[SOLVED] Opensource AD replacement

linuxopen · 03-10-2014, 09:06 AM

I got a new project in school in which i need to create an open source "Active directory". I have searched the internet for information about this but it seems like there arent any services which are the same as AD. The best replacement seems to be "Samba4".

I was wondering if anyone implemented a replacement themself and which services you have used.

pan64 · 03-10-2014, 09:07 AM

You are right, the best replacement is samba4. I do not think anyone can implement it easily.

linuxopen · 03-10-2014, 09:48 AM

Thanks for the fast reply

Any idea if a Linux distribution with Samba4 installed could suffice for being a primary domain controller within an organisation?

Ser Olmy · 03-10-2014, 09:54 AM

Samba 4 is very much capable of acting as an Active Directory domain controller. The choice of Linux distribution is of little consequence, as long as it offers a reasonably recent version of Samba. And if it doesn't, you can always install from source.

(BTW, the "PDC" designation was deprecated in late 1999 with the release of Windows 2000 and Active Directory. A "Primary Domain Controller" used to be the main domain controller in an old Windows NT-style domain; nowadays it's just one of several FSMO roles held by AD DCs, and can be freely transferred between DCs.)

jpollard · 03-10-2014, 09:57 AM

you might check Fedora 20.

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Samba4

But I'm not sure it is polished enough.

YellowApple · 03-10-2014, 03:43 PM

FreeIPA is Red Hat's attempt to outright replace AD, but (at least as far as I can tell) it has quite a ways to go before it's production-ready.

Meanwhile, you can go the route others suggested (Samba4 domain controllers), or you could go the hard way and set up LDAP, Kerberos, and DNS (the three major components of AD) independently.

jpollard · 03-10-2014, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YellowApple

FreeIPA is Red Hat's attempt to outright replace AD, but (at least as far as I can tell) it has quite a ways to go before it's production-ready.

Meanwhile, you can go the route others suggested (Samba4 domain controllers), or you could go the hard way and set up LDAP, Kerberos, and DNS (the three major components of AD) independently.

Not really - there are some differences in each that are not AD. That is why Samba4 uses the Heimdal Kerberos extensions.

AD uses Kerberos, but modifies the protocol slightly to include authorization in addition to just authentication. Also there are some DNS keys that must also be provided that are not normal. Domain controllers are also DNS servers - but with some extensions.

The advantage of using the Samba 4 implementation is that these extensions are already provided.