1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
2 <!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//Samba-Team//DTD DocBook V4.2-Based Variant V1.0//EN" "http://www.samba.org/samba/DTD/samba-doc">
3 <chapter id="2000users">
4 <title>A Distributed 2000 User Network</title>
6 <para>There is something indeed mystical about things that are
7 big. Large networks exhibit a certain magnetism and exude a sense of
8 importance that obscures reality. You and I know that it is no more
9 difficult to secure a large network than it is a small one. We all
10 know that over and above a particular number of network clients, the
11 rules no longer change; the only real dynamic is the size of the domain
12 (much like a kingdom) over which the network ruler (oops, administrator)
13 has control. The real dynamic then transforms from the technical to the
14 political. Then again, that point is often reached well before the
15 kingdom (or queendom) grows large.</para>
17 <para>If you have systematically worked your way to this chapter, hopefully you
18 have found some gems and techniques that are applicable in your
19 world. The network designs you have worked with in this book with have their
20 strong points as well as weak ones. That is to be expected given that
21 they are based on real business environments, excepting that the facts
22 have been moulded to serve the purposes of this book.</para>
24 <para>This chapter is intent on wrapping up issues that are central to
25 implementation and design of progressively larger networks. Are you ready
26 for this chapter? Good, it is time to move on.</para>
28 <para>In previous chapters, you made the assumption that your network
29 administration staff need detailed instruction right down to the
30 nuts-and-bolts of implementing the solution. That's is still the case,
31 but they have graduated now. You decide to document only those issues,
32 methods and techniques that are new or complex. Routine tasks such as
33 implementing a DNS or a DHCP server are under control. Even the basics of
34 Samba are largely under control. So in this section you focus on the
35 specifics of implementing LDAP changes, Samba changes, and approach and
36 design of the solution and its deployment.</para>
39 <title>Introduction</title>
42 Abmas is a miracle company. Most businesses would have collapsed under
43 the weight of rapid expansion that this company has experienced. Samba
44 is flexible, so there is no need to reinstall the whole operating
45 system just because you need to implement a new network design. In fact,
46 you can keep an old server running right up to the moment of cut-over
47 and then do a near-live conversion. There is no need to reinstall a
48 Samba server just to change the way your network should function.
52 <primary>LDAP</primary>
54 Network growth is common to all organizations. In this exercise,
55 your preoccupation is with the mechanics of implementing Samba and
56 LDAP so that network users on each network segment can work
57 without impediment.</para>
60 <title>Assignment Tasks</title>
63 Starting with the configuration files for the server called
64 <constant>MASSIVE</constant> in Chapter 6, you now deal with the
65 issues that are particular to large distributed networks. Your task
66 is simple &smbmdash; identify the challenges, consider the
67 alternatives, and then design and implement a solution.</para>
70 <primary>VPN</primary>
72 Remember, you have users based in London (UK), Los Angeles,
73 Washington DC, and three buildings in New York. A significant portion
74 of your workforce have notebook computers and roam all over the
75 world. Some dial into the office, others use VPN connections over the
76 Internet and others just move between buildings.</para>
78 <para>What do you say to an employee who normally uses a desktop
79 system but must spend six weeks on the road with a notebook computer?
80 She is concerned over email access and how to keep co-workers current
81 with changing documents.</para>
83 <para>To top it all off, you have one network support person and one
84 Help desk person based in London, a single person dedicated to all
85 network operations in Los Angeles, five staff for user administration
86 and Help desk in New York, plus one <emphasis>floater</emphasis> for
89 <para>You have outsourced all desktop deployment and management to
90 DirectPointe,Inc. Your concern is server maintenance and third-level
91 support. Build a plan and show what must be done.</para>
97 <title>Dissection and Discussion</title>
100 <primary>passdb backend</primary>
101 </indexterm><indexterm>
102 <primary>LDAP</primary>
104 In the previous chapter, you implemented an LDAP server that provided the
105 <parameter>passdb backend</parameter> for the Samba servers. You
106 explored ways to accelerate Windows desktop profile handling and you
107 took control of network performance.
111 <primary>ldapsam</primary>
112 </indexterm><indexterm>
113 <primary>tdbsam</primary>
114 </indexterm><indexterm>
115 <primary>smbpasswd</primary>
116 </indexterm><indexterm>
117 <primary>replicated</primary>
119 The implementation of an LDAP-based passdb backend (known as
120 <emphasis>ldapsam</emphasis> in Samba parlance), or some form of database
121 that can be distributed, is essential to permit the deployment of Samba
122 Primary and Backup Domain Controllers (PDC/BDCs). You see, the problem
123 is that the <emphasis>tdbsam</emphasis> style passdb backend does not
124 lend itself to being replicated. The older plain-text-based
125 <emphasis>smbpasswd</emphasis> style passdb backend can be replicated
126 using a tool such as <command>rsync</command>, but
127 <emphasis>smbpasswd</emphasis> suffers the drawback that it does not
128 support the range of account facilities demanded by modern network
132 <primary>XML</primary>
133 </indexterm><indexterm>
134 <primary>SQL</primary>
136 The new <emphasis>tdbsam</emphasis> facility supports functionality
137 that is similar to an <emphasis>ldapsam</emphasis>, but the lack of
138 distributed infrastructure sorely limits the scope for its
139 deployment. This does raise the following questions: "Why can't I just use
140 an XML based backend, or for that matter, why not use an SQL based
141 backend?" "Is support for these tools broken?" No. Answers to these
142 questions require a bit of background.</para>
145 <primary>directory</primary>
146 </indexterm><indexterm>
147 <primary>database</primary>
148 </indexterm><indexterm>
149 <primary>transaction processing</primary>
150 </indexterm><indexterm>
151 <primary>LDAP</primary>
153 <emphasis>What is a directory?</emphasis> A directory is a
154 collection of information regarding objects that can be accessed to
155 rapidly find information that is relevant in a particular and
156 consistent manner. A directory differs from a database in that it is
157 generally more often searched (read) than updated. As a consequence, the
158 information is organized to facilitate read access rather than to
159 support transaction processing.</para>
162 <primary>Lightweight Directory Access Protocol </primary>
164 </indexterm><indexterm>
165 <primary>LDAP</primary>
166 </indexterm><indexterm>
167 <primary>master</primary>
168 </indexterm><indexterm>
169 <primary>slave</primary>
171 The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) differs
172 considerably from a traditional database. It has a simple search
173 facility that uniquely makes a highly preferred mechanism for managing
174 user identities. LDAP provides a scalable mechanism for distributing
175 the data repository and for keeping all copies (slaves) in sync with
176 the master repository.</para>
179 <primary>identity management</primary>
180 </indexterm><indexterm>
181 <primary>Active Directory</primary>
182 </indexterm><indexterm>
183 <primary>OpenLDAP</primary>
185 Samba is a flexible and powerful file and print sharing
186 technology. It can use many external authentication sources and can be
187 part of a total authentication and identity management
188 infrastructure. The two most important external sources for large sites
189 are Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP. Sites that specifically wish to
190 avoid the proprietary implications of Microsoft Active Directory
191 naturally gravitate toward OpenLDAP.</para>
194 <primary>network</primary>
195 <secondary>routed</secondary>
197 In Chapter 6, you had to deal with a locally routed
198 network. All deployment concerns focused around making users happy,
199 and that simply means taking control over all network practices and
200 usage so that no one user is disadvantaged by any other. The real
201 lesson is one of understanding that no matter how much network
202 bandwidth you provide, bandwidth remains a precious resource.</para>
204 <para>In this chapter, you must now consider how the overall network must
205 function. In particular, you must be concerned with users who move
206 between offices. You must take into account the way users need to
207 access information globally. And you must make the network robust
208 enough so that it can sustain partial breakdown without causing loss of
212 <title>Technical Issues</title>
214 <para>There are at least three areas that need to be addressed as you
215 approach the challenge of designing a network solution for the newly
216 expanded business. These are:</para>
221 <primary>mobility</primary>
223 User needs such as mobility and data access</para>
226 <para>The nature of Windows networking protocols</para>
229 <para>Identity management infrastructure needs</para>
233 <para>Let's look at each in turn.</para>
236 <title>User Needs</title>
238 <para>The new company has three divisions. Staff for each division
239 are spread across the company. Some staff are office-bound and
240 some are mobile users. Mobile users travel globally. Some spend
241 considerable periods working in other offices. Everyone wants to be
242 able to work without constraint of productivity.</para>
244 <para>The challenge is not insignificant. In some parts of the world,
245 even dial-up connectivity is poor, while in other regions political
246 encumbrances severely curtail user needs. Parts of the global
247 Internet infrastructure remain shielded-off for reasons outside
248 the scope of this discussion.</para>
251 <primary>synchronize</primary>
253 Decisions must be made regarding where data is to be stored, how
254 it will be replicated (if at all), and what the network bandwidth
255 implications are. For example, one decision that can be made is
256 to give each office its own master file storage area that can be
257 synchronized to a central repository in New York. This would permit
258 global data to be backed up from a single location. The
259 synchronization tool could be <command>rsync,</command> run via a
260 cron job. Mobile users may use off-line file storage under Windows
261 XP Professional. This way, they can synchronize all files that have
262 changed since each logon to the network.</para>
265 <primary>bandwidth</primary>
266 <secondary>requirements</secondary>
267 </indexterm><indexterm>
268 <primary>roaming profile</primary>
270 No matter which way you look at this, the bandwidth requirements
271 for acceptable performance are substantial even if only 10 percent of
272 staff are global data users. A company with 3500 employees
273 and 280 of those were mobile users, and who used a similarly distributed
274 network, found they needed at least 2 Megabit/sec connectivity
275 between the UK and US offices. Even over 2 Mb/s bandwidth, this
276 company abandoned any attempt to run roaming profile usage for
277 mobile users. At that time, the average roaming profile took 480
278 Kbytes, while today the minimum Windows XP Professional roaming
279 profile involves a transfer of over 750 Kbytes from the profile
280 server to/from the client.</para>
283 <primary>wide-area</primary>
285 Obviously then, user needs and wide-area practicalities
286 dictate the economic and technical aspects of your network
287 design as well as for standard operating procedures.</para>
292 <title>The Nature of Windows Networking Protocols</title>
295 <primary>profile</primary>
296 <secondary>mandatory</secondary>
298 Network logons that include roaming profile handling requires
299 from 140 Kbytes to 2 Mbytes. The inclusion of support for a minimal
300 set of common desktop applications can push the size of a complete
301 profile to over 15 Mbytes. This has substantial implications so far
302 as location of user profiles is concerned. Additionally, it is a
303 significant factor in determining the nature and style of mandatory
304 profiles that may be enforced as part of a total service level
305 assurance program that might be implemented.</para>
308 <primary>logon traffic</primary>
309 </indexterm><indexterm>
310 <primary>redirected folders</primary>
312 One way to reduce the network bandwidth impact of user logon
313 traffic is through folder redirection. In Chapter 6, you
314 implemented this in the new Windows XP Professional standard
315 desktop configuration. When desktop folders such as <guimenu>My
316 Documents</guimenu> are redirected to a network drive, they should
317 also be excluded from synchronization to/from the server on
318 logon/out. Redirected folders are analogous to network drive
322 <primary>application servers</primary>
324 Of course, network applications should only be run off
325 local application servers. As a general rule, even with 2 Mbit/sec
326 network bandwidth, it would not make sense at all for someone who
327 is working out of the London office to run applications off a
328 server that is located in New York.</para>
331 <primary>affordability</primary>
333 When network bandwidth becomes a precious commodity (that is most
334 of the time), there is a significant demand to understand network
335 processes and to mould the limits of acceptability around the
336 constraints of affordability.</para>
338 <para>When a Windows NT4/200x/XP Professional client user logs onto
339 the network, several important things must happen.</para>
344 <primary>DHCP</primary>
346 The client obtains an IP address via DHCP. (DHCP is
347 necessary so that users can roam between offices.)</para>
351 <primary>WINS</primary>
352 </indexterm><indexterm>
353 <primary>DNS</primary>
355 The client must register itself with the WINS and/or DNS
360 <primary>Domain Controller</primary>
361 <secondary>closest</secondary>
363 The client must locate the closest Domain Controller.</para>
366 <para>The client must log onto a Domain Controller and obtain as
367 part of that process the location of the user's profile, load
368 it, connect to redirected folders, and establish all network
369 drive and printer connections.</para>
372 <para>The Domain Controller must be able to resolve the user's
373 credentials before the logon process is fully implemented.</para>
377 <para>Given that this book is about Samba and the fact that it
378 implements the Windows NT4 style domain semantics, it makes little
379 sense to compare Samba with Microsoft Active Directory insofar as
380 the logon protocols and principles of operation are
381 concerned. The following information pertains exclusively to the
382 interaction between a Windows XP Professional workstation and a
383 Samba-3.0.12 server. In the discussion that follows, use is made of
384 DHCP and WINS.</para>
386 <para>As soon as the Windows workstation starts up, it obtains an
387 IP address. This is immediately followed by registration of its
388 name both by broadcast and Unicast registration that is directed
389 at the WINS server.</para>
392 <primary>Unicast</primary>
393 </indexterm><indexterm>
394 <primary>broadcast</primary>
395 <secondary>directed</secondary>
396 </indexterm><indexterm>
397 <primary>NetBIOS</primary>
399 Given that the client is already a Domain Member, it then sends
400 a directed (Unicast) request to the WINS server seeking the list of
401 IP addresses for domain controllers (NetBIOS name type 0x1C). The
402 WINS server replies with the information requested.</para>
405 <primary>broadcast</primary>
406 <secondary>mailslot</secondary>
407 </indexterm><indexterm>
408 <primary>Unicast</primary>
409 </indexterm><indexterm>
410 <primary>WINS</primary>
412 The client sends two netlogon mailslot broadcast requests
413 to the local network and to each of the IP addresses returned by
414 the WINS server. Whichever answers this request first appears to
415 be the machine that the Windows XP client attempts to use to
416 process the network logon. The mailslot messages use UDP broadcast
417 to the local network and UDP Unicast directed at each machine that
418 was listed in the WINS server response to a request for the list of
419 Domain Controllers.</para>
422 <primary>protocol</primary>
423 <secondary>negotiation</secondary>
424 </indexterm><indexterm>
425 <primary>logon server</primary>
426 </indexterm><indexterm>
427 <primary>fail</primary>
429 The logon process begins with negotiation of the SMB/CIFS
430 protocols that are to be used; this is followed by an exchange of
431 information that ultimately includes the client sending the
432 credentials with which the user is attempting to logon. The logon
433 server must now approve the further establishment of the
434 connection, but that is a good point to halt for now. The priority
435 here must center around identification of network infrastructure
436 needs. A secondary fact we need to know is, what happens when
437 local Domain Controllers fail or break?</para>
440 <primary>Domain Controller</primary>
441 </indexterm><indexterm>
442 <primary>PDC</primary>
443 </indexterm><indexterm>
444 <primary>BDC</primary>
445 </indexterm><indexterm>
446 <primary>netlogon</primary>
448 Under most circumstances, the nearest Domain Controller
449 responds to the netlogon mailslot broadcast. The exception to this
450 norm occurs when the nearest Domain Controller is too busy or is out
451 of service. Herein lies an important fact. This means it is
452 important that every network segment should have at least two
453 Domain Controllers. Since there can be only one Primary Domain
454 Controller (PDC), all additional Domain Controllers are by definition
455 Backup Domain Controllers (BDCs).</para>
458 <primary>authentication</primary>
459 </indexterm><indexterm>
460 <primary>Identity Management</primary>
462 The provision of sufficient servers that are BDCs is an
463 important design factor. The second important design factor
464 involves how each of the BDCs obtains user authentication
465 data. That is the subject of the next section as it involves key
466 decisions regarding Identity Management facilities.</para>
471 <title>Identity Management Needs</title>
474 <primary>privacy</primary>
475 </indexterm><indexterm>
476 <primary>user credentials</primary>
477 </indexterm><indexterm>
478 <primary>validated</primary>
479 </indexterm><indexterm>
480 <primary>privileges</primary>
482 Network managers recognize that in large organizations users
483 generally need to be given resource access based on needs, while
484 being excluded from other resources for reasons of privacy. It is,
485 therefore, essential that all users identify themselves at the
486 point of network access. The network logon is the principal means
487 by which user credentials are validated and filtered, and appropriate
488 rights and privileges are allocated.</para>
491 <primary>Identity Management</primary>
492 </indexterm><indexterm>
493 <primary>Yellow Pages</primary>
494 </indexterm><indexterm>
495 <primary>NIS</primary>
497 Unfortunately, network resources tend to have their own Identity
498 Management facilities, the quality and manageability of which varies
499 from quite poor to exceptionally good. Corporations that use a mixture
500 of systems soon discover that until recently, few systems were
501 designed to interoperate. For example, UNIX systems each have an
502 independent user database. Sun Microsystems developed a facility that
503 was originally called <constant>Yellow Pages</constant>, and was renamed
504 when a telephone company objected to the use of its trademark.
505 What was once called <constant>Yellow Pages</constant> is today known
506 as <constant>Network Information System</constant> (NIS).</para>
509 <primary>NIS+</primary>
511 NIS gained a strong following throughout the UNIX/VMS space in a
512 short period of time and retained that appeal and use
513 for over a decade. Security concerns as well as inherent limitations
514 have caused it to enter its twilight. NIS did not gain widespread
515 appeal outside of the UNIX world and was not universally
516 adopted. Sun updated this to a more secure implementation called
517 NIS+, but even it has fallen victim to changing demands as the
518 demand for directory services that can be coupled with other
519 information systems is catching on.</para>
522 <primary>NIS</primary>
523 </indexterm><indexterm>
524 <primary>government</primary>
525 </indexterm><indexterm>
526 <primary>education</primary>
528 Nevertheless, both NIS and NIS+ continue to hold ground in
529 business areas where UNIX still has major sway. Examples of
530 organizations that remain firmly attached to the use of NIS and
531 NIS+ includes large government departments, education institutions,
532 as well as large corporations that have a scientific or engineering
536 <primary>scalable</primary>
537 </indexterm><indexterm>
538 <primary>distributed</primary>
540 Today's networking world needs a scalable, distributed Identity
541 Management infrastructure, commonly called a directory. The most
542 popular technologies today are Microsoft Active Directory service
543 and a number of LDAP implementations.</para>
546 <primary>multiple directories</primary>
548 The problem of managing multiple directories has become a focal
549 point over the past decade. This has created a large market for
550 meta-directory products and services that allow organizations that
551 have multiple directories and multiple management and control
552 centers to provision information from one directory into
553 another. The attendant benefit to end users is the promise of
554 having to remember and deal with fewer login identities and
558 <primary>network</primary>
559 <secondary>bandwidth</secondary>
561 The challenge of every large network is to find the optimum
562 balance of internal systems and facilities for Identity
563 Management resources. How well the solution is chosen and
564 implemented has potentially significant impact on network bandwidth
565 and systems response needs.</para>
568 <primary>LDAP server</primary>
569 </indexterm><indexterm>
570 <primary>LDAP</primary>
571 <secondary>master</secondary>
572 </indexterm><indexterm>
573 <primary>LDAP</primary>
574 <secondary>slave</secondary>
576 In Chapter 6, you implemented a single LDAP server for the
577 entire network. This may work for smaller networks, but almost
578 certainly fails to meet the needs of large and complex networks. The
579 following section documents how one may implement a single
580 master LDAP server, with multiple slave servers.</para>
582 <para>What is the best method for implementing master/slave LDAP
583 servers within the context of a distributed 2000 user network is a
584 question that remains to be answered.</para>
587 <primary>distributed domain</primary>
588 </indexterm><indexterm>
589 <primary>wide-area</primary>
591 One possibility that has great appeal is to create one single
592 large distributed domain. The practical implications of this
593 design (see <link linkend="chap7net"/>) demands the placement of
594 sufficient BDCs in each location. Additionally, network
595 administrators must make sure that profiles are not transferred
596 over the wide-area links, except as a totally unavoidable
597 measure. Network design must balance the risk of loss of user
598 productivity against the cost of network management and
602 <primary>domain name space</primary>
604 The network design in <link linkend="chap7net2"/> takes the
605 approach that management of networks that are too remote to be
606 capable of being managed effectively from New York ought
607 to be given a certain degree of autonomy. With this rationale, the
608 Los Angeles and London networks, though fully integrated with that
609 on the east coast of the USA, each have their own domain name space
610 and can be independently managed and controlled. One of the key
611 drawbacks of this design is that it flies in the face of the
612 ability for network users to roam globally without some compromise
613 in how they may access global resources.</para>
616 <primary>interdomain trusts</primary>
618 Desk-bound users need not be negatively affected by this
619 design, since the use of interdomain trusts can be used to satisfy
620 the need for global data sharing.</para>
623 <primary>LDAP</primary>
624 </indexterm><indexterm>
625 <primary>LDAP</primary>
626 <secondary>backend</secondary>
627 </indexterm><indexterm>
628 <primary>SID</primary>
630 When Samba-3 is configured to use an LDAP backend, it stores the domain
631 account information in a directory entry. This account entry contains
632 the domain SID. An unintended but exploitable side effect is that
633 this makes it possible to operate with more than one PDC on a
634 distributed network.</para>
637 <primary>WINS</primary>
638 </indexterm><indexterm>
639 <primary>wins.dat</primary>
640 </indexterm><indexterm>
641 <primary>SID</primary>
643 How might this peculiar feature be exploited? The answer is
644 simple. It is imperative that each network segment should have its
645 own WINS server. Major servers on remote network segments can be
646 given a static WINS entry in the <filename>wins.dat</filename> file
647 on each WINS server. This allows all essential data to be
648 visible from all locations. Each location would, however, function
649 as if it is an independent domain, while all sharing the same
650 domain SID. Since all domain account information can be stored in a
651 single LDAP backend, users have unfettered ability to
655 <primary>NetBIOS name</primary>
656 <secondary>aliases</secondary>
657 </indexterm><indexterm>
658 <primary>fail-over</primary>
660 This concept has not been exhaustively validated, though we can
661 see no reason why this should not work. The important facets
662 are: The name of the domain must be identical in all
663 locations. Each network segment must have its own WINS server. The
664 name of the PDC must be the same in all locations; this
665 necessitates the use of NetBIOS name aliases for each PDC so that
666 they can be accessed globally using the alias and not the PDC's
667 primary name. A single master LDAP server can be based in New York,
668 with multiple LDAP slave servers located on every network
669 segment. Finally, the BDCs should each use fail-over LDAP servers
670 that are in fact slave LDAP servers on the local segments.</para>
673 <primary>LDAP</primary>
674 <secondary>updates</secondary>
675 </indexterm><indexterm>
676 <primary>domain tree</primary>
677 </indexterm><indexterm>
678 <primary>LDAP</primary>
679 <secondary>database</secondary>
680 </indexterm><indexterm>
681 <primary>LDAP</primary>
682 <secondary>directory</secondary>
684 With a single master LDAP server, all network updates are
685 effected on a single server. In the event that this should become
686 excessively fragile or network bandwidth limiting, one could
687 implement a delegated LDAP domain. This is also known as a
688 partitioned (or multiple partition) LDAP database
689 and as a distributed LDAP directory.</para>
691 <para>As the LDAP directory grows, it becomes increasingly important
692 that its structure is implemented in a manner that mirrors
693 organizational needs, so as to limit network update and
694 referential traffic. It should be noted that all directory
695 administrators must of necessity follow the same standard
696 procedures for managing the directory, as retroactive correction of
697 inconsistent directory information can be exceedingly difficult.</para>
699 <image id="chap7net">
700 <imagedescription>Network Topology &smbmdash; 2000 User Complex Design A</imagedescription>
701 <imagefile scale="60">chap7-net-Ar</imagefile>
704 <image id="chap7net2">
705 <imagedescription>Network Topology &smbmdash; 2000 User Complex Design B</imagedescription>
706 <imagefile scale="60">chap7-net2-Br</imagefile>
715 <title>Political Issues</title>
717 <para>As organizations grow, the number of points of control increase
718 also. In a large distributed organization, it is important that the
719 Identity Management system must be capable of being updated from
720 many locations, and it is equally important that changes made should
721 become capable of being used in a reasonable period, typically
722 minutes rather than days (the old limitation of highly manual
730 <title>Implementation</title>
733 <primary>winbind</primary>
734 </indexterm><indexterm>
735 <primary>LDAP</primary>
736 </indexterm><indexterm>
737 <primary>UID</primary>
738 </indexterm><indexterm>
739 <primary>GID</primary>
741 Samba-3 has the ability to use multiple password (authentication
742 and identity resolution) backends. The diagram in <link
743 linkend="chap7idres"/> demonstrates how Samba uses winbind, LDAP,
744 and NIS, the traditional system password database. The diagram only
745 documents the mechanisms for authentication and identity resolution
746 (obtaining a UNIX UID/GID) using the specific systems shown.
749 <image id="chap7idres">
750 <imagedescription>Samba and Authentication Backend Search Pathways</imagedescription>
751 <imagefile scale="55">chap7-idresol</imagefile>
755 <primary>smbpasswd</primary>
756 </indexterm><indexterm>
757 <primary>xmlsam</primary>
758 </indexterm><indexterm>
759 <primary>SMB passwords</primary>
760 </indexterm><indexterm>
761 <primary>tdbsam</primary>
762 </indexterm><indexterm>
763 <primary>mysqlsam</primary>
764 </indexterm><indexterm>
765 <primary>LDAP</primary>
766 </indexterm><indexterm>
767 <primary>distributed</primary>
769 Samba is capable of using the <constant>smbpasswd</constant>,
770 <constant>tdbsam</constant>, <constant>xmlsam</constant>,
771 and <constant>mysqlsam</constant> authentication databases. The SMB
772 passwords can, of course, also be stored in an LDAP ldapsam
773 backend. LDAP is the preferred passdb backend for distributed network
777 <primary>passdb backend</primary>
779 Additionally, it is possible to use multiple passdb backends
780 concurrently as well as have multiple LDAP backends. As a result, one
781 can specify a fail-over LDAP backend. The syntax for specifying a
782 single LDAP backend in &smb.conf; is:
785 passdb backend = ldapsam:ldap://master.abmas.biz
788 This configuration tells Samba to use a single LDAP server as shown in
789 <link linkend="ch7singleLDAP"/>.
790 <image id="ch7singleLDAP">
791 <imagedescription>Samba Configuration to Use a Single LDAP Server</imagedescription>
792 <imagefile scale="65">ch7-singleLDAP</imagefile>
795 <primary>LDAP</primary>
796 <secondary>fail-over</secondary>
797 </indexterm><indexterm>
798 <primary>fail-over</primary>
800 The addition of a fail-over LDAP server can simply be done by adding a
801 second entry for the fail-over server to the single
802 <parameter>ldapsam</parameter> entry as shown here (note the particular
803 use of the double quotes):
806 passdb backend = ldapsam:"ldap://master.abmas.biz \
807 ldap://slave.abmas.biz"
810 This configuration tells Samba to use a master LDAP server, with fail-over to a slave server if necessary,
811 as shown in <link linkend="ch7dualLDAP"/>.
812 <image id="ch7dualLDAP">
813 <imagedescription>Samba Configuration to Use a Dual (Fail-over) LDAP Server</imagedescription>
814 <imagefile scale="65">ch7-fail-overLDAP</imagefile>
818 <para>Some folks have tried to implement this without the use of
819 double quotes as shown above. This is the type of entry they had
823 passdb backend = ldapsam:ldap://master.abmas.biz \
824 ldapsam:ldap://slave.abmas.biz
828 <primary>contiguous directory</primary>
830 The effect of this style of entry is that Samba lists the users
831 that are in both LDAP databases. If both contain the same information,
832 it results in each record being shown twice. This is, of course, not the
833 solution desired for a fail-over implementation. The net effect of this
834 configuration is shown in <link linkend="ch7dualadd"/>
837 <image id="ch7dualadd">
838 <imagedescription>Samba Configuration to Use Dual LDAP Databases - Broken - Do Not Use!</imagedescription>
839 <imagefile scale="55">ch7-dual-additive-LDAP</imagefile>
843 If, however, each LDAP database contains unique information, this may
844 well be an advantageous way to effectively integrate multiple LDAP databases
845 into one seemingly contiguous directory. Only the first database will be updated.
846 An example of this configuration is shown in <link linkend="ch7dualok"/>.
849 <image id="ch7dualok">
850 <imagedescription>Samba Configuration to Use Two LDAP Databases - The result is additive.</imagedescription>
851 <imagefile scale="55">ch7-dual-additive-LDAP-Ok</imagefile>
855 When the use of ldapsam is specified twice, as shown here, it is imperative
856 that the two LDAP directories must be disjoint. If the entries are for a
857 master LDAP server as well as its own slave server, updates to the LDAP
858 database may end up being lost or corrupted. You may safely use multiple
859 LDAP backends only so long as both are entirely separate from each other.
862 <para>It is assumed that the network you are working with follows in a
863 pattern similar to what has been covered in Chapter 6. The following steps
864 permit the operation of a Master/Slave OpenLDAP arrangement.</para>
870 <primary>SUSE Linux</primary>
871 </indexterm><indexterm>
872 <primary>Red Hat Linux</primary>
874 Log onto the master LDAP server as <constant>root</constant>.
875 You are about to change the configuration of the LDAP server, so it
876 makes sense to temporarily halt it. Stop OpenLDAP from running on
877 SUSE Linux by executing:
879 &rootprompt; rcldap stop
881 On Red Hat Linux, you can do this by executing:
883 &rootprompt; service ldap stop
887 <step><para><indexterm>
888 <primary>/etc/openldap/slapd.conf</primary>
890 Edit the <filename>/etc/openldap/slapd.conf</filename> file so it
891 matches the content of <link linkend="ch7-LDAP-master"/>.
895 Create a file called <filename>admin-accts.ldif</filename> with the following contents:
897 dn: cn=updateuser,dc=abmas,dc=biz
901 userPassword: not24get
903 dn: cn=sambaadmin,dc=abmas,dc=biz
907 userPassword: buttercup
912 Add an account called <quote>updateuser</quote> to the master LDAP server
915 &rootprompt; slapadd -v -l admin-accts.ldif
919 <step><para><indexterm>
920 <primary>LDIF</primary>
921 </indexterm><indexterm>
922 <primary>LDAP</primary>
923 <secondary>preload</secondary>
925 Change directory to a suitable place to dump the contents of the
926 LDAP server. The dump file (and LDIF file) is used to preload
927 the Slave LDAP server database. You can dump the database by executing:
929 &rootprompt; slapcat -v -l LDAP-transfer-LDIF.txt
931 Each record is written to the file.
934 <step><para><indexterm>
935 <primary>LDAP-transfer-LDIF.txt</primary>
937 Copy the file <filename>LDAP-transfer-LDIF.txt</filename> to the intended
938 slave LDAP server. A good location could be in the directory
939 <filename>/etc/openldap/preload</filename>.
943 Log onto the slave LDAP server as <constant>root</constant>. You can
944 now configure this server so the <filename>/etc/openldap/slapd.conf</filename>
945 file matches the content of <link linkend="ch7-LDAP-slave"/>.
949 Change directory to the location in which you stored the
950 <filename>LDAP-transfer-LDIF.txt</filename> file (<filename>/etc/openldap/preload</filename>).
951 While in this directory, execute:
953 &rootprompt; slapadd -v -l LDAP-transfer-LDIF.txt
955 If all goes well, the following output confirms that the data is being loaded
958 added: "dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000001)
959 added: "cn=sambaadmin,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000002)
960 added: "cn=updateuser,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000003)
961 added: "ou=People,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000004)
962 added: "ou=Groups,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000005)
963 added: "ou=Computers,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000006)
964 added: "uid=Administrator,ou=People,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000007)
965 added: "uid=nobody,ou=People,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000008)
966 added: "cn=Domain Admins,ou=Groups,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000009)
967 added: "cn=Domain Users,ou=Groups,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (0000000a)
968 added: "cn=Domain Guests,ou=Groups,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (0000000b)
969 added: "uid=bobj,ou=People,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (0000000c)
970 added: "sambaDomainName=MEGANET2,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (0000000d)
971 added: "uid=stans,ou=People,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (0000000e)
972 added: "uid=chrisr,ou=People,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (0000000f)
973 added: "uid=maryv,ou=People,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000010)
974 added: "cn=Accounts,ou=Groups,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000011)
975 added: "cn=Finances,ou=Groups,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000012)
976 added: "cn=PIOps,ou=Groups,dc=abmas,dc=biz" (00000013)
981 Now start the LDAP server and set it to run automatically on system reboot
984 &rootprompt; rcldap start
985 &rootprompt; chkconfig ldap on
987 On Red Hat Linux, you would execute the following:
989 &rootprompt; service ldap start
990 &rootprompt; chkconfig ldap on
993 <primary>chkconfig</primary>
994 </indexterm><indexterm>
995 <primary>service</primary>
996 </indexterm><indexterm>
997 <primary>rcldap</primary>
1002 Go back to the master LDAP server. Execute the following to start LDAP as well
1003 as <command>slurpd</command>, the synchronization daemon, as shown here:
1005 &rootprompt; rcldap start
1006 &rootprompt; chkconfig ldap on
1007 &rootprompt; rcslurpd start
1008 &rootprompt; chkconfig slurpd on
1011 <primary>slurpd</primary>
1013 On Red Hat Linux, check the equivalent command to start <command>slurpd</command>.
1016 <step><para><indexterm>
1017 <primary>smbldap-useradd</primary>
1019 On the master ldap server you may now add an account to validate that replication
1020 is working. Assuming the configuration shown in Chapter 6, execute:
1022 &rootprompt; /var/lib/samba/sbin/smbldap-useradd -a fruitloop
1027 On the slave LDAP server, change to the directory <filename>/var/lib/ldap</filename>.
1028 There should now be a file called <filename>replogfile</filename>. If replication worked
1029 as expected, the content of this file should be:
1032 dn: uid=fruitloop,ou=People,dc=abmas,dc=biz
1034 replace: sambaProfilePath
1035 sambaProfilePath: \\MASSIVE\profiles\fruitloop
1037 replace: sambaHomePath
1038 sambaHomePath: \\MASSIVE\homes
1041 entryCSN: 2003122700:43:38Z#0x0005#0#0000
1043 replace: modifiersName
1044 modifiersName: cn=Manager,dc=abmas,dc=biz
1046 replace: modifyTimestamp
1047 modifyTimestamp: 20031227004338Z
1053 Given that this first slave LDAP server is now working correctly, you may now
1054 implement additional slave LDAP servers as required.
1059 <example id="ch7-LDAP-master">
1060 <title>LDAP Master Server Configuration File &smbmdash; <filename>/etc/openldap/slapd.conf</filename></title>
1062 include /etc/openldap/schema/core.schema
1063 include /etc/openldap/schema/cosine.schema
1064 include /etc/openldap/schema/inetorgperson.schema
1065 include /etc/openldap/schema/nis.schema
1066 include /etc/openldap/schema/samba.schema
1068 pidfile /var/run/slapd/slapd.pid
1069 argsfile /var/run/slapd/slapd.args
1072 suffix "dc=abmas,dc=biz"
1073 rootdn "cn=Manager,dc=abmas,dc=biz"
1076 rootpw {SSHA}86kTavd9Dw3FAz6qzWTrCOKX/c0Qe+UV
1078 replica host=lapdc.abmas.biz:389
1079 suffix="dc=abmas,dc=biz"
1080 binddn="cn=updateuser,dc=abmas,dc=biz"
1081 bindmethod=simple credentials=not24get
1083 access to attrs=sambaLMPassword,sambaNTPassword
1084 by dn="cn=updateuser,dc=abmas,dc=biz" write
1087 replogfile /var/lib/ldap/replogfile
1089 directory /var/lib/ldap
1091 # Indices to maintain
1092 index objectClass eq
1093 index cn pres,sub,eq
1094 index sn pres,sub,eq
1095 index uid pres,sub,eq
1096 index displayName pres,sub,eq
1101 index sambaPrimaryGroupSID eq
1102 index sambaDomainName eq
1107 <example id="ch7-LDAP-slave">
1108 <title>LDAP Slave Configuration File &smbmdash; <filename>/etc/openldap/slapd.conf</filename></title>
1110 include /etc/openldap/schema/core.schema
1111 include /etc/openldap/schema/cosine.schema
1112 include /etc/openldap/schema/inetorgperson.schema
1113 include /etc/openldap/schema/nis.schema
1114 include /etc/openldap/schema/samba.schema
1116 pidfile /var/run/slapd/slapd.pid
1117 argsfile /var/run/slapd/slapd.args
1120 suffix "dc=abmas,dc=biz"
1121 rootdn "cn=Manager,dc=abmas,dc=biz"
1124 rootpw {SSHA}86kTavd9Dw3FAz6qzWTrCOKX/c0Qe+UV
1127 by dn=cn=updateuser,dc=abmas,dc=biz write
1130 updatedn cn=updateuser,dc=abmas,dc=biz
1131 updateref ldap://massive.abmas.biz
1133 directory /var/lib/ldap
1135 # Indices to maintain
1136 index objectClass eq
1137 index cn pres,sub,eq
1138 index sn pres,sub,eq
1139 index uid pres,sub,eq
1140 index displayName pres,sub,eq
1145 index sambaPrimaryGroupSID eq
1146 index sambaDomainName eq
1151 <smbconfexample id="ch7-massmbconfA">
1152 <title>Primary Domain Controller &smb.conf; File &smbmdash; Part A</title>
1153 <smbconfcomment>Global parameters</smbconfcomment>
1154 <smbconfsection name="[global]"/>
1155 <smbconfoption name="unix charset">LOCALE</smbconfoption>
1156 <smbconfoption name="workgroup">MEGANET2</smbconfoption>
1157 <smbconfoption name="passdb backend">ldapsam:ldap://massive.abmas.biz</smbconfoption>
1158 <smbconfoption name="username map">/etc/samba/smbusers</smbconfoption>
1159 <smbconfoption name="log level">1</smbconfoption>
1160 <smbconfoption name="syslog">0</smbconfoption>
1161 <smbconfoption name="log file">/var/log/samba/%m</smbconfoption>
1162 <smbconfoption name="max log size">0</smbconfoption>
1163 <smbconfoption name="smb ports">139 445</smbconfoption>
1164 <smbconfoption name="name resolve order">wins bcast hosts</smbconfoption>
1165 <smbconfoption name="time server">Yes</smbconfoption>
1166 <smbconfoption name="printcap name">CUPS</smbconfoption>
1167 <smbconfoption name="add user script">/opt/IDEALX/sbin/smbldap-useradd -m '%u'</smbconfoption>
1168 <smbconfoption name="delete user script">/opt/IDEALX/sbin/smbldap-userdel '%u'</smbconfoption>
1169 <smbconfoption name="add group script">/opt/IDEALX/sbin/smbldap-groupadd -p '%g'</smbconfoption>
1170 <smbconfoption name="delete group script">/opt/IDEALX/sbin/smbldap-groupdel '%g'</smbconfoption>
1171 <smbconfoption name="add user to group script">/opt/IDEALX/sbin/</smbconfoption>
1172 <member><parameter>smbldap-groupmod -m '%g' '%u'</parameter></member>
1173 <smbconfoption name="delete user from group script">/opt/IDEALX/sbin/</smbconfoption>
1174 <member><parameter>smbldap-groupmod -x '%g' '%u'</parameter></member>
1175 <smbconfoption name="set primary group script">/opt/IDEALX/sbin/</smbconfoption>
1176 <member><parameter>smbldap-usermod -g '%g' '%u'</parameter></member>
1177 <smbconfoption name="add machine script">/opt/IDEALX/sbin/</smbconfoption>
1178 <member><parameter>smbldap-useradd -w '%u'</parameter></member>
1179 <smbconfoption name="shutdown script">/var/lib/samba/scripts/shutdown.sh</smbconfoption>
1180 <smbconfoption name="abort shutdown script">/sbin/shutdown -c</smbconfoption>
1181 <smbconfoption name="logon script">scripts\logon.bat</smbconfoption>
1182 <smbconfoption name="logon path">\\%L\profiles\%U</smbconfoption>
1183 <smbconfoption name="logon drive">X:</smbconfoption>
1184 <smbconfoption name="domain logons">Yes</smbconfoption>
1185 <smbconfoption name="domain master">Yes</smbconfoption>
1186 <smbconfoption name="wins support">Yes</smbconfoption>
1187 <smbconfoption name="ldap suffix">dc=abmas,dc=biz</smbconfoption>
1188 <smbconfoption name="ldap machine suffix">ou=People</smbconfoption>
1189 <smbconfoption name="ldap user suffix">ou=People</smbconfoption>
1190 <smbconfoption name="ldap group suffix">ou=Groups</smbconfoption>
1191 <smbconfoption name="ldap idmap suffix">ou=Idmap</smbconfoption>
1192 <smbconfoption name="ldap admin dn">cn=Manager,dc=abmas,dc=biz</smbconfoption>
1193 <smbconfoption name="idmap backend">ldap://massive.abmas.biz</smbconfoption>
1194 <smbconfoption name="idmap uid">10000-20000</smbconfoption>
1195 <smbconfoption name="idmap gid">10000-20000</smbconfoption>
1196 <smbconfoption name="printer admin">root</smbconfoption>
1197 <smbconfoption name="printing">cups</smbconfoption>
1200 <smbconfexample id="ch7-massmbconfB">
1201 <title>Primary Domain Controller &smb.conf; File &smbmdash; Part B</title>
1202 <smbconfsection name="[IPC$]"/>
1203 <smbconfoption name="path">/tmp</smbconfoption>
1205 <smbconfsection name="[accounts]"/>
1206 <smbconfoption name="comment">Accounting Files</smbconfoption>
1207 <smbconfoption name="path">/data/accounts</smbconfoption>
1208 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1210 <smbconfsection name="[service]"/>
1211 <smbconfoption name="comment">Financial Services Files</smbconfoption>
1212 <smbconfoption name="path">/data/service</smbconfoption>
1213 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1215 <smbconfsection name="[pidata]"/>
1216 <smbconfoption name="comment">Property Insurance Files</smbconfoption>
1217 <smbconfoption name="path">/data/pidata</smbconfoption>
1218 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1220 <smbconfsection name="[homes]"/>
1221 <smbconfoption name="comment">Home Directories</smbconfoption>
1222 <smbconfoption name="valid users">%S</smbconfoption>
1223 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1224 <smbconfoption name="browseable">No</smbconfoption>
1226 <smbconfsection name="[printers]"/>
1227 <smbconfoption name="comment">SMB Print Spool</smbconfoption>
1228 <smbconfoption name="path">/var/spool/samba</smbconfoption>
1229 <smbconfoption name="guest ok">Yes</smbconfoption>
1230 <smbconfoption name="printable">Yes</smbconfoption>
1231 <smbconfoption name="browseable">No</smbconfoption>
1234 <smbconfexample id="ch7-massmbconfC">
1235 <title>Primary Domain Controller &smb.conf; File &smbmdash; Part C</title>
1236 <smbconfsection name="[apps]"/>
1237 <smbconfoption name="comment">Application Files</smbconfoption>
1238 <smbconfoption name="path">/apps</smbconfoption>
1239 <smbconfoption name="admin users">bjones</smbconfoption>
1240 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1242 <smbconfsection name="[netlogon]"/>
1243 <smbconfoption name="comment">Network Logon Service</smbconfoption>
1244 <smbconfoption name="path">/var/lib/samba/netlogon</smbconfoption>
1245 <smbconfoption name="admin users">root, Administrator</smbconfoption>
1246 <smbconfoption name="guest ok">Yes</smbconfoption>
1247 <smbconfoption name="locking">No</smbconfoption>
1249 <smbconfsection name="[profiles]"/>
1250 <smbconfoption name="comment">Profile Share</smbconfoption>
1251 <smbconfoption name="path">/var/lib/samba/profiles</smbconfoption>
1252 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1253 <smbconfoption name="profile acls">Yes</smbconfoption>
1255 <smbconfsection name="[profdata]"/>
1256 <smbconfoption name="comment">Profile Data Share</smbconfoption>
1257 <smbconfoption name="path">/var/lib/samba/profdata</smbconfoption>
1258 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1259 <smbconfoption name="profile acls">Yes</smbconfoption>
1261 <smbconfsection name="[print$]"/>
1262 <smbconfoption name="comment">Printer Drivers</smbconfoption>
1263 <smbconfoption name="path">/var/lib/samba/drivers</smbconfoption>
1264 <smbconfoption name="write list">root</smbconfoption>
1265 <smbconfoption name="admin users">root, Administrator</smbconfoption>
1268 <smbconfexample id="ch7-slvsmbocnfA">
1269 <title>Backup Domain Controller &smb.conf; File &smbmdash; Part A</title>
1270 <smbconfcomment># Global parameters</smbconfcomment>
1271 <smbconfsection name="[global]"/>
1272 <smbconfoption name="unix charset">LOCALE</smbconfoption>
1273 <smbconfoption name="workgroup">MEGANET2</smbconfoption>
1274 <smbconfoption name="netbios name">BLDG1</smbconfoption>
1275 <smbconfoption name="passdb backend">ldapsam:ldap://lapdc.abmas.biz</smbconfoption>
1276 <smbconfoption name="username map">/etc/samba/smbusers</smbconfoption>
1277 <smbconfoption name="log level">1</smbconfoption>
1278 <smbconfoption name="syslog">0</smbconfoption>
1279 <smbconfoption name="log file">/var/log/samba/%m</smbconfoption>
1280 <smbconfoption name="max log size">50</smbconfoption>
1281 <smbconfoption name="smb ports">139 445</smbconfoption>
1282 <smbconfoption name="name resolve order">wins bcast hosts</smbconfoption>
1283 <smbconfoption name="printcap name">CUPS</smbconfoption>
1284 <smbconfoption name="show add printer wizard">No</smbconfoption>
1285 <smbconfoption name="logon script">scripts\logon.bat</smbconfoption>
1286 <smbconfoption name="logon path">\\%L\profiles\%U</smbconfoption>
1287 <smbconfoption name="logon drive">X:</smbconfoption>
1288 <smbconfoption name="domain logons">Yes</smbconfoption>
1289 <smbconfoption name="os level">63</smbconfoption>
1290 <smbconfoption name="domain master">No</smbconfoption>
1291 <smbconfoption name="wins server">192.168.2.1</smbconfoption>
1292 <smbconfoption name="ldap suffix">dc=abmas,dc=biz</smbconfoption>
1293 <smbconfoption name="ldap machine suffix">ou=People</smbconfoption>
1294 <smbconfoption name="ldap user suffix">ou=People</smbconfoption>
1295 <smbconfoption name="ldap group suffix">ou=Groups</smbconfoption>
1296 <smbconfoption name="ldap idmap suffix">ou=Idmap</smbconfoption>
1297 <smbconfoption name="ldap admin dn">cn=Manager,dc=abmas,dc=biz</smbconfoption>
1298 <smbconfoption name="utmp">Yes</smbconfoption>
1299 <smbconfoption name="idmap backend">ldap://massive.abmas.biz</smbconfoption>
1300 <smbconfoption name="idmap uid">10000-20000</smbconfoption>
1301 <smbconfoption name="idmap gid">10000-20000</smbconfoption>
1302 <smbconfoption name="printing">cups</smbconfoption>
1304 <smbconfsection name="[accounts]"/>
1305 <smbconfoption name="comment">Accounting Files</smbconfoption>
1306 <smbconfoption name="path">/data/accounts</smbconfoption>
1307 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1309 <smbconfsection name="[service]"/>
1310 <smbconfoption name="comment">Financial Services Files</smbconfoption>
1311 <smbconfoption name="path">/data/service</smbconfoption>
1312 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1315 <smbconfexample id="ch7-slvsmbocnfB">
1316 <title>Backup Domain Controller &smb.conf; File &smbmdash; Part B</title>
1317 <smbconfsection name="[pidata]"/>
1318 <smbconfoption name="comment">Property Insurance Files</smbconfoption>
1319 <smbconfoption name="path">/data/pidata</smbconfoption>
1320 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1322 <smbconfsection name="[homes]"/>
1323 <smbconfoption name="comment">Home Directories</smbconfoption>
1324 <smbconfoption name="valid users">%S</smbconfoption>
1325 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1326 <smbconfoption name="browseable">No</smbconfoption>
1328 <smbconfsection name="[printers]"/>
1329 <smbconfoption name="comment">SMB Print Spool</smbconfoption>
1330 <smbconfoption name="path">/var/spool/samba</smbconfoption>
1331 <smbconfoption name="guest ok">Yes</smbconfoption>
1332 <smbconfoption name="printable">Yes</smbconfoption>
1333 <smbconfoption name="browseable">No</smbconfoption>
1335 <smbconfsection name="[apps]"/>
1336 <smbconfoption name="comment">Application Files</smbconfoption>
1337 <smbconfoption name="path">/apps</smbconfoption>
1338 <smbconfoption name="admin users">bjones</smbconfoption>
1339 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1341 <smbconfsection name="[netlogon]"/>
1342 <smbconfoption name="comment">Network Logon Service</smbconfoption>
1343 <smbconfoption name="path">/var/lib/samba/netlogon</smbconfoption>
1344 <smbconfoption name="guest ok">Yes</smbconfoption>
1345 <smbconfoption name="locking">No</smbconfoption>
1347 <smbconfsection name="[profiles]"/>
1348 <smbconfoption name="comment">Profile Share</smbconfoption>
1349 <smbconfoption name="path">/var/lib/samba/profiles</smbconfoption>
1350 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1351 <smbconfoption name="profile acls">Yes</smbconfoption>
1353 <smbconfsection name="[profdata]"/>
1354 <smbconfoption name="comment">Profile Data Share</smbconfoption>
1355 <smbconfoption name="path">/var/lib/samba/profdata</smbconfoption>
1356 <smbconfoption name="read only">No</smbconfoption>
1357 <smbconfoption name="profile acls">Yes</smbconfoption>
1361 <title>Key Points Learned</title>
1367 <listitem><para><indexterm>
1368 <primary>LDAP</primary>
1369 </indexterm><indexterm>
1370 <primary>BDC</primary>
1372 Where Samba-3 is used as a Domain Controller, the use of LDAP is an
1373 essential component necessary to permit the use of BDCs.
1376 <listitem><para><indexterm>
1377 <primary>wide-area</primary>
1379 Replication of the LDAP master server to create a network of BDCs
1380 is an important mechanism for limiting wide-area network traffic.
1384 Network administration presents many complex challenges, most of which
1385 can be satisfied by good design, but that also require sound communication
1386 and unification of management practices. This can be highly challenging in
1387 a large, globally distributed network.
1391 Roaming profiles must be contained to the local network segment. Any
1392 departure from this may clog wide-area arteries and slow legitimate network
1402 <title>Questions and Answers</title>
1405 There is much rumor and misinformation regarding the use of MS Windows networking protocols.
1406 These questions are just a few of those frequently asked.
1409 <qandaset defaultlabel="chap07qa">
1414 <primary>DHCP</primary>
1415 </indexterm><indexterm>
1416 <primary>network</primary>
1417 <secondary>bandwidth</secondary>
1419 Is it true that DHCP uses lots of wide-area network bandwidth?
1426 <primary>DHCP</primary>
1427 <secondary>Relay Agent</secondary>
1428 </indexterm><indexterm>
1429 <primary>routers</primary>
1430 </indexterm><indexterm>
1431 <primary>DHCP</primary>
1432 <secondary>servers</secondary>
1434 It is a smart practice to localize DHCP servers on each network segment. As a
1435 rule, there should be two DHCP servers per network segment. This means that if
1436 one server fails, there is always another to service user needs. DHCP requests use
1437 only UDP broadcast protocols. It is possible to run a DHCP Relay Agent on network
1438 routers. This makes it possible to run fewer DHCP servers.
1442 <primary>DHCP</primary>
1443 <secondary>request</secondary>
1444 </indexterm><indexterm>
1445 <primary>DHCP</primary>
1446 <secondary>traffic</secondary>
1448 A DHCP network address request and confirmation usually results in about six UDP packets.
1449 The packets are from 60 to 568 bytes in length. Let us consider a site that has 300 DHCP
1450 clients and that uses a 24-hour IP address lease. This means that all clients renew
1451 their IP address lease every 24 hours. If we assume an average packet length equal to the
1452 maximum (just to be on the safe side), and we have a 128 Kbit/sec wide-area connection,
1453 how significant would the DHCP traffic be if all of it were to use DHCP Relay?
1457 I must stress that this is a bad design, but here is the calculation:
1459 Daily Network Capacity: 128,000 (Kbits/s) / 8 (bits/byte)
1460 x 3600 (sec/hr) x 24 (hrs/day)= 2288 Mbytes/day.
1462 DHCP traffic: 300 (clients) x 6 (packets)
1463 x 512 (bytes/packet) = 0.9 Mbytes/day.
1465 From this can be seen that the traffic impact would be minimal.
1469 <primary>DNS</primary>
1470 <secondary>Dynamic</secondary>
1471 </indexterm><indexterm>
1472 <primary>DHCP</primary>
1474 Even when DHCP is configured to do DNS update (Dynamic DNS) over a wide-area link,
1475 the impact of the update is no more than the DHCP IP address renewal traffic and, thus,
1476 still insignificant for most practical purposes.
1486 <primary>background communication</primary>
1487 </indexterm><indexterm>
1488 <primary>LDAP</primary>
1489 <secondary>master/slave</secondary>
1490 <tertiary>background communication</tertiary>
1492 How much background communication takes place between a Master LDAP
1493 server and its slave LDAP servers?
1500 <primary>slurpd</primary>
1502 The process that controls the replication of data from the Master LDAP server to the Slave LDAP
1503 servers is called <command>slurpd</command>. The <command>slurpd</command> remains nascent (quiet)
1504 until an update must be propagated. The propagation traffic per LDAP salve to update (add/modify/delete)
1505 two user accounts requires less than 10Kbytes traffic.
1515 LDAP has a database. Is LDAP not just a fancy database front end?
1522 <primary>database</primary>
1523 </indexterm><indexterm>
1524 <primary>LDAP</primary>
1525 <secondary>database</secondary>
1526 </indexterm><indexterm>
1527 <primary>SQL</primary>
1528 </indexterm><indexterm>
1529 <primary>transactional</primary>
1531 LDAP does store its data in a database of sorts. In fact the LDAP backend is an application-specific
1532 data storage system. This type of database is indexed so that records can be rapidly located, but the
1533 database is not generic and can be used only in particular pre-programmed ways. General external
1534 applications do not gain access to the data. This type of database is used also by SQL servers. Both
1535 an SQL server and an LDAP server provide ways to access the data. An SQL server has a transactional
1536 orientation and typically allows external programs to perform ad-hoc queries, even across data tables.
1537 An LDAP front end is a purpose-built tool that has a search orientation that is designed around specific
1538 simple queries. The term <constant>database</constant> is heavily overloaded and, thus, much misunderstood.
1548 <primary>OpenLDAP</primary>
1550 Can Active Directory obtain account information from an OpenLDAP server?
1557 <primary>meta-directory</primary>
1559 No, at least not directly. It is possible to provision Active Directory from/to an OpenLDAP
1560 database through use of a meta-directory server. Microsoft MMS (now called MIIS) can interface
1561 to OpenLDAP using standard LDAP queries/updates.
1571 What are the parts of a roaming profile? How large is each part?
1578 <primary>roaming profile</primary>
1580 A roaming profile consists of:
1585 Desktop folders such as: <constant>Desktop, My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, Internet Files,
1586 Cookies, Application Data, Local Settings,</constant> and more. See <link linkend="XP-screen001"/>.
1590 <primary>folder redirection</primary>
1592 Each of these can be anywhere from a few bytes to gigabytes in capacity. Fortunately, all
1593 such folders can be redirected to network drive resources. See <link linkend="redirfold"/>
1594 for more information regarding folder redirection.
1598 A static or re-writable portion that is typically only a few files (2-5 Kbytes of information).
1601 <listitem><para><indexterm>
1602 <primary>NTUSER.DAT</primary>
1603 </indexterm><indexterm>
1604 <primary>HKEY_LOCAL_USER</primary>
1606 The registry load file that modifies the <constant>HKEY_LOCAL_USER</constant> hive. This is
1607 the <filename>NTUSER.DAT</filename> file. It can be from 0.4-1.5 MBytes.
1612 <primary>Microsoft Outlook</primary>
1613 <secondary>PST files</secondary>
1615 Microsoft Outlook PST files may be stored in the <constant>Local Settings\Application Data</constant>
1616 folder. It can be up to 2 Gbytes in size per PST file.
1626 Can the <constant>My Documents</constant> folder be stored on a network drive?
1633 <primary>UNC name</primary>
1634 </indexterm><indexterm>
1635 <primary>Universal Naming Convention</primary>
1638 Yes. More correctly, such folders can be redirected to network shares. No specific network drive
1639 connection is required. Registry settings permit this to be redirected directly to a UNC (Universal
1640 Naming Convention) resource, though it is possible to specify a network drive letter instead of a
1641 UNC name. See <link linkend="redirfold"/>.
1651 <primary>wide-area</primary>
1652 </indexterm><indexterm>
1653 <primary>network</primary>
1654 <secondary>bandwidth</secondary>
1655 </indexterm><indexterm>
1656 <primary>WINS</primary>
1658 How much wide-area network bandwidth does WINS consume?
1665 <primary>NetBIOS</primary>
1666 <secondary>name cache</secondary>
1667 </indexterm><indexterm>
1668 <primary>WINS server</primary>
1669 </indexterm><indexterm>
1670 <primary>domain replication</primary>
1672 MS Windows clients cache information obtained from WINS lookups in a local NetBIOS name cache.
1673 This keeps WINS lookups to a minimum. On a network with 3500 MS Windows clients and a central WINS
1674 server, the total bandwidth demand measured at the WINS server, averaged over an eight-hour working day,
1675 was less than 30 Kbytes/sec. Analysis of network traffic over a six-week period showed that the total
1676 of all background traffic consumed about 11 percent of available bandwidth over 64 Kbit/sec links.
1677 Back-ground traffic consisted of domain replication, WINS queries, DNS lookups, authentication
1678 traffic. Each of 11 branch offices had a 64 Kbit/sec wide-area link, with a 1.5 Mbit/sec main connection
1679 that aggregated the branch office connections plus an Internet connection.
1683 In conclusion, the total load afforded through WINS traffic is again marginal to total operational
1684 usage &smbmdash; as it should be.
1694 How many BDCs should I have? What is the right number of Windows clients per server?
1701 It is recommended to have at least one BDC per network segment, including the segment served
1702 by the PDC. Actual requirements vary depending on the working load on each of the BDCs and the
1703 load demand pattern of client usage. I have seen sites that function without problem with 200
1704 clients served by one BDC, and yet other sites that had one BDC per 20 clients. In one particular
1705 company, there was a drafting office that has 30 CAD/CAM operators served by one server, a print
1706 server; and an application server. While all three were BDCs, typically only the print server would
1707 service network logon requests after the first 10 users had started to use the network. This was
1708 a reflection of the service load placed on both the application server and the data server.
1712 As unsatisfactory as the answer might sound, it all depends on network and server load
1723 <primary>NIS server</primary>
1724 </indexterm><indexterm>
1725 <primary>LDAP</primary>
1727 I've heard that you can store NIS accounts in LDAP. Is LDAP not just a smarter way to
1735 The correct answer to both questions is yes. But do understand that an LDAP server has
1736 a configurable schema that can store far more information for many more purposes than
1747 Can I use NIS in place of LDAP?
1754 <primary>NIS</primary>
1755 </indexterm><indexterm>
1756 <primary>NIS schema</primary>
1758 No. The NIS database does not have provision to store Microsoft encrypted passwords and does not deal
1759 with the types of data necessary for interoperability with Microsoft Windows networking. The use
1760 of LDAP with Samba requires the use of a number of schemas, one of which is the NIS schema, but also
1761 a Samba-specific schema extension.