Setting up Samba as an Active Directory Domain Controller

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Samba4 HOWTO

This document explains how to setup a simple Samba4 server. This is aimed at people who are already familiar with Samba3 and wish to participate in Samba4 development or test the alpha releases of Samba4. This is not aimed at general production use of Samba4, although some brave sites are running Samba4 in production based on these instructions.

Video Demonstrations of This HOWTO

A set of demonstration videos is available that may provide a useful overview of the contents of this HOWTO.

A Note on Alpha/Beta Versions

Samba4 is developing very rapidly. This HOWTO is frequently updated to reflect the latest changes in the Samba git repository. Please see the Samba4 Status Wiki for more specifics on project status.

Samba 4 OS Requirements

Because of the constantly changing and ever expanding nature of Linux, the OS Requirements for Samba4 have been moved from Step 2, to Samba_4_OS_Requirements This not only includes the required packages for a successful Samba4 deployment, but also the required file system features. Please consider that page as a prerequisite to a successful Samba4 setup.

Step 1: Download Samba4

Currently, there are three methods to download the current Samba4 sources, in order of preference: via git, rsync, or as a tarball from the samba.org website. We strongly recommend using the git method for downloading Samba, as it makes getting updates easier, and also allows you to integrate test patches from Samba developers more easily in case of problems.

we strongly recommend using the git method for downloading Samba, as it makes getting updates easier, and also allows you to integrate test patches from Samba developers more easily in case of problems. In the following examples we will assume that your top-level source is named samba-master. If you downloaded a tarball this will instead be based on the name of the tarball downloaded (e.g. samba-4.0.0alpha13 for the tarball samba-4.0.0alpha13.tar.gz). Also note that in the master branch the samba4 code in our current git tree is now located in the top level directory.

Downloading via git

Git allows you to download the source tree via either the git or httpprotocols. In general, the git protocol is the preferred choice since it compresses the data being transferred. To download the source tree via git, run the following command:

$ git clone git://git.samba.org/samba.git samba-master

Alternatively, if you prefer to use the http protocol, run the following command:

$ git clone http://gitweb.samba.org/samba.git samba-master

Either command will create a directory called samba-master in the current directory.

Updating via git

If you already have downloaded the source tree via git and want to update the tree to the latest version, run the following command in your samba-master directory:

$ git pull

If you get an error like this:

fatal: Unable to create '[...]/samba_master/.git/index.lock': File exists.

Run the command below to reset your tree.

If you are having trouble compiling the source, it may be due to stale files. You can reset your git tree to correct these errors. To reset your git tree, run the following command in your samba-master directory:

$ git clean -x -f -d

Downloading via rsync

If git is not available to you, rsync is the next best choice. To download the source tree via rsync, run the following command:

$ rsync -avz samba.org::ftp/unpacked/samba_4_0_test/ samba-master

This command will create a directory called samba-master in the current directory, containing a checked out git repository. If you plan on using git to manage the tree, you will need to run the following commands in your samba-master directory:

$ cd samba-master/
$ rm .git/refs/tags/*
$ rm -r .git/refs/remotes/
$ git config remote.origin.url git://git.samba.org/samba.git
$ git config --add remote.origin.fetch +refs/tags/*:refs/tags/* (this line is optional)
$ git fetch

Note you can ignore this error from git fetch:

error: refs/heads/master does not point to a valid object!

Refer to the Updating via git instructions on how to manage the source tree with git.

Downloading a tarball

If both git and rsync are not available, you can download the latest Samba4 tarball from the Samba website

Step 2: Compile Samba4

To build Samba4, run the following command in your samba-master directory:

 $ cd samba-master
 $ ./configure.developer
 $ make

The above command will setup Samba4 to install in /usr/local/samba. If you want Samba to install in a different directory, then you should use the --prefix option to configure.developer.

The reason we recommend using configure.developer rather than configure for Samba4 beta releases is that it will include extra debug information that will help us diagnose problems in case of failures. It will also allow you to run the various built in automatic tests.

Profiling with google-perftools

If you want to enable profiling support, change the configure command above to the following:

 $ LDFLAGS="-ltcmalloc -lprofiler" ./configure.developer
(This also works for CFLAGS)

Step 3: Install Samba4

To install Samba4, run the following command in your samba-master directory:

 $ make install

Note that this must be run as a user who has permission to write to the install directory, which defaults to /usr/local/samba. See Step 2: Compile Samba4 for instructions on how to change the install directory.

For the rest of this HOWTO we will assume that you have installed Samba4 in the default location. All future Samba commands will stem from the /usr/local/samba/sbin and /usr/local/samba/bin directories.

Step 4: Provision Samba4

The provision step sets up a basic user database, and is used when you are setting up your Samba4 server in its own domain. If you instead want to setup your Samba4 server as an additional domain controller in an existing domain, then please see the Joining a Windows Domain Controller as an Additional DC in a Domain section on this page. If you want to migrate an existing Samba3 domain to Samba4, see the Migrating an Existing Samba3 Domain to Samba4 section on this page.

In the following examples we will assume that your DNS domain name is samdom.example.com, your short (also known as NT4) domain name is samdom, and your Samba server's hostname is samba.

The provision step must be run as a user with permission to write to the install directory.

 # /usr/local/samba/bin/samba-tool domain provision \
   --realm=samdom.example.com --domain=SAMDOM \
   --adminpass='p4$$word' --server-role=dc

If you run the previous command with a user who does not have write permission to the install directory, you will get an error similar to this:

tdb_open_ex: could not open file /usr/local/samba/private/sam.ldb.d/DC=SAMDOM,DC=EXAMPLE,DC=COM. ldb: Permission denied

There are many other options you can pass to the samba-tool domain provision command. You can run it with the --help option to see a list of them.

  • Note: You may need to remove the /usr/local/samba/etc/smb.conf file if you are re-running the provision command.
  • Note: When using Debian SID samba4 package, the provision script and samba4 installation will abort if hostname -d is returning an empty string (domain name not found). The debian4.config script detects REALM as follows REALM=`hostname -d | tr 'a-z' 'A-Z'`. To avoid this, ensure /etc/resolv.conf contains:
domain samdom.example.com

Step 5: Starting Samba4

If you are planning to run Samba4 as a production server, then just run the samba binary as root

# /usr/local/samba/sbin/samba

That will run Samba4 in 'standard' mode, which is suitable for production use. Samba4 doesn't yet have init scripts included for each platform, but making one for your platform should not be difficult. There are some example scripts (for RedHat/Fedora and Debian/Ubuntu) on the Samba4/InitScript page.

If you are running Samba4 as a developer you may find the following more useful:

# /usr/local/samba/sbin/samba -i -M single

This will start samba with all log messages printed to stdout, and restricting it to a single process. That mode of operation makes debugging samba with gdb easier. If you want to launch it under gdb, run samba as follows:

# gdb --args /usr/local/samba/sbin/samba -i -M single

Note that if you are running any Samba3 smbd or nmbd processes they need to be stopped before starting samba from Samba4.

Take care when running Samba4 commands if you also have a previous version of Samba installed. To avoid inadvertently running the wrong version, you should consider putting the /usr/local/samba/bin and /usr/local/samba/sbin directories in the beginning of your PATH variable.

You can see what version of Samba, if any, is in your PATH variable by running the following:

# samba -V
  • Note: In older developer versions of Samba4 samba was still called smbd.

Step 6: Testing Samba4

First check you have the right version of smbclient by running the following command:

 $ /usr/local/samba/bin/smbclient --version

This should show you a version starting with "Version 4.0.XXXXX".

Now run this command to list the shares on your Samba4 server:

$ /usr/local/samba/bin/smbclient -L localhost -U%

The output of the command should be similar to what is shown below:

       Sharename       Type       Comment
       ---------       ----       -------
       netlogon        Disk
       sysvol          Disk
       IPC$            IPC        IPC Service (Samba 4.0.0alpha12-GIT-5e755e9)
       ADMIN$          Disk       DISK Service (Samba 4.0.0alpha12-GIT-5e755e9)

The netlogon and sysvol shares are basic shares needed for Active Directory server operation.

If the command failed, restart samba by running the following:

# killall samba
# rm -v -- /usr/local/samba/var/run/smbd-fileserver.conf.pid
# /usr/local/samba/sbin/samba

To test that authentication is working, you should try to connect to the netlogon share using the Administrator password you set earlier:

$ smbclient //localhost/netlogon -UAdministrator%'p4$$word' -c 'ls'

The output of the command should be similar to what is shown below:

Domain=[SAMDOM] OS=[Unix] Server=[Samba 4.0.0beta9-GIT-e4677e3]
  .                                   D        0  Wed Sep 12 21:00:36 2012
  ..                                  D        0  Wed Sep 12 21:02:28 2012

Step 7: Configure DNS

A working DNS setup is essential to the correct operation of Samba4. Without the right DNS entries, Kerberos won't work, which in turn means that many of the basic features of Samba4 won't work.

It is worth spending some extra time to ensure your DNS setup is correct, as debugging problems caused by mis-configured DNS can take a lot of time later on.

Bind 9.8 or newer

The simplest way to get a working DNS setup for Samba4 is to start with the DNS configuration file that is created by the provision step. The full path of configuration file should be /usr/local/samba/private/named.conf. Based on your version of bind, you might need to make changes to this configuration file. Open the file in a text editor and follow the instructions inside.

If have a bind-9.8.0 or newer installed, you can activate the configuration that the provision has created by including this configuration file in bind's named configuration file. This file is typically located in the /etc/bind directory, please refer to your distribution documentation for the location of this file on your system. Once located, add the following line to the configuration file:

include "/usr/local/samba/private/named.conf";

After adding that line you should restart your Bind server and check in the system logs for any problems. If available, you can run named-checkconf to help you fix any problems with your named configuration.

Bind 9.7.x or older

Users of bind-9.7.x are strongly encouraged to upgrade to bind-9.8 or bind-9.9. If this is not possible, refer to the section Configure Kerberos DNS Dynamic Updates for instructions on configuring bind-9.7.

Testing DNS

Now you need to test that DNS is working correctly. Check that your /etc/resolv.conf is pointing correctly at your local DNS server, then run the following commands:

 $ host -t SRV _ldap._tcp.samdom.example.com.
 _ldap._tcp.samdom.example.com has SRV record 0 100 389 samba.samdom.example.com.
 $ host -t SRV _kerberos._udp.samdom.example.com.
 _kerberos._udp.samdom.example.com has SRV record 0 100 88 samba.samdom.example.com.
 $ host -t A samba.samdom.example.com.
 samba.samdom.example.com has address 10.0.0.1

Check that you get answers similar to the ones above (adjusted for your DNS domain name and hostname). If you get any errors then carefully check your system logs to find and fix the problem.

A common problem you may encounter is that many modern Linux distributions activate 'Apparmor' or 'SELinux' by default, and these may be configured to deny access to Bind for your the named.conf and zone files created in the provision. If your Bind logs show that Bind is getting a access denied error accessing these files, please see your local system documentation for how to enable access to these files in Bind (hint: for Apparmor systems such as Ubuntu, the command aa-logprof may be useful).

  • Note: One of the problems that I've had on Debian systems is that the zone autogeneration always detects, and uses, 127.0.1.1 as the domain controller's IP address. That works fine until you 1) Don't have a 127.0.1.1 interface on the machine or 2) Go to join your first client to the domain. In /usr/local/samba/private/named.conf you might need to change 127.0.1.1 to reflect the actual IP address of the server you're setting up.
  • Note: On debian SID (bind9 package), /etc/bind/named.conf.options is missing and prevent named daemon to be started and installation to be completed (create an empty file or comment out corresponding line in /etc/bind/named.conf see syslog messages)

Step 8: Testing Kerberos

Once DNS is working, you should test that the Kerberos server built in to Samba4 is working correctly.

Before testing, first configure the krb.conf file (/etc/krb.conf on RHEL like systems), replace the existing one with the sample from /usr/local/samba/share/setup/krb5.conf. Edit the file and replace ${REALM} with your domain name.

The easiest test is to use the kinit command as follows:

 $ kinit administrator@SAMDOM.EXAMPLE.COM
 Password:

Note:

You have to give your domain realm SAMDOM.EXAMPLE.COM in uppercase letters to kinit.

The kinit should completely successfully. After it completes you can examine the received ticket like this:

 $ klist -e
 Ticket cache: FILE:/tmp/krb5cc_1000
 Default principal: administrator@SAMDOM.EXAMPLE.COM
 
 Valid starting     Expires            Service principal
 02/10/10 19:39:48  02/11/10 19:39:46  krbtgt/SAMDOM.EXAMPLE.COM@SAMDOM.EXAMPLE.COM
       Etype (skey, tkt): ArcFour with HMAC/md5, ArcFour with HMAC/md5

If you find you don't have kinit or klist, you may need to install them. On Debian based systems (such as Ubuntu) the packages are called krb5-config and krb5-user.

You can also test Kerberos form a remote client, just make sure you have configure the krb5.conf and the resolve.conf to point to the domain controller IP address.

Note:

If you are using a client behind NAT then you have to add the following to the krb5.conf on the domain controller server:
 [kdc]
      check-ticket-addresses = false

Step 9: Configure Kerberos DNS Dynamic Updates

Samba4 has the capability to automatically update the bind zone files via Kerberos. While this step is optional, it is highly recommended.

To setup dynamic DNS updates you need to have a recent version of bind9 installed. It is highly recommended that you install at least version 9.8.0 as that version includes a set of patches from the Samba Team to make dynamic DNS updates much more robust and easier to configure. In the instructions below we give instructions for both bind 9.7.2 and 9.8.0, but please use 9.8.0 or later if at all possible.

For Debian Lenny:

If you also want to use Dynamically Loadable Zones (DLZ) then you should add the corresponding option (dlopen) depending on your version of bind. If you are about to compile a downloaded tarball you might need these libraries: libkrb5-dev and libssl-dev

 $ apt-get install libkrb5-dev libssl-dev
 $ tar -zxvf bind9.x.x.tar.gz
 $ cd bind9.x.x

Bind9.8.0

 $ ./configure --with-gssapi=/usr/include/gssapi  --with-dlz-dlopen=yes

Bind9.8.1

 $ ./configure --with-gssapi=/usr/include/gssapi  --with-dlopen=yes
 $ make
 $ make install

You can tell what version of bind9 you have using the command "/usr/sbin/named -V". If your OS does not have bind9 9.8.0 or later, then please consider getting it from a package provided by a 3rd party (for example, on Ubuntu there is a ppa available with the newer versions of bind9).

Instructions for Bind9 9.8.0 or Later

When using bind9 9.8.0 or later you should add a line like the following to the options section of your bind9 config:

options {
 [...]
 tkey-gssapi-keytab "/usr/local/samba/private/dns.keytab";
 [...]
 };

On some systems (such as Ubuntu) this is located in /etc/bind/named.conf.options. Otherwise look for the "options {" part of your bind9 configuration.

You also need an include line pointing at the named.conf in the private directory of your Samba install (this file is created by the provision command):

 include "/usr/local/samba/private/named.conf";

On Debian based systems (such as Ubuntu) this include line is normally put in /etc/bind/named.conf.local. On RedHat based systems it goes in /etc/named.conf.

Instructions for Bind9 9.7.x

If you have bind9 9.7.x (specifically 9.7.2 or later), then first determine if you can at all possibly run Bind 9.8. You will have far fewer problems. Otherwise, follow these instructions.

The Samba provision will have created a custom named.conf.update configuration file in the private directory of your Samba install. You need to include in your master named.conf to allow Samba/Kerberos DNS updates to automatically take place. Be advised that if you include this file in Bind versions that don't support it, Bind will fail to start.

You additionally need to set two environment variables for bind9 when using bind9 version 9.7.x:

 KEYTAB_FILE="/usr/local/samba/private/dns.keytab"
 KRB5_KTNAME="/usr/local/samba/private/dns.keytab"
 export KEYTAB_FILE
 export KRB5_KTNAME

These should be put in your settings file for bind9. On Debian based systems (including Ubuntu) this is in /etc/default/bind9. On RedHat and SUSE derived systems it is in /etc/sysconfig/named. Strictly speaking you only either need KEYTAB_FILE or KRB5_KTNAME, but which you need depends on your distro, so it's easier to just set both.

The dns.keytab must be readable by the bind server user this could be accomplished by executing:

  $ chown named.named /usr/local/samba/private/dns.keytab

(the provision should have setup these permissions for you automatically).

Then in your /etc/bind/named.conf.options you need this:

   tkey-gssapi-credential "DNS/server.samdom.example.com";
   tkey-domain "SAMDOM.EXAMPLE.COM";

The last part of the credential in the first line must match the dns name of the server you have set up.

Debugging Dynamic DNS Updates

The way the automatic DNS update in Samba works is that the provision will create a file /usr/local/samba/private/dns_update_list, which contains a list of DNS entries that Samba will try to dynamically update at startup and every 10 minutes thereafter using samba_dnsupdate utility. Updates will only happen if the DNS entries do not already exist. Remember that you need nsupdate utility from bind distribution for all these to work (dnsutils package in Debian/Ubuntu).

If you want to debug this process, then please run this as root:

/usr/local/samba/sbin/samba_dnsupdate --verbose

that will give you more information on the updates that Samba is doing at runtime, and show you any errors that are generated.

Interaction With Apparmor or SELinux

Now you have to ensure that bind can read the dns.keytab file, the named.conf file and the zone file. It also needs to be able to write the zone file. The Samba provision tries to setup the permissions correctly for these files, but you may find you need to make changes in your Apparmor or SELinux configuration if you are running either of those. If you are using Apparmor then the aa-logprof command may help you add any missing permissions you need to add after you start Samba and bind9 for the first time after configuring them.

You should also carefully check the permissions on the private/dns directory to ensure it is writeable by bind.

Step 10: Configure NTP (Optional)

RedHat 6.x: Redhat does not provide a recent NTP version to support signed ntp so a newer version is required.

1. Download NTP =>4.2.6 release from ntp.org ( verify md5 sum )

2. Download the Redhat 6.1 ntp source rpm file from RedHat and install.

3. Edit the ntp.spec and remove all lines regarding patches and correct the version number.

4. Here is a partial diff showing required edits then run $ rpmbuild -ba ntp.spec

  218c115
  <  --enable-linuxcaps
  ---
  >  --enable-linuxcaps --enable-ntp-signd
  327a225
  > %{_sbindir}/sntp
  345,346c243,244
  < %{_mandir}/man8/ntptime.8*
  < %{_mandir}/man8/tickadj.8*
  ---
  > %{_mandir}/man8/ntpdtime.8*
  > #%{_mandir}/man8/tickadj.8*
  352c250
  < %{_mandir}/man8/ntp-wait.8*
 ---
  > #%{_mandir}/man8/ntp-wait.8*

For Debian/Ubuntu:

Recent versions of Debian/Ubuntu already contain a version of ntp with support for signing. For older versions (Debian Squeeze, Ubuntu < 11.04), get a recent version of ntp:

 $ tar -zxvf ntp-4.x.x.tar.gz
 $ cd ntp-4.x.x
 $ ./configure --enable-ntp-signd
 $ make
 $ make install

5. TODO ( add example ntp.conf changes )

 # A simple ntp.conf tested in Debian Lenny
 # Using the hardware clock
 server 127.127.1.1
 fudge 127.127.1.1  stratum 12
 ntpsigndsocket /usr/local/samba/var/run/ntp_signd/
 restrict default mssntp
 [...]

Step 11: Create a File share in smb.conf

The provisioning will create a very simple smb.conf file with no non-system shares by default. For the server to be useful you, will need to update it to have at least one share. For example:

 [test]
       path = /data/test
       read only = no
  • Note: In older alpha versions of Samba4 you need to restart Samba

to make new shares visible.

Step 12: Create a Printer share (Optional)

TODO

Note: Permissions, SELinux Labeling and Policy

RedHat 6.X:

There is still more work TODO in regards of creating a Samba4 specific SELinux policy but for now you should be able to have everything working *without* disabling SELinux.

Based on the provision example above set this ENV for commands below :

  MYREALM="samdom.example.com"

Change permissions:

  chown named:named /usr/local/samba/private/dns
  chgrp named /usr/local/samba/private/dns.keytab
  chmod g+r /usr/local/samba/private/dns.keytab
  chmod 775 /usr/local/samba/private/dns

Label files ( ensure $MYREALM is correct ):

  chcon -t named_conf_t /usr/local/samba/private/dns.keytab
  chcon -t named_conf_t /usr/local/samba/private/named.conf.update
  chcon -t named_var_run_t /usr/local/samba/private/dns
  chcon -t named_var_run_t /usr/local/samba/private/dns/${MYREALM}.zone


Needed for persistence of labels ( ensure $MYREALM is correct ):

  semanage fcontext -a -t named_conf_t /usr/local/samba/private/dns.keytab
  semanage fcontext -a -t named_conf_t /usr/local/samba/private/named.conf
  semanage fcontext -a -t named_conf_t /usr/local/samba/private/named.conf.update
  semanage fcontext -a -t named_var_run_t /usr/local/samba/private/dns
  semanage fcontext -a -t named_var_run_t /usr/local/samba/private/dns/${MYREALM}.zone
  semanage fcontext -a -t named_var_run_t /usr/local/samba/private/dns/${MYREALM}.zone.jnl
  semanage fcontext -a -t ntpd_t /usr/local/samba/var/run/ntp_signd

NOTE: Multiple attempts to set the context for ntp failed so (below) policy was needed for windows clients time sync after joining the DOMAIN.

  $ chcon -u system_u -t ntpd_t /usr/local/samba/var/run/ntp_signd
  $ chcon -u system_u -t ntpd_t /usr/local/samba/var/run/
  $ chcon -t ntpd_t /usr/local/samba/var/run/ntp_signd/socket

samba4.te policy:

  module samba4 1.0;
  
  
   require {
   type ntpd_t;
   type usr_t;
   type initrc_t;
   class sock_file write;
   class unix_stream_socket connectto;
  }
  
  #============= ntpd_t ==============
  allow ntpd_t usr_t:sock_file write;
  
  #============= ntpd_t ==============
  allow ntpd_t initrc_t:unix_stream_socket connectto;

Check and load policy:

  $ checkmodule -M -m -o samba4.mod samba4.te 
  $ semodule_package -o samba4.pp -m samba4.mod
  $ semodule -i samba4.pp

Note: Filesystem Support

This information has been included in the Samba_4_OS_Requirements#File_System_Support

Configure a Windows Client to join a Samba 4 Active Directory

Active Directory is a powerful administration service which enables an administrator to centrally manage a network of Windows 2000, Windows XP Pro, Windows 2003, and Windows Vista Business Edition effectively. To test the real Samba4 capability, we use Windows XP Pro as testing environment (Windows XP Home doesn't include Active Directory functionality and won't work).

To allow Samba 4 Active Directory or Microsoft Active Directory to manage a computer, we need to join the computer into the active directory. It involves:

  1. Configuring DNS Setting
  2. Configuring Date & Time and Time Zone
  3. Joining the domain

Step 1: Configure DNS Setting for Windows

Before we configure the DNS settings, verify that you are able to ping the server's IP address. If you are not able to ping the server, double check your IP address, firewall, routing, etc.

Once you have verified network connectivity between the Samba server and client,

  1. Right Click My Network Places -> Properties
  2. Double click Local Area Network -> Properties
  3. Double click TCP/IP
  4. Use a static DNS server, add the Samba4 server's IP address inside the primary DNS server column.
    Samba4dnsclient.jpg
  5. Press ok, ok, ok again until finished.
  6. Open a command prompt, type 'ping samdom.example.com' (as per your provision).

If you get replies, then it means that your Windows settings are correct (for DNS) and the Samba4 server's DNS services is working as well.

Step 2: Configure Date & Time and Time Zone

Active Directory uses Kerberos as the backend for authentication. Kerberos requires that the system clocks on the client and server be synchronized to within a few seconds of each other. If they are not synchronized, then authentication will fail for apparently no reason.

  1. Change the timezone in Windows XP Pro so that the server and client are using the same time zone. In my computer, I use Asia/Kuala_Lumpur (I come from Malaysia).
    Samba4timezone.jpg
  2. Change the date/time so the client have same HH:MM with the server.
    Samba4time.jpg

Step 3: Joining Windows Clients to the Domain

Now your Windows computer is ready to join the Active Directory (AD) domain,

As an Administrator:

  1. Right Click My Computer-> Properties
  2. Choose Computer Name, click Change..
  3. Click option 'Domain', insert SAMDOM.EXAMPLE.COM. If this fails, try SAMDOM, (modify as per your provision)Samba4joindomain.jpg
  4. When it requests a username and password, type Administrator as the username, and SOMEPASSWORD as password (as per your earlier provision).
  5. It will tell you that Windows XP has successfully join into your Active Directory Domain, and you need to restart your computer.
  6. After restarting, you should get the normal domain logon dialog.
  7. Choose the domain to SAMDOM, insert Administrator as the username, SOMEPASSWORD as the password (again, as per your earlier provision).
  8. If you login successfully, then you will be able to enjoy Samba4 Active Directory services as shown in the next section.

Viewing Samba 4 Active Directory object from Windows

We need install Windows 2003 Adminpak into Windows XP in order to use GUI tools to manage the domain. Before you begin, make sure that the domain administrators have administrative rights to control your computer.(To give any user administrative rights in Windows XP Pro, right click My Computer, select Manage-> choose Groups-> double click Administrators and add members from domain into the member list. When you add members from Active Directory, it will prompt you to enter an Active Directory username and password).

Step 1: Installing Windows Remote Administration Tools onto Windows

Windows 7/Vista

  1. Download the Windows Remote Administration Tools from:
  2. Follow the "Install RSAT" instructions

Windows XP Pro

Administration Tools Pack & Support Tools

  1. Download adminpak and supporttools from:
    If you installed an older version of the adminpak, you'll notice the dial-in tab is missing from property pages. Just follow the link above to get SP2 which does not have this issue.
  2. Run through the installation.
  3. Press start->run, type 'dsa.msc', if a window 'active directory users and computers' prompt up, it mean you had install adminpak it successfully. You can also find this at Start>Programs>Administrative Tools, which should have a lot more items now.
  4. Go to c:\Program Files\Support Tools to check whether the support tools were installed correctly; if yes, then your XP workstation is ready to manage the Samba 4 Active Directory.

Group Policy Management Console

  1. You may also find the Group Policy Management Console useful. You can download it from
    This is primarily useful when you have larger installs and are managing many machines. You may need to download the .NET Framework first.

Step 2: Viewing Samba4 Active Directory Content

  1. Login to the domain 'testing1.org' as administrator: press start->run.
  2. Type dsa.msc
    Samba4run.jpg
  3. Expand the testing1.org tree to see existing objects in the domain. Samba4dsa.msc.jpg

Managing Samba 4 Active Directory From a Windows Client

One of Samba4's goals is to integrate with (and replace) Active Directory as a system. At this point, if everything has worked correctly you should have an "Administrative Tools" menu under Programs. If, under Administrative Tools you have "Active Directory Users and Computers", that is a very good sign. Most times, if there is a configuration or bug in Samba4, the AD Users & Computers (among other interfaces) won't show up as an option. You can run it by hand (Start->Run->dsa.msc) but it's unlikely to work correctly.


Step 1: Adding Users into Samba 4 Active Directory

Unlike Samba3, Samba4 does not require a local unix user for each Samba user that is created.

To create a Samba user, use the command

samba-tool user add USERNAME

To inspect the allocated user ID and SID, use wbinfo

$ bin/wbinfo --name-to-sid USERNAME
S-1-5-21-4036476082-4153129556-3089177936-1005 SID_USER (1)

$ bin/wbinfo --sid-to-uid S-1-5-21-4036476082-4153129556-3089177936-1005
3000011

If you want to change this mapping, then use ldbedit on the idmap.idb, like this:

$ bin/ldbedit -e emacs -H /usr/local/samba/private/idmap.ldb objectsid=S-1-5-21-4036476082-4153129556-3089177936-1005

You will find records that look like this:

# record 1
dn: CN=S-1-5-21-4036476082-4153129556-3089177936-1005
cn: S-1-5-21-4036476082-4153129556-3089177936-1005
objectClass: sidMap
objectSid: S-1-5-21-4036476082-4153129556-3089177936-1005
type: ID_TYPE_BOTH
xidNumber: 3000011
distinguishedName: CN=S-1-5-21-4036476082-4153129556-3089177936-1005

If you change the xidNumber attribute and save your editor then exit, then Samba will update the mapping to between the SID and the user ID. Updating group mappings works in the same way.

You can also manage users using the normal Windows AD user management tools.

Setting Up Roaming Profiles

1. You will need to create a share for the profiles, typically named profiles. Edit the /usr/local/samba/etc/smb.conf to include:

 [profiles]
       path = /usr/local/samba/var/profiles
       read only = no

2. Create the directory above using:

 $ sudo mkdir /usr/local/samba/var/profiles

3. In Windows, start Active Directory Users and Computers, select all the users, right click, and hit properties

4. Under the profile tab, in the Profile path, type the path to your share along with %USERNAME% as follows:

 \\sambaserver.samdom.example.com\profiles\%USERNAME%

5. click OK, logout and login as one of those users. When you logout again, you should see that the profile has been synced onto the samba server.

Note
An excellent walk-through on configuring Roaming Profiles and Folder Redirection is available here.

Adding Organization Units (OU) Into a Samba4 Domain

The Organizational Unit (OU) is a powerful feature in Active Directory. This is a type of container which allows you to drag & drop users and/or computers into it.

We can link several types of group policies to an OU, and the settings will push out to all users/computers that sit under the OU. Withing a single domain, you can have as many OUs and sub-OUs as you'd like. The result is that it can greatly reduce administrative overhead since you are able to manage everything via an OU. The implementation of Group Policy will be discussed in the next chapter.

Before we create an OU, we must know what one looks like. By default we can see a sample OU called 'Domain Controllers', which uses a different icon in the Windows management tools than the 'users' and 'computers' containers. We can deploy Group Policy to the users or the computers container.

  1. To create an OU as the Domain Administrator, click Start -> Run -> dsa.msc
  2. Right click your domain.
  3. Select New -> Organizational Unit
  4. Type 'OU Demo'
  5. You will see a new OU appear, with the name 'OU Demo'.
  6. You can drag the user 'demo' into the new OU (Don't move other users! Unless you want to get stuck!).
  7. Right click 'OU Demo', A sub-OU can be created with New -> Organizational Unit.

Normally OUs are created according to the department setup of your organization. Be careful not to confuse Groups and OUs. Groups are used to control permissions, OUs are used for deploying settings to all users/computers within the OU.

Implementing Group Policies (GPO) in A Samba4 Domain

Samba4 Active Directory has support for group policies, and can create the group policy on the fly. The basic idea of group policies is:-

  1. Group Policies have two kinds of settings: computers and users.
  2. Computer settings apply to computers, while user settings apply to users.
  3. We link the group policy to a particular OU, and the group policy will effect all computers/users under the OU.
  4. To add a group policy, right click 'OU Demo' OU->properties.
  5. Choose group policy.
  6. Press new, and name it as 'GP Demo'.
  7. Press edit to modify the policy.
  8. Here will demonstrate how to block users from access to the control panel. Open the tree 'User Configuration'->'Administrative Templates'->'Control Panel'.
  9. Double click on 'Prohibit access to the Control Panel'.
  10. Press enabled and then press OK. Now the all users under 'OU Demo' won't able to access to the control panel.
  11. Make sure that the user 'demo' is inside the 'OU Demo' (You can drag and drop it).
  12. Logout and login as user 'demo'.
  13. You'll find user demo is not able to access control panel.

Notes

User configuration will take effect once you logout and login.
Computer configuration will take effect when you restart the computer.
GPO Password Policies are not read by Samba when assigning passwords, to change the policy that Samba uses you must use samba-tool domain passwordsettings

To learn more about managing and implementing organizational units, group policies, and Active Directory, try a web search for Google in Windows 2003 Active Directory implementation.

Joining a Windows Domain Controller as an Additional DC in a Domain

Once you have a Samba domain controller set up, you can choose to join additional domain controllers to the domain, whether they be additional Samba domain controllers, or additional Windows domain controllers.

If you wish to join an additional Samba domain controller to a domain, then please see the Joining a domain as a DC page. The instructions on that page are the same for joining Samba to a Windows domain as they are for joining Samba to an existing Samba domain.

If you wish to join a new Windows domain controller to a Samba domain, then you should use the 'dcpromo' tool on the Windows machine. Please see the normal instructions for installing dcpromo on Windows, with the exception that you should not check the 'DNS server' option box when it is offered. Right now you should either use Windows for DNS, or use Samba and bind9 for DNS. Mixing the two can work, but it is an advanced topic that is beyond the scope of this howto.

Migrating an Existing Samba3 Domain to Samba4

It is very likely that you already have a running Samba3 domain on your network. The question is, how do you migrate that domain and all of its users and machines over to a new Samba4 based domain without having to move every user profile and machine to the new domain? The answer is the samba-tool domain classicupgrade function.

Report Your Success/Failure!

Samba4, as a replicating domain controller, is still developing rapidly. We'd like to hear from users about their successes and failures. While Samba4 is still in alpha release, we would encourage you to report both your successes and failures to the samba-technical mailing list on http://lists.samba.org

Please be aware that Samba4 is not complete, and therefore, should be deployed carefully until it is ready for a non-alpha release.