[K12OSN] Eureka! Samba/LDAP is a piece of cake to set up now!

[David Trask]

Hello everyone!  

This is sooooo  cooool!  Many folks have struggled over the past 2 years
to get Samba/LDAP servers up and running based on the how-to I had posted
on my site (along with other how-to's as well).  Steve Kossakoski of SAU
16 in Exeter, NH had the vision of putting the whole thing into a script
and brought a talented programmer into the fold to help put the idea into
practice.  With Matt Oquist doing the code...Art Reardon, Tech director of
SAU 16, doing the testing, and myself doing testing and the
documentation....we have managed to pull together an awesome Samba/LDAP
installer package that makes installing Samba/LDAP on your server a
practically idiot-proof process.  In fact, I encourage you to see for
yourself!  You can see the how-to doc online at 

http://web.vcs.u52.k12.me.us/linux/smbldap/index.htm   

Once there click one of the links at the top to download the
smbldap-installer package.  Simply untar the package and the run the
script!  It is primarily designed at this point to run on FC3 or K12LTSP
4.2.  Set up a sandbox and give it a whirl....I think you'll be astounded
as to how easy it is to set up!  Simply answer a few easy questions and
the script sets everything up for you....including running authconfig and
setting up an export of /home (should you say so).  Also included are some
VERY cool scripts for creating usernames and adding users in bulk to the
server.  In fact, with a little planning it could very well be the easiest
user creation you've ever done!  All of the user creation scripts are
explained in detail near the end of the how-to.  Check it out....let us
know how it works for you!  I can honestly say...I had a fully functional
Samba/LDAP server up and running with users added in less than 20 mins. 
(not including the install of the OS)  Wheeeee!   Very special thanks to
Matt for his awesome coding skills......and to Steve and Art for thier
support, vision, and testing.  You all ROCK!

PS....if you do not have all the necessary files installed...the script
will prompt you for the CD and install the rpms for you!  :-)  See?  I
told you it was easy!

Wondering what a Samba/LDAP server is?  A centralized point of
authentication regardless of OS.  In my school...all my users live on the
Samba/LDAP server and all the other servers authenticate to the Samba/LDAP
server.  All user home directories and profiles are accessible regardless
of platform....Windows, Linux, OS X....all work fine.  Adding a server to
the network?  No problem...simply point it to the Samba/LDAP server and
away you go!  Samba handles the Windows side of things and LDAP handles
the rest....very cool!

David N. Trask
Technology Teacher/Coordinator
Vassalboro Community School
dtrask at vcs.u52.k12.me.us
(207)923-3100