Samba Active Directory Integration

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Samba Active Directory Integration

Accessing a Samba Share

Another, use for Samba is to integrate into an existing Windows network. Once part of an Active Directory domain, Samba can provide file and print services to AD users.

The simplest way to join an AD domain is to use Likewise-open. For detailed instructions see the section called “Likewise Open”.

Once part of the domain, install the following packages:


sudo apt-get install samba smbfs smbclient

Since the likewise-open and samba packages use separate secrets.tdb files, a symlink will need to be created in /var/lib/samba:


sudo mv /var/lib/samba/secrets.tdb /var/lib/samba/secrets.tdb.orig
sudo ln -s /etc/samba/secrets.tdb /var/lib/samba

Next, edit /etc/samba/smb.conf changing:


   workgroup = EXAMPLE
   ...
   security = ads
   realm = EXAMPLE.COM
   ...
   idmap backend = lwopen
   idmap uid = 50-9999999999
   idmap gid = 50-9999999999

Restart samba for the new settings to take effect:


sudo /etc/init.d/samba restart

You should now be able to access any Samba shares from a Windows client. However, be sure to give the appropriate AD users or groups access to the share directory. See the section called “Securing a Samba File and Print Server” for more details.

Accessing a Windows Share

Now that the Samba server is part of the Active Directory domain you can access any Windows server shares:

To mount a Windows file share enter the following in a terminal prompt:
mount.cifs //fs01.example.com/share mount_point
It is also possible to access shares on computers not part of an AD domain, but a username and password will need to be provided.
To mount the share during boot place an entry in /etc/fstab, for example:
//192.168.0.5/share /mnt/windows cifs auto,username=steve,password=secret,rw 0 0
Another way to copy files from a Windows server is to use the smbclient utility. To list the files in a Windows share:
smbclient //fs01.example.com/share -k -c "ls"
To copy a file from the share, enter:
smbclient //fs01.example.com/share -k -c "get file.txt"
This will copy the file.txt into the current directory.
And to copy a file to the share:
smbclient //fs01.example.com/share -k -c "put /etc/hosts hosts"
This will copy the the /etc/hosts to //fs01.example.com/share/hosts.
The -c option used above allows you to execute the smbclient command all at once. This is useful for scripting and minor file operations. To enter the smb: \> prompt, a FTP like prompt where you can execute normal file and directory commands, simply execute:
smbclient //fs01.example.com/share -k


	Replace all instances of fs01.example.com/share, //192.168.0.5/share, username=steve,password=secret, and file.txt with your server's IP, hostname, share name, file name, and an actual username and password with rights to the share.

For more smbclient options see the man page: man smbclient


Samba as a Domain Controller		Likewise Open