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authorJohn Terpstra <jht@samba.org>2005-03-14 17:07:57 +0000
committerGerald W. Carter <jerry@samba.org>2008-04-23 08:46:21 -0500
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Adding notes regarding LDAP and Computer Accounts.
(This used to be commit c4364d6dd72d98b2e4e682b50a0be337d69d287d)
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diff --git a/docs/Samba-Guide/Chap06-MakingHappyUsers.xml b/docs/Samba-Guide/Chap06-MakingHappyUsers.xml
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+++ b/docs/Samba-Guide/Chap06-MakingHappyUsers.xml
@@ -206,6 +206,54 @@ clients is conservative and if followed will minimize problems - but it is not a
</para>
<sect1>
+<title>Regarding LDAP Directories and Windows Computer Accounts</title>
+
+ <para>
+ Computer (machine) accounts can be placed where ever you like in an LDAP directory subject to some
+ constraints that are described in this section.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The POSIX and SambaSAMAccount components of computer (machine) accounts are both used by Samba.
+ i.e.: Machine accounts are treated inside Samba in the same way that Windows NT4/200X treats
+ them. A user account and a machine account are indistinquishable from each other, except that
+ the machine account ends in a '$' character, as do trust accounts.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The need for Windows user, group, machine, trust, etc. accounts to be tied to a valid UNIX uid
+ is a design decision that was made a long way back in the history of Samba development. It is
+ unlikely that this decision will be reversed of changed during the remaining life of the
+ Samba-3.x series.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ The resolution of a UID from the Windows SID is achieved within Samba through a mechanism that
+ must refer back to the host operating system on which Samba is running. The Name Service
+ Switcher (NSS) is the preferred mechanism that shields applications (like Samba) from the
+ need to know everything about every host OS it runs on.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ Samba asks the host OS to provide a UID via the "passwd", "shadow" and "group" facilities
+ in the NSS control (configuration) file. What tool is used by the UNIX administrator is
+ up to him. It is not imposed by Samba. Samba provides winbindd together with its support
+ libraries as one method. It is possible to do this via LDAP - and for that Samba provides
+ the appropriate hooks so that all account entities can be located in an LDAP directory.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ If the weapon of choice (as it is for LDAP) is to use the PADL nss_ldap utility it must
+ be configured so that computer accounts can be resolved to a POSIX/UNIX account UID. That
+ is fundamentally an LDAP design question. The information provided on the Samba list and
+ in the documentation is directed at providing working examples only. The design
+ of an LDAP directory is a complex subject that is beyond the scope of this documentation.
+ </para>
+
+</sect1>
+
+
+<sect1>
<title>Introduction</title>
<para>