available resources and access points. Hands-on Example Run a discovery against a server and inspect the output; for example execute the following and enter the password when prompted: ```sh smbclient -L //fileserver.local -U alice ``` The command prints the server header and a share list similar to this: ```text Server \FILESERVER\ Samba 4.12.3 Workgroup: WORKGROUP Sharename Type Comment --------- ---- ------- public Disk Public share projects Disk Project data IPC$ IPC IPC Service (Samba 4.12.3) ``` Options That Matter Try variations: add `-N` to attempt anonymous access, use `-U user%password` to avoid interactive prompts, specify a workgroup with `-W`, or query a NetBIOS name with `nmblookup`; remember that firewalls and SMB protocol versions affect results, and SMBv1 may be disabled on modern servers so explicit retries or newer clients may be necessary. Complementary Tools Other ways to discover shares include `smbtree` for a browsable view, `rpcclient` for low-level queries, `mount.cifs` to attach a share and examine contents, or `nmap --script smb-enum-shares` for a broader network scan; pick the tool that matches the task: ad-hoc lookup, scripted inventory, or forensic inspection. Practical Caveats Guest or anonymous shares might appear without credentials while protected shares require valid accounts; network name resolution, DNS suffixes, and firewall rules on ports 137/138/139/445 influence which hosts and shares are reachable from your machine. Next Steps Practice by enumerating a lab server and then mounting a share with `mount.cifs` to verify access; broaden skillset by combining discovery with scripting and inventory tools and consider formal study toward certifications to validate the knowledge at scale; check bitsandbytes.academy for intensive exam preparation for CompTIA Linux+ or LPIC-1. Join Bits & Bytes Academy First class LINUX exam preparation. network filesystem utilities security troubleshooting infrastructure
