Hello all,

What is a good (proper?) way of joining my Mandriva Linux 2007 notebook to a Windows NT domain, complete with domain controllers, active directory, Win Server 2003, etc.? I already have the wired and wireless lans working and I can get through to the Internet.

See if you have a samba-doc package that you can install. It includes three books either in PostScript or PDF form. The one called "Samba3-ByExample" includes a number of example setups. You can also download the book from the Samba website.

Okay, I did find and browse Samba3-by example and I see a lot of configurations, especially for Windows clients on Samba servers... I don't see anything that jumps out at me telling me where to read. Even the table of contents is HUGE. I get into Samba setup where I find a lot of different settings that I wouldn't find in Windows... In Windows, I would hit Change in Computer Name, type a domain name, type a user name and password of a domain member that has permissions to join, wait a moment, then restart. I guess this is going to be overly complicated?

You probably need to study the chapters after the third. The forth chapter contains a 500 user network setup and a 2000 distributed system. The former is XP Domain based and the latter includes a W2K/ADS network.

I thought that XP used PDC/BDC domain controllers and WINS. ADS is Windows 2K based isn't it. XP based networks are covered starting on chapter 4. W2K/ADS type configs are covered mainly starting on chapter 7. Look at the domain member client information provided. A network admin will need to add you to the ADS realm if that is required. The Samba3 Reference will provide more general information, but the By Example book also includes infomation that needs to be done on the windows side as well.