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+<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"><title>Chapter 4. Server Types and Security Modes</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="samba.css" type="text/css"><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.60.1"><link rel="home" href="index.html" title="SAMBA Project Documentation"><link rel="up" href="type.html" title="Part II. Server Configuration Basics"><link rel="previous" href="type.html" title="Part II. Server Configuration Basics"><link rel="next" href="samba-pdc.html" title="Chapter 5. Domain Control"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Chapter 4. Server Types and Security Modes</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="type.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">Part II. Server Configuration Basics</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="samba-pdc.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></div><div class="chapter" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="ServerType"></a>Chapter 4. Server Types and Security Modes</h2></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Andrew</span> <span class="surname">Tridgell</span></h3><div class="affiliation"><span class="orgname">Samba Team<br></span><div class="address"><p><tt class="email">&lt;<a href="mailto:tridge@samba.org">tridge@samba.org</a>&gt;</tt></p></div></div></div></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">Jelmer</span> <span class="othername">R.</span> <span class="surname">Vernooij</span></h3><div class="affiliation"><span class="orgname">The Samba Team<br></span><div class="address"><p><tt class="email">&lt;<a href="mailto:jelmer@samba.org">jelmer@samba.org</a>&gt;</tt></p></div></div></div></div><div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"><span class="firstname">John</span> <span class="othername">H.</span> <span class="surname">Terpstra</span></h3><div class="affiliation"><span class="orgname">Samba Team<br></span><div class="address"><p><tt class="email">&lt;<a href="mailto:jht@samba.org">jht@samba.org</a>&gt;</tt></p></div></div></div></div></div><div></div></div><div class="toc"><p><b>Table of Contents</b></p><dl><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2885999">Features and Benefits</a></dt><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2886097">Server Types</a></dt><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2886186">Samba Security Modes</a></dt><dd><dl><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2886291">User Level Security</a></dt><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2886413">Share Level Security</a></dt><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2886525">Domain Security Mode (User Level Security)</a></dt><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2886821">ADS Security Mode (User Level Security)</a></dt><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2886928">Server Security (User Level Security)</a></dt></dl></dd><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2887204">Password Checking</a></dt><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2887400">Common Errors</a></dt><dd><dl><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2887429">What Makes Samba a Server?</a></dt><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2887468">What Makes Samba a Domain Controller?</a></dt><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2887504">What Makes Samba a Domain Member?</a></dt><dt><a href="ServerType.html#id2887542">Constantly Losing Connections to Password Server</a></dt></dl></dd></dl></div><p>
+This chapter provides information regarding the types of server that Samba may be
+configured to be. A Microsoft network administrator who wishes to migrate to or
+use Samba will want to know the meaning, within a Samba context, of terms familiar to MS Windows
+administrator. This means that it is essential also to define how critical security
+modes function before we get into the details of how to configure the server itself.
+</p><p>
+The chapter provides an overview of the security modes of which Samba is capable
+and how they relate to MS Windows servers and clients.
+</p><p>
+A question often asked is, &#8220;<span class="quote">Why would I want to use Samba?</span>&#8221; Most chapters contain a section
+that highlights features and benefits. We hope that the information provided will help to
+answer this question. Be warned though, we want to be fair and reasonable, so not all
+features are positive towards Samba. The benefit may be on the side of our competition.
+</p><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2885999"></a>Features and Benefits</h2></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+Two men were walking down a dusty road, when one suddenly kicked up a small red stone. It
+hurt his toe and lodged in his sandal. He took the stone out and cursed it with a passion
+and fury befitting his anguish. The other looked at the stone and said, &#8220;<span class="quote">This is a garnet.
+I can turn that into a precious gem and some day it will make a princess very happy!</span>&#8221;
+</p><p>
+The moral of this tale: Two men, two very different perspectives regarding the same stone.
+Like it or not, Samba is like that stone. Treat it the right way and it can bring great
+pleasure, but if you are forced to use it and have no time for its secrets, then it can be
+a source of discomfort.
+</p><p>
+Samba started out as a project that sought to provide interoperability for MS Windows 3.x
+clients with a UNIX server. It has grown up a lot since its humble beginnings and now provides
+features and functionality fit for large scale deployment. It also has some warts. In sections
+like this one we tell of both.
+</p><p>
+So, what are the benefits of features mentioned in this chapter?
+</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="disc"><li><p>
+ Samba-3 can replace an MS Windows NT4 Domain Controller.
+ </p></li><li><p>
+ Samba-3 offers excellent interoperability with MS Windows NT4-style
+ domains as well as natively with Microsoft Active Directory domains.
+ </p></li><li><p>
+ Samba-3 permits full NT4-style Interdomain Trusts.
+ </p></li><li><p>
+ Samba has security modes that permit more flexible
+ authentication than is possible with MS Windows NT4 Domain Controllers.
+ </p></li><li><p>
+ Samba-3 permits use of multiple account database backends.
+ </p></li><li><p>
+ The account (password) database backends can be distributed
+ and replicated using multiple methods. This gives Samba-3
+ greater flexibility than MS Windows NT4 and in many cases a
+ significantly higher utility than Active Directory domains
+ with MS Windows 200x.
+ </p></li></ul></div></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2886097"></a>Server Types</h2></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+<a class="indexterm" name="id2886109"></a>
+Administrators of Microsoft networks often refer to three
+different type of servers:</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="disc"><li><p>Domain Controller</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="circle"><li>Primary Domain Controller</li><li>Backup Domain Controller</li><li>ADS Domain Controller</li></ul></div></li><li><p>Domain Member Server</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="circle"><li>Active Directory Domain Server</li><li>NT4 Style Domain Domain Server</li></ul></div></li><li><p>Stand-alone Server</p></li></ul></div><p>
+The chapters covering Domain Control, Backup Domain Control and Domain Membership provide
+pertinent information regarding Samba configuration for each of these server roles.
+The reader is strongly encouraged to become intimately familiar with the information
+presented.
+</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2886186"></a>Samba Security Modes</h2></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+<a class="indexterm" name="id2886196"></a>
+<a class="indexterm" name="id2886205"></a>
+In this section the function and purpose of Samba's security
+modes are described. An accurate understanding of how Samba implements each security
+mode as well as how to configure MS Windows clients for each mode will significantly
+reduce user complaints and administrator heartache.
+</p><p>
+In the SMB/CIFS networking world, there are only two types of security: <span class="emphasis"><em>User Level</em></span>
+and <span class="emphasis"><em>Share Level</em></span>. We refer to these collectively as <span class="emphasis"><em>security levels</em></span>.
+In implementing these two security levels, Samba provides flexibilities
+that are not available with Microsoft Windows NT4/200x servers. In actual fact, Samba implements
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Share Level</em></span> security only one way, but has four ways of implementing
+<span class="emphasis"><em>User Level</em></span> security. Collectively, we call the Samba implementations
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Security Modes</em></span>. They are known as: <span class="emphasis"><em>SHARE</em></span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>USER</em></span>,
+<span class="emphasis"><em>DOMAIN</em></span>, <span class="emphasis"><em>ADS</em></span>, and <span class="emphasis"><em>SERVER</em></span> modes.
+They are documented in this chapter.
+</p><p>
+An SMB server tells the client at startup what security level it is running. There are two options:
+Share Level and User Level. Which of these two the client receives affects the way the client then
+tries to authenticate itself. It does not directly affect (to any great extent) the way the Samba
+server does security. This may sound strange, but it fits in with the client/server approach of SMB.
+In SMB everything is initiated and controlled by the client, and the server can only tell the client
+what is available and whether an action is allowed.
+</p><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2886291"></a>User Level Security</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+We will describe User Level Security first, as its simpler.
+In User Level Security, the client will send a
+session setup request directly following protocol negotiation.
+This request provides a username and password. The server can either accept or reject that
+username/password combination. At this stage the server has no idea what
+share the client will eventually try to connect to, so it can't base the
+<span class="emphasis"><em>accept/reject</em></span> on anything other than:
+</p><div class="orderedlist"><ol type="1"><li><p>the username/password.</p></li><li><p>the name of the client machine.</p></li></ol></div><p>
+If the server accepts the username/password then the client expects to be able to
+mount shares (using a <span class="emphasis"><em>tree connection</em></span>) without specifying a
+password. It expects that all access rights will be as the username/password
+specified in the <span class="emphasis"><em>session setup</em></span>.
+</p><p>
+It is also possible for a client to send multiple <span class="emphasis"><em>session setup</em></span>
+requests. When the server responds, it gives the client a <span class="emphasis"><em>uid</em></span> to use
+as an authentication tag for that username/password. The client can maintain multiple
+authentication contexts in this way (WinDD is an example of an application that does this).
+</p><div class="sect3" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a name="id2886371"></a>Example Configuration</h4></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+The <tt class="filename">smb.conf</tt> parameter that sets user level security is:
+</p><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>security = user</tt></i></td></tr></table><p>
+This is the default setting since Samba-2.2.x.
+</p></div></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2886413"></a>Share Level Security</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+In Share Level security, the client authenticates
+itself separately for each share. It sends a password along with each
+tree connection (share mount). It does not explicitly send a
+username with this operation. The client expects a password to be associated
+with each share, independent of the user. This means that Samba has to work out what
+username the client probably wants to use. It is never explicitly sent the username.
+Some commercial SMB servers such as NT actually associate passwords directly with
+shares in Share Level security, but Samba always uses the UNIX authentication scheme
+where it is a username/password pair that is authenticated, not a share/password pair.
+</p><p>
+To understand the MS Windows networking parallels, one should think
+in terms of MS Windows 9x/Me where one can create a shared folder that provides read-only
+or full access, with or without a password.
+</p><p>
+Many clients send a session setup even if the server is in Share Level security. They
+normally send a valid username but no password. Samba records this username in a list
+of possible usernames. When the client then does a tree connection it also adds to this list the name
+of the share they try to connect to (useful for home directories) and any users
+listed in the <a class="indexterm" name="id2886456"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>user</tt></i> parameter in the <tt class="filename">smb.conf</tt> file.
+The password is then checked in turn against these possible usernames. If a match is found
+then the client is authenticated as that user.
+</p><div class="sect3" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a name="id2886481"></a>Example Configuration</h4></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+The <tt class="filename">smb.conf</tt> parameter that sets Share Level security is:
+</p><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>security = share</tt></i></td></tr></table><p>
+There are reports that recent MS Windows clients do not like to work
+with share mode security servers. You are strongly discouraged from using Share Level security.
+</p></div></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2886525"></a>Domain Security Mode (User Level Security)</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+<a class="indexterm" name="id2886538"></a>
+When Samba is operating in <a class="indexterm" name="id2886546"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>security</tt></i> = domain mode,
+the Samba server has a domain security trust account (a machine account) and causes
+all authentication requests to be passed through to the Domain Controllers.
+In other words, this configuration makes the Samba server a Domain Member server.
+</p><div class="sect3" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a name="id2886566"></a>Example Configuration</h4></div></div><div></div></div><p><span class="emphasis"><em>
+Samba as a Domain Member Server
+</em></span></p><p>
+<a class="indexterm" name="id2886583"></a>
+This method involves addition of the following parameters in the <tt class="filename">smb.conf</tt> file:
+</p><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>security = domain</tt></i></td></tr><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>workgroup = MIDEARTH</tt></i></td></tr></table><p>
+In order for this method to work, the Samba server needs to join the MS Windows NT
+security domain. This is done as follows:
+<a class="indexterm" name="id2886633"></a>
+<a class="indexterm" name="id2886644"></a>
+</p><div class="procedure"><ol type="1"><li><p>On the MS Windows NT Domain Controller, using
+ the Server Manager, add a machine account for the Samba server.
+ </p></li><li><p>On the UNIX/Linux system execute:</p><pre class="screen"><tt class="prompt">root# </tt><b class="userinput"><tt>net rpc join -U administrator%password</tt></b></pre></li></ol></div><div class="note" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
+Samba-2.2.4 and later can auto-join a Windows NT4-style Domain just by executing:
+</p><pre class="screen">
+<tt class="prompt">root# </tt><b class="userinput"><tt>smbpasswd -j <i class="replaceable"><tt>DOMAIN_NAME</tt></i> -r <i class="replaceable"><tt>PDC_NAME</tt></i> \
+ -U Administrator%<i class="replaceable"><tt>password</tt></i></tt></b>
+</pre><p>
+
+Samba-3 can do the same by executing:
+</p><pre class="screen">
+<tt class="prompt">root# </tt><b class="userinput"><tt>net rpc join -U Administrator%<i class="replaceable"><tt>password</tt></i></tt></b>
+</pre><p>
+It is not necessary with Samba-3 to specify the <i class="replaceable"><tt>DOMAIN_NAME</tt></i> or the
+<i class="replaceable"><tt>PDC_NAME</tt></i> as it figures this out from the <tt class="filename">smb.conf</tt> file settings.
+</p></div><p>
+Use of this mode of authentication does require there to be a standard UNIX account
+for each user in order to assign a UID once the account has been authenticated by
+the remote Windows DC. This account can be blocked to prevent logons by clients other than
+MS Windows through means such as setting an invalid shell in the
+<tt class="filename">/etc/passwd</tt> entry.
+</p><p>
+An alternative to assigning UIDs to Windows users on a Samba member server is
+presented in <link linkend="winbind">.
+</p><p>
+For more information regarding Domain Membership, see <link linkend="domain-member">.
+</p></div></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2886821"></a>ADS Security Mode (User Level Security)</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+Both Samba-2.2, and Samba-3 can join an Active Directory domain. This is
+possible if the domain is run in native mode. Active Directory in
+native mode perfectly allows NT4-style Domain Members. This is contrary to
+popular belief. Active Directory in native mode prohibits only the use of
+Backup Domain Controllers running MS Windows NT4.
+</p><p>
+If you are using Active Directory, starting with Samba-3 you can
+join as a native AD member. Why would you want to do that?
+Your security policy might prohibit the use of NT-compatible
+authentication protocols. All your machines are running Windows 2000
+and above and all use Kerberos. In this case Samba as an NT4-style
+domain would still require NT-compatible authentication data. Samba in
+AD-member mode can accept Kerberos tickets.
+</p><div class="sect3" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a name="id2886851"></a>Example Configuration</h4></div></div><div></div></div><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>realm = your.kerberos.REALM</tt></i></td></tr><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>security = ADS</tt></i></td></tr></table><p>
+The following parameter may be required:
+</p><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>password server = your.kerberos.server</tt></i></td></tr></table><p>
+Please refer to <link linkend="domain-member"> and <link linkend="ads-member">
+for more information regarding this configuration option.
+</p></div></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2886928"></a>Server Security (User Level Security)</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+Server Security Mode is left over from the time when Samba was not capable of acting
+as a Domain Member server. It is highly recommended not to use this feature. Server
+security mode has many drawbacks that include:
+</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="disc"><li><p>Potential Account Lockout on MS Windows NT4/200x password servers.</p></li><li><p>Lack of assurance that the password server is the one specified.</p></li><li><p>Does not work with Winbind, which is particularly needed when storing profiles remotely.</p></li><li><p>This mode may open connections to the password server, and keep them open for extended periods.</p></li><li><p>Security on the Samba server breaks badly when the remote password server suddenly shuts down.</p></li><li><p>With this mode there is NO security account in the domain that the password server belongs to for the Samba server.</p></li></ul></div><p>
+In Server Security Mode the Samba server reports to the client that it is in User Level
+security. The client then does a session setup as described earlier.
+The Samba server takes the username/password that the client sends and attempts to login to the
+<a class="indexterm" name="id2886997"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>password server</tt></i> by sending exactly the same username/password that
+it got from the client. If that server is in User Level Security and accepts the password,
+then Samba accepts the client's connection. This allows the Samba server to use another SMB
+server as the <a class="indexterm" name="id2887017"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>password server</tt></i>.
+</p><p>
+You should also note that at the start of all this where the server tells the client
+what security level it is in, it also tells the client if it supports encryption. If it
+does, it supplies the client with a random cryptkey. The client will then send all
+passwords in encrypted form. Samba supports this type of encryption by default.
+</p><p>
+The parameter <a class="indexterm" name="id2887045"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>security</tt></i> = server means that Samba reports to clients that
+it is running in <span class="emphasis"><em>user mode</em></span> but actually passes off all authentication
+requests to another <span class="emphasis"><em>user mode</em></span> server. This requires an additional
+parameter <a class="indexterm" name="id2887070"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>password server</tt></i> that points to the real authentication server.
+The real authentication server can be another Samba server, or it can be a Windows NT server,
+the latter being natively capable of encrypted password support.
+</p><div class="note" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><h3 class="title">Note</h3><p>
+When Samba is running in <span class="emphasis"><em>Server Security Mode</em></span> it is essential that
+the parameter <span class="emphasis"><em>password server</em></span> is set to the precise NetBIOS machine
+name of the target authentication server. Samba cannot determine this from NetBIOS name
+lookups because the choice of the target authentication server is arbitrary and cannot
+be determined from a domain name. In essence, a Samba server that is in
+<span class="emphasis"><em>Server Security Mode</em></span> is operating in what used to be known as
+workgroup mode.
+</p></div><div class="sect3" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title"><a name="id2887114"></a>Example Configuration</h4></div></div><div></div></div><p><span class="emphasis"><em>
+Using MS Windows NT as an Authentication Server
+</em></span></p><p>
+This method involves the additions of the following parameters in the <tt class="filename">smb.conf</tt> file:
+</p><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>encrypt passwords = Yes</tt></i></td></tr><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>security = server</tt></i></td></tr><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>password server = "NetBIOS_name_of_a_DC"</tt></i></td></tr></table><p>
+There are two ways of identifying whether or not a username and password pair is valid.
+One uses the reply information provided as part of the authentication messaging
+process, the other uses just an error code.
+</p><p>
+The downside of this mode of configuration is the fact that for security reasons Samba
+will send the password server a bogus username and a bogus password and if the remote
+server fails to reject the username and password pair then an alternative mode of
+identification of validation is used. Where a site uses password lock out after a
+certain number of failed authentication attempts this will result in user lockouts.
+</p><p>
+Use of this mode of authentication requires a standard UNIX account for the user.
+This account can be blocked to prevent logons by non-SMB/CIFS clients.
+</p></div></div></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2887204"></a>Password Checking</h2></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+MS Windows clients may use encrypted passwords as part of a challenge/response
+authentication model (a.k.a. NTLMv1 and NTLMv2) or alone, or cleartext strings for simple
+password-based authentication. It should be realized that with the SMB protocol,
+the password is passed over the network either in plain-text or encrypted, but
+not both in the same authentication request.
+</p><p>
+When encrypted passwords are used, a password that has been entered by the user
+is encrypted in two ways:
+</p><div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="disc"><li><p>An MD4 hash of the unicode of the password
+ string. This is known as the NT hash.
+ </p></li><li><p>The password is converted to upper case,
+ and then padded or truncated to 14 bytes. This string is
+ then appended with 5 bytes of NULL characters and split to
+ form two 56-bit DES keys to encrypt a &#8220;<span class="quote">magic</span>&#8221; 8-byte value.
+ The resulting 16 bytes form the LanMan hash.
+ </p></li></ul></div><p>
+MS Windows 95 pre-service pack 1, MS Windows NT versions 3.x and version 4.0
+pre-service pack 3 will use either mode of password authentication. All
+versions of MS Windows that follow these versions no longer support plain
+text passwords by default.
+</p><p>
+MS Windows clients have a habit of dropping network mappings that have been idle
+for 10 minutes or longer. When the user attempts to use the mapped drive
+connection that has been dropped, the client re-establishes the connection using
+a cached copy of the password.
+</p><p>
+When Microsoft changed the default password mode, support was dropped for caching
+of the plain-text password. This means that when the registry parameter is changed
+to re-enable use of plain-text passwords it appears to work, but when a dropped
+service connection mapping attempts to revalidate, this will fail if the remote
+authentication server does not support encrypted passwords. It is definitely not
+a good idea to re-enable plain-text password support in such clients.
+</p><p>
+The following parameters can be used to work around the issue of Windows 9x/Me clients
+upper-casing usernames and passwords before transmitting them to the SMB server
+when using cleartext authentication:
+</p><table class="simplelist" border="0" summary="Simple list"><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>password level = integer</tt></i></td></tr><tr><td><i class="parameter"><tt>username level = integer</tt></i></td></tr></table><p>
+By default Samba will convert to lower case the username before attempting to lookup the user
+in the database of local system accounts. Because UNIX usernames conventionally
+only contain lower-case characters, the <a class="indexterm" name="id2887327"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>username level</tt></i> parameter
+is rarely needed.
+</p><p>
+However, passwords on UNIX systems often make use of mixed-case characters.
+This means that in order for a user on a Windows 9x/Me client to connect to a Samba
+server using cleartext authentication, the <a class="indexterm" name="id2887350"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>password level</tt></i>
+must be set to the maximum number of upper case letters that <span class="emphasis"><em>could</em></span>
+appear in a password. Note that if the server OS uses the traditional DES version
+of crypt(), a <a class="indexterm" name="id2887371"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>password level</tt></i> of 8 will result in case
+insensitive passwords as seen from Windows users. This will also result in longer
+login times as Samba has to compute the permutations of the password string and
+try them one by one until a match is located (or all combinations fail).
+</p><p>
+The best option to adopt is to enable support for encrypted passwords wherever
+Samba is used. Most attempts to apply the registry change to re-enable plain-text
+passwords will eventually lead to user complaints and unhappiness.
+</p></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="id2887400"></a>Common Errors</h2></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+We all make mistakes. It is okay to make mistakes, as long as they are made in the right places
+and at the right time. A mistake that causes lost productivity is seldom tolerated, however a mistake
+made in a developmental test lab is expected.
+</p><p>
+Here we look at common mistakes and misapprehensions that have been the subject of discussions
+on the Samba mailing lists. Many of these are avoidable by doing your homework before attempting
+a Samba implementation. Some are the result of a misunderstanding of the English language. The
+English language, which has many phrases that are potentially vague and may be highly confusing
+to those for whom English is not their native tongue.
+</p><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2887429"></a>What Makes Samba a Server?</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+To some the nature of the Samba <span class="emphasis"><em>security</em></span> mode is obvious, but entirely
+wrong all the same. It is assumed that <a class="indexterm" name="id2887445"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>security</tt></i> = server means that Samba
+will act as a server. Not so! This setting means that Samba will <span class="emphasis"><em>try</em></span>
+to use another SMB server as its source for user authentication alone.
+</p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2887468"></a>What Makes Samba a Domain Controller?</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+The <tt class="filename">smb.conf</tt> parameter <a class="indexterm" name="id2887486"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>security</tt></i> = domain does not really make Samba behave
+as a Domain Controller. This setting means we want Samba to be a Domain Member.
+</p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2887504"></a>What Makes Samba a Domain Member?</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+Guess! So many others do. But whatever you do, do not think that <a class="indexterm" name="id2887516"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>security</tt></i> = user
+makes Samba act as a Domain Member. Read the manufacturer's manual before the warranty expires. See
+<link linkend="domain-member"> for more information.
+</p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="id2887542"></a>Constantly Losing Connections to Password Server</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>
+ &#8220;<span class="quote">
+Why does server_validate() simply give up rather than re-establish its connection to the
+password server? Though I am not fluent in the SMB protocol, perhaps the cluster server
+process passes along to its client workstation the session key it receives from the password
+server, which means the password hashes submitted by the client would not work on a subsequent
+connection whose session key would be different. So server_validate() must give up.</span>&#8221;
+</p><p>
+Indeed. That's why <a class="indexterm" name="id2887570"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>security</tt></i> = server
+is at best a nasty hack. Please use <a class="indexterm" name="id2887584"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>security</tt></i> = domain;
+<a class="indexterm" name="id2887597"></a><i class="parameter"><tt>security</tt></i> = server mode is also known as pass-through authentication.
+</p></div></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="type.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="type.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="samba-pdc.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Part II. Server Configuration Basics </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> Chapter 5. Domain Control</td></tr></table></div></body></html>