Setting the scope identifier

The NetBIOS scope identifier is a string of characters used when network applications communicate using NetBIOS over TCP/IP. The NetBIOS scope identifier must be the same for all computers on a NetBIOS network using TCP/IP as the transport. If you have different scope identifiers on your computers, NetBIOS assumes they are part of a different logical network, and cannot connect to them.

You set the scope identifier when using the Network Configuration Manager to configure NetBIOS. Before setting it, check its value on the other machines in the network. If you have MS-DOS or OS/2 workstations on the network, the NetBIOS scope identifier should be set to NULL on all machines on the network. Many implementations of NetBIOS for TCP/IP allow you to use only the NULL scope identifier.

If you have any other LAN Manager-compatible machines on the network, check their documentation for restrictions.

The scope identifier's setting depends on the implementation of TCP/IP. SCO TCP/IP sets the scope identifier with the NB_SCOPE parameter in the file /etc/default/nbconf. A typical example of the scope identifier's syntax would be:

   NB_SCOPE=""