smbprotocol
Interact with a server using the SMB 2/3 Protocol
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and a permissive MIT license. It fills a genuine need for SMB protocol support in Python with both simple and advanced interfaces. Install it if you need to interact with Windows file shares or other SMB resources from Python; the main gotcha is the Python 3.10+ requirement and optional Kerberos setup on Linux.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires Python 3.10 or later.
- Kerberos authentication on Linux requires additional system packages (libkrb5-dev) and python-gssapi; Windows Kerberos works out of the box via pyspnego.
- Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel and only two runtime dependencies (cryptography and pyspnego).
License · maintenance · safety
MIT (permissive) — MIT license is permissive and places no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in commercial or private projects.
last release 2026-07-07 (38 days) · last repo commit 2026-07-07 · 401 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 12,507,553 downloads/mo, #1,315 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install smbprotocol
from smbprotocol.connection import Connection, Dialects
import uuid
connection = Connection(uuid.uuid4(), "server", 445)
connection.connect(Dialects.SMB_3_0_2)- Whether DFS (Distributed File System) support is production-ready or still experimental as described in the excerpt.
- Performance characteristics and scalability limits for concurrent connections or large file transfers.
- Whether all SMB 3.1.1 features are fully implemented or if there are known gaps beyond the backlog mentioned.
What it is and what it does
smbprotocol is a Python client library that implements the SMBv2 and SMBv3 network protocols, allowing your code to connect to and interact with Windows file shares, network printers, and other SMB-enabled resources. It negotiates protocol versions from SMB 2.0.2 up to SMB 3.1.1 (Windows 10/Server 2016 level) and handles authentication via NTLM or Kerberos, message signing, and encryption for SMBv3 connections.
The library offers two interfaces: a low-level protocol API for fine-grained control and a higher-level interface that mirrors Python's built-in os and os.path functions for simpler file operations. Connections are pooled and DFS referrals are cached, making it suitable for everyday file-sharing tasks without verbose boilerplate.
Use it for
- Access and manage files on Windows network shares from Linux or macOS without mounting SMB volumes.
- Automate backup or synchronization of files from remote SMB servers in Python scripts.
- Build cross-platform file management tools that work with network-shared files using the higher-level interface.
- Authenticate to corporate SMB servers using Kerberos in domain environments.
- Read or write files on network printers and other SMB-enabled devices programmatically.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
The package is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, low install friction, and a permissive MIT license. It fills a genuine need for SMB protocol support in Python with both simple and advanced interfaces. Install it if you need to interact with Windows file shares or other SMB resources from Python; the main gotcha is the Python 3.10+ requirement and optional Kerberos setup on Linux.
Install
smbprotocol on PyPI
Before you install
Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel and only two runtime dependencies (cryptography and pyspnego). Actively maintained with last commit 2026-07-07. Kerberos support on Linux requires optional system libraries, but basic NTLM authentication works without them.
Requires Python 3.10 or later. Kerberos authentication on Linux requires additional system packages (libkrb5-dev) and python-gssapi; Windows Kerberos works out of the box via pyspnego.
License in practice
MIT license is permissive and places no restrictions on use, modification, or distribution in commercial or private projects.
Quickstart
pip install smbprotocol
from smbprotocol.connection import Connection, Dialects
import uuid
connection = Connection(uuid.uuid4(), "server", 445)
connection.connect(Dialects.SMB_3_0_2)Verify before relying
- Whether DFS (Distributed File System) support is production-ready or still experimental as described in the excerpt.
- Performance characteristics and scalability limits for concurrent connections or large file transfers.
- Whether all SMB 3.1.1 features are fully implemented or if there are known gaps beyond the backlog mentioned.
Package facts
| License | MIT permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.10 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | 2 packagescryptographypyspnego |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained 38 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 12,507,553 / month, #1,315 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 4 - BetaProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14 |
Evidence: smbprotocol-1.17.0-py3-none-any.whl
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See also pysmb · pyspnego · impacket · apache-airflow-providers-samba · pypsexec · requests-credssp · azure-storage-file-share · pypsrp · pywinrm · msldap