22.6.2. Domain Member Server
A domain member, while similar to a stand-alone server, is logged into a domain controller (either Windows or Samba) and is subject to the domain's security rules. An example of a domain member server would be a departmental server running Samba that has a machine account on the Primary Domain Controller (PDC). All of the department's clients still authenticate with the PDC, and desktop profiles and all network policy files are included. The difference is that the departmental server has the ability to control printer and network shares.
22.6.2.1. Active Directory Domain Member Server
The following
smb.conf
file shows a sample configuration needed to implement an Active Directory domain member server. In this example, Samba authenticates users for services being run locally but is also a client of the Active Directory. Ensure that your kerberos realm
parameter is shown in all caps (for example realm = EXAMPLE.COM
). Since Windows 2000/2003 requires Kerberos for Active Directory authentication, the realm
directive is required. If Active Directory and Kerberos are running on different servers, the password server
directive may be required to help the distinction.
[global] realm = EXAMPLE.COM security = ADS encrypt passwords = yes # Optional. Use only if Samba cannot determine the Kerberos server automatically. password server = kerberos.example.com
In order to join a member server to an Active Directory domain, the following steps must be completed:
- Configuration of the
smb.conf
file on the member server - Configuration of Kerberos, including the
/etc/krb5.conf
file, on the member server - Creation of the machine account on the Active Directory domain server
- Association of the member server to the Active Directory domain
To create the machine account and join the Windows 2000/2003 Active Directory, Kerberos must first be initialized for the member server wishing to join the Active Directory domain. To create an administrative Kerberos ticket, type the following command as root on the member server:
kinit administrator@EXAMPLE.COM
The
kinit
command is a Kerberos initialization script that references the Active Directory administrator account and Kerberos realm. Since Active Directory requires Kerberos tickets, kinit
obtains and caches a Kerberos ticket-granting ticket for client/server authentication. For more information on Kerberos, the /etc/krb5.conf
file, and the kinit
command, refer to Section 48.6, “Kerberos”.
To join an Active Directory server (windows1.example.com), type the following command as root on the member server:
net ads join -S windows1.example.com -U administrator%password
Since the machine
windows1
was automatically found in the corresponding Kerberos realm (the kinit
command succeeded), the net
command connects to the Active Directory server using its required administrator account and password. This creates the appropriate machine account on the Active Directory and grants permissions to the Samba domain member server to join the domain.
Note
Since
security = ads
and not security = user
is used, a local password backend such as smbpasswd
is not needed. Older clients that do not support security = ads
are authenticated as if security = domain
had been set. This change does not affect functionality and allows local users not previously in the domain.