OpenLDAP Everywhere Revisited

[root]# smbldap-populate
Using builtin directory structure
adding new entry: dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: ou=Users,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: ou=Groups,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: ou=Computers,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: ou=Idmap,dc=foo,dc=org
adding new entry: cn=NextFreeUnixId,dc=foo,dc=org
adding new entry: uid=Administrator,ou=Users,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: uid=nobody,ou=Users,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: cn=Domain Admins,ou=Groups,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: cn=Domain Users,ou=Groups,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: cn=Domain Guests,ou=Groups,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: cn=Print Operators,ou=Groups,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: cn=Backup Operators,ou=Groups,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: cn=Replicator,ou=Groups,dc=foo,dc=com
adding new entry: cn=Domain Computers,ou=Groups,dc=foo,dc=com

If you examine the sample output of this populate script, you should notice that it has added several new users, groups and OUs to the directory. For example, the script adds the well-known Domain Admins and Domain Users groups to the directory. The NT-based versions of Microsoft Windows all are preconfigured with specific user and group entries. Each one of those has a relative identifier (RID) associated with it. What this means to LDAP is the corresponding LDAP user or group entry must be assigned to the respective RID of the Windows user or group. Using the smbldap-populate script takes care of making the relation for you. The well-known user and groups RIDs that are required are:

Name          RID
-----------------
Domain Admins 512
Domain Users  513
Domain Guests 514

Aside from the new user and group entries, several new OU entries can provide further domain functionality. The first of these is ou=Computers, which is used to store all machine accounts for member servers and workstations on the domain. Second, the ou=Idmap is used if Samba is being used as a domain member server of a Windows server controlled domain. The last new entry is ou=NextFreeUnixId. This entry is used to defined the next UID and GID available for creating new users and groups.

After your LDAP directory is populated and Samba is set up correctly, you are ready to start adding users and groups to populate your directory. The Idealx command-line utilities can take care of this job nicely for you. Some PHP-based directory managers are available that can be useful here as well. Consider using phpLDAPadmin and/or the LDAP Account Manager (LAM) to take on this task. Both are helpful, providing a graphical view of your directory. Each also provides the ability to view and edit LDAP entries in a user-friendly graphical environment (Figure 3). The LDAP browser, which is Java-based, is another option for viewing and editing your directory.

Figure 3. Get a Web view of your directory with phpLDAPadmin.

Since the December 2002 article, we have seen much improvement in Samba with the 3.x releases. Moving to the new version should mean greater control over accounts and improved group mapping functionality, thus giving you greater control over your domain.

We strongly suggest that you use simple authentication and security layer (SASL) and transport layer security (TLS) to secure your new LDAP directory. See Resources for details.

Congratulations! Your LDAP server is up and running with shared e-mail contacts, unified login and shared file storage that is accessible from any client.

Resources for this article: /article/8267.