Samba as Primary Domain Controller in CentOS 6

Step 1: Installing Samba
All the necessary RPM should be present in the installation media (CD/DVD). If needed, the online repository of repoforge.org is very good too.

[root@firefly ~]# yum install samba  

Step 2: Preparing the Configuration Files
Now that Samba is installed, it is time to prepare the configuration file. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's always a good idea to back up the .conf file before modifying.

[root@firefly ~]# cd /etc/samba/ [root@firefly samba]# cp smb.conf smb.conf.bak [root@firefly samba]# vim smb.conf  
Here are the modifications


workgroup = SCRUB ## The actual name of the domain ## hosts allow = 127. 192.168.1. ## The IP range to be allowed. Alternatively, the “interfaces” parameter may be used. ## security = user passdb backend = tdbsam domain master = yes domain logons = yes logon path = ## Because netlogons create more problems than benefit, we have used an empty logon path to force user accounts to be created at client end machines. ## ## save & exit ##  

Step 3: Starting the Service


[root@firefly ~]# service smb restart; chkconfig smb on [root@firefly ~]# service nmb restart; chkconfig nmb on [root@firefly ~]# netstat -tulpn | grep mb  

It can be seen from the netstat output that the domain controller is running and is listening to port 137 & 138.

Step 4: User Management
To add clients into the domain, both machine and human users must be created. There are a couple of steps, but it's not hard.


[root@firefly ~]# groupadd machines [root@firefly ~]# groupadd employee [root@firefly ~]# useradd -d /dev/null -g machines machineName$ ##### please note that machine users always end with $ ##### [root@firefly ~]# useradd -g employee user1  

Now that the Unix users are created, time to create the samba users.


[root@firefly ~]#smbpasswd -a root ### The administrative user is created. It is recommended that the password is different from the actual UNIX password. #### [root@firefly ~]# smbpasswd -a -m machineName [root@firefly ~]# smbpasswd -a user1  

Step 5: Adding Windows Client Machine
I'd be demonstrating the procedure for WinXP only. The process is almost identical for all Windows versions. First, we need to login as administrator.

1. Start > My Computer (Right Click) > Properties
2. Computer Name > Change
3. Set the computer name and domain
4. Enter administrative samba username and password i.e. user: root and password set by smbpasswd -a root
5. Reboot

After successfully adding the machine into the domain, the workstation needs to be restarted. After restarting, we simply login using the domain user.

Logging in

Work Complete.

Note:
This configuration will not work with netlogons. Personally, I don't like netlogons because it

• creates additional traffic inside the network.
• login processes are pretty slow, depends on the volume of user data and the network infrastructure.
• server hard disk gets full quickly if user quota is not maintained strictly.

Hope it helps ^_^