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    Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IT Discussion
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    • coliverC
      coliver
      last edited by

      Samba4 is a drop-in replacement for Active Directory. It can manage users, group policies, etc.

      jrcJ Emad RE 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • coliverC
        coliver
        last edited by

        You may want to consider one of the pre-built distributions for this. There is one here in the community that posted about a new version just recently... let me see if I can dig it up.

        jrcJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • jrcJ
          jrc @coliver
          last edited by

          @coliver

          Is there a web front end that could used with it to make config easier? I am not shy to use the command line, but I do like to make my life easier when I can.

          scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • coliverC
            coliver
            last edited by coliver

            Looks up Zentyal. That's one of them. Still looking for the other one.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • jrcJ
              jrc @coliver
              last edited by jrc

              @coliver

              Pre-built is good, I am always a fan of like Pre-built!

              I remember that ClearOS did this at one point, but it looks like ClearOS is no longer free, or at least the free version is limited.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • coliverC
                coliver
                last edited by

                The other question to ask is how easily these resources can be hosted? Could you move this client to something like AzureAD and Office365. That would give them Onedrive for business and sharepoint to facilitate the fileshares.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • coliverC
                  coliver
                  last edited by

                  What kind of application are they running? Are there any SaaS versions of it?

                  jrcJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • DanpD
                    Danp
                    last edited by

                    I believe NethServer was the other one recently discussed.

                    coliverC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                    • coliverC
                      coliver @Danp
                      last edited by

                      @Danp said in Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server:

                      I believe NethServer was the other one recently discussed.

                      Yep that was it. Here's the link http://www.nethserver.org/

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                      • jrcJ
                        jrc @coliver
                        last edited by

                        @coliver

                        The application is a custom (badly) build one that they have to use as per their franchise agreement. It has to be local, and it has to be on Windows.

                        coliverC 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • coliverC
                          coliver @jrc
                          last edited by

                          @jrc said in Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server:

                          @coliver

                          The application is a custom (badly) build one that they have to use as per their franchise agreement. It has to be local, and it has to be on Windows.

                          Fair enough.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • jrcJ
                            jrc
                            last edited by

                            Hmm, the problem with the pre-built ones you mentioned is that they come with a ton of things that won't be needed. There is no reason for it to handle email, or web filtering among other things. AD, DNS and File Server is all they need.

                            I assume the non-needed services can be turned off so that they do not consume any resources?

                            scottalanmillerS vhinzsanchezV 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • scottalanmillerS
                              scottalanmiller @jrc
                              last edited by

                              @jrc said in Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server:

                              Are there any good linux substitutions for AD and Windows Server?

                              For AD definitely. Samba 4 has been around for years. For "Windows Server", that's a broad question. Depends on the service you want to provide.

                              jrcJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • scottalanmillerS
                                scottalanmiller @jrc
                                last edited by

                                @jrc said in Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server:

                                @coliver

                                Is there a web front end that could used with it to make config easier? I am not shy to use the command line, but I do like to make my life easier when I can.

                                NethServer is the place to look first. And they are active here in the forum.

                                alefattoriniA 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • scottalanmillerS
                                  scottalanmiller @jrc
                                  last edited by

                                  @jrc said in Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server:

                                  Hmm, the problem with the pre-built ones you mentioned is that they come with a ton of things that won't be needed. There is no reason for it to handle email, or web filtering among other things. AD, DNS and File Server is all they need.

                                  I assume the non-needed services can be turned off so that they do not consume any resources?

                                  You can turn those things off, of course. Or just use CentOS, Fedora, openSuse, Ubuntu, etc. as your Samba 4 base OS. Even FreeBSD is an option.

                                  jrcJ JaredBuschJ 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • jrcJ
                                    jrc @scottalanmiller
                                    last edited by

                                    @scottalanmiller

                                    Fair enough. They just use it for AD services (users, groups, access permissions, some minor group policy stuff and as a file server).

                                    Sounds like NethServer could do all of that, and DNS as well.

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • jrcJ
                                      jrc @scottalanmiller
                                      last edited by jrc

                                      @scottalanmiller

                                      I like the option to use a Web front end, which the pre-builts seem to have. Community support for a specific build would also be pretty critical.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • JaredBuschJ
                                        JaredBusch @scottalanmiller
                                        last edited by

                                        @scottalanmiller said in Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server:

                                        You can turn those things off, of course.

                                        Do this.

                                        @scottalanmiller said in [Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server]

                                        Or just use CentOS, Fedora, openSuse, Ubuntu, etc. as your Samba 4 base OS. Even FreeBSD is an option.

                                        I would not do that. That requires more advanced knowledge of the pieces needed. Uunless the OP desires to learn those skills, doing things this way would be a waste of time when there are solid products available.

                                        jrcJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • jrcJ
                                          jrc @JaredBusch
                                          last edited by

                                          @JaredBusch said in Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server:

                                          @scottalanmiller said in Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server:

                                          You can turn those things off, of course.

                                          Do this.

                                          @scottalanmiller said in [Substitutes for Active Directory and Windows Server]

                                          Or just use CentOS, Fedora, openSuse, Ubuntu, etc. as your Samba 4 base OS. Even FreeBSD is an option.

                                          I would not do that. That requires more advanced knowledge of the pieces needed. Uunless the OP desires to learn those skills, doing things this way would be a waste of time when there are solid products available.

                                          If I could maintain it 8 hours a day 7 days a week, then I would totally build it from scratch. Something that could be fun to do.

                                          However, I can only maintain it from a distance and fleetingly, so having something that is tried and true, offers a solid community and has a time saving front end is what I would need in order to keep them up and running smoothly.

                                          I'll give NethServer a go, since it seems to check the boxes I need.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • jrcJ
                                            jrc
                                            last edited by

                                            NethServer would run in XenServer without issue, correct?

                                            DanpD scottalanmillerS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
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