Linux & Active Directory.

BoomAM

BoomAM

BoomAM

Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2003
Posts
16,206
Location
Atlanta, USA
Hi.
Is there a Linux distribution that can do the job of Windows Server 2003 for a Windows network?

Ie; Be the Domain Controller & run Active Directory?

If its possible, just out of curiosity, i'd like to setup a mini network consisting of a computer running a Linux domain controller, and 4-5 of our existing computers, and see what happens.

Thanks in advance all. :).
 
That ebox looks like it will be your best bet. It doesn't run Active Directory as such but does run an OpenLDAP server instead, it will function as a PDC thus allowing Windows Machines to authenticate against the OpenLDAP User Database.

AD is just an LDAP system so it is probably as close as you are going to get to Active Directory.
 
ebox is a collection of packages (samba included) that's configurable from nice web interface. you don't really need to get your hands dirty to set it up.
we've been using it at work for about 6 months now and also have a client using it across 4 offices.
like mdjmcnally says its not true active directory but it'll act as a pdc, meaning you only have to look after one set of usernames and pw's, there's also a lot more included, mail server, messaging server, firewall/proxy etc,. debian is the underlying os so its pretty bomb proof.
definitely worth a download and a few days evaluating.
 
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Hmm. Might give it a look over.
Is there nothing thats basically an opensource replacement for Server 2003?
 
It can act as a Mail Server
It can act as a Windows Print Server
It can act as a Windows File Server
It can act as a Microsoft Domain Controller
It can act as a Directory Services Server
It can act as a DNS Server
It can act as a DHCP server
It can act as a Time Server
It can act as an Instant Messaging System
It can act as a Proxy Server

What from 2003 are you looking for that isn't in this product.

Active Directory is Microsofts Proprietary Directory Services so you can't get it open source. You can however get OpenLDAP (included in ebox) Fedora Directory Services, and Apache Directory that all provide Active Directory functionality, just that it is not Active Directory, and won't appear to be AD to apps that request the LDAP Service.

It does however mean that applications that require AD won't run but they only run on Windows Server anyway so that is no great loss.

If you however want the ability to use things such as Exchange as your Mail Server then there is no Open Source OS that will do that for you,
 
So how well could this replace a Server 2003 PDC?
Is it one of those 'from scratch' things, or can it import profiles/homes/users/groups/gpos from 2K3?
 
you'll be starting from scratch.

ebox is great if you have a network with no server or an old nt4/2k server that needs replacing. if you've got a 2k3 server on your network already then ebox can be a good and cheap additional server on your network but i'd say if your wanting the functionality of 2k3 server and already have a 2k3 server on your network then stick with it. unless it's a dodgy copy of course ;)

if your looking for an exchange replacement then ebox is almost there, there's no calendaring functionality though. there's a good groupware server called zimbra but its commercial and would need paying for. egroupware is free but in a nutshell nothing comes close to exchange at the moment.

there's a lot of stuff at opensourcecms.com thats worth checking out.
 
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