Linux Domain Controller

[CougTek]

It is apparently possible to build a Linux-based domain controller. There are how-to videos on Youtube about it and several guides online.

Did any of you tried that? Of course Chewy probably did and could write a book about it, if he had the time.

Is it feasible to configure a Linux-based DC with a domain-trust with another DC? What about GPO? Interaction with MS Exchange?

I have µsoft so deep down where the sun doesn't shine that I'm considering alternatives to avoid giving them more money.

 

[Mercutio]

I've set up Samba for use as a DC, primarily in the context of centralizing password changes and basic policy management. I probably still have one or two machines from the early 2000s still running out in the world. Setting it up for the size of environments I'm dealing with was relatively trivial. Since *nix doesn't have a GPO editor, you have to create your GPOs either on a proper Windows Server or a workstation that has the Windows Server Administration Kit installed.

There's a really good set of walk throughs and recipes for getting things like naming and sysvol replication right on the Samba Wiki.

 

[Howell]

I tried and failed one time on Arch in the last year. It just would not do what the docs said was supposed to happen.

 

[ddrueding]

I've tried and failed as well. I am far from a Linux expert, and the docs made assumptions of prior knowledge that I fell short of.

 

[CougTek]

I've set up Samba for use as a DC, primarily in the context of centralizing password changes and basic policy management. I probably still have one or two machines from the early 2000s still running out in the world. Setting it up for the size of environments I'm dealing with was relatively trivial. Since *nix doesn't have a GPO editor, you have to create your GPOs either on a proper Windows Server or a workstation that has the Windows Server Administration Kit installed.

There's a really good set of walk throughs and recipes for getting things like naming and sysvol replication right on the Samba Wiki.

Thanks, I'll look into the Samba wiki you linked. I have the Server Admin kit on my business laptop, so creating the GPO shouldn't be a problem. Regarding the size of the installation, it is for a group of 40 to 50 employees, so it's not that big.

Knowing that two others here failed isn't reassurring though. I'm no Linux guru either, although I can generally end up achieving what I want on it. We'll see.

 

[Handruin]

I've never tried but what about taking a look at the pre-built one from Turnkey?

 

[CougTek]

I've found it too. I think it's the first result on Google when you search for a Linux domain controller. I still wanted to ask here first before spending time on this project.

 

[Chewy509]

Did any of you tried that? Of course Chewy probably did and could write a book about it, if he had the time.

To be honest, never have tried setting up Samba as a AD DC, only as a NT4 DC. Haven't had the need to...

Setting up samba as a NT4 DC failed the first time, but once knew what was missing and what the (poorly worded) error messages meant, had no issues getting with working with Windows NT4 and 2000 clients.

The only real issues with a AD compatible DC are ensuring DNS is working correctly, especially in conjunction with DHCP and your krb5 setup. Other than that AD is nothing more than a LDAP server with a specific pre-defined schema.

 

[Chewy509]

In addition to the wiki on Samba's website, the Arch Linux instructions appear fairly detailed.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Samba_4_Active_Directory_domain_controller

 

[Howell]

For what it's worth I'll be making a second attempt within the next 2 months.