AD Emulation on *Nix
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@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
@scottalanmiller said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
Nethserver
How does Nethserver compare to Zentyal?
It's the more modern competitor. Zentyal kind of went off in a direction that people didn't like, so Nethserver stepped into that space.
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What direction would that be?
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My biggest hesitation with Nethserver is the site makes no reference to AD at all, contrast that with Zentyal, where it calls that out as the number 1 feature.
Why would that be a core feature, yet not marketed at all?
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@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
What direction would that be?
Nethserver is completely free, there isn't stuff held back for the commercial version. It's 100% free. Nethserver is also based on CentOS, not out of date Ubuntu like Zentyal. And Zentyal has faced a bit of criticism that development has heavily stagnated and even its own community has a lot of discussions wondering if the project is still active. It is, from what we can tell, but not doing well. Their decisions around Ubuntu LTS and not being completely free (and just charging for support), their lack of involvement in their own community and others (Netserver is here, Zentyal is not, etc.), their lack of development on their projects, have all led to a massive decline and it generally being considered a "has been" product at this point.
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@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
My biggest hesitation with Nethserver is the site makes no reference to AD at all, contrast that with Zentyal, where it calls that out as the number 1 feature.
Why would that be a core feature, yet not marketed at all?
Because it's considered so basic that they feel that they don't even need to draw attention to it. But it's right there in the docs...
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Hmm, yes, the manual goes over it. But there are no instructions on how to use it to replace a Windows AD server (ie join the domain, then promote to DC), which is what I would have to do here.
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@jrc you would perform the same exact process as if you were replacing any domain controller regardless of it being windows or Linux or anything else.
Join it, promote it, let things replicate and the decom the old system.
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@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
Hmm, yes, the manual goes over it. But there are no instructions on how to use it to replace a Windows AD server (ie join the domain, then promote to DC), which is what I would have to do here.
Well it does, though. The problem is that you are asking something, or looking for something, in the wrong place. That's a basic question about AD and not something that Nethserver would be telling you. It should not be listed there.
Now maybe it is missing instructions on joining an existing domain. That is needed.
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@dustinb3403 said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
@jrc you would perform the same exact process as if you were replacing any domain controller regardless of it being windows or Linux or anything else.
Join it, promote it, let things replicate and the decom the old system.
It might not show in their docs how to join as a DC that isn't root and how to promote. I'm not seeing that.
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Umm, yeah it should be in the admin manual. Knowing it can do this does not help someone to actually do this. What are the exact steps in achieving this is what I need to know. The instructions on how to join a domain are in there, which is great, but how do I then promote it from there? This is a key step in what I need to do here.
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@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
Umm, yeah it should be in the admin manual. Knowing it can do this does not help someone to actually do this. What are the exact steps in achieving this is what I need to know. The instructions on how to join a domain are in there, which is great, but how do I then promote it from there? This is a key step in what I need to do here.
I think what is lacking is their documentation on being a peer DC server. When they join there, they are assuming that something else is handling AD and it is just a client like any random WIndows server would be.
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Yes, I know the process, I've done it a million times with Windows servers (been an AD admin since 1998 or so). So my questions here are not about the theory of the process, I am looking for hard instructions on exactly how to do it. What commands, in what order, that kind of thing.
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Let's make this easy, let's grab the founder of Nethserver and ask
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@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
Windows 7 VM used for their crappy industry specific software.
This would violate the Windows client licensing as you said it in the quote.
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@tim_g said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
Windows 7 VM used for their crappy industry specific software.
This would violate the Windows client licensing as you said it in the quote.
As I said it in the quote? I am not following.
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@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
@scottalanmiller said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
NethServer
Got it. I am completely open to which way I take this. My personal preference on a distro would be Ubuntu, but it does not have to be that. I am hoping to get something that is "easy" to administer and a turnkey solution would be best I think. A nice GUI would be great.
Nethserver does not seem to say anything about AD , and it looks to do WAY more than I'd need it to, there is no need for content filtering, firewalling, VPN etc. Just AD.
If Nethserver is the free one, i used it a little a long time ago and nothing is enabled unless you do it. So that the functionality is there, but only if you want it.
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@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
@tim_g said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
Windows 7 VM used for their crappy industry specific software.
This would violate the Windows client licensing as you said it in the quote.
As I said it in the quote? I am not following.
What you said implies, to me, that it's going to provide a service to users. This goes against Windows client licensing, and would require a Server license.
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@tim_g said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
@jrc said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
@scottalanmiller said in AD Emulation on *Nix:
NethServer
Got it. I am completely open to which way I take this. My personal preference on a distro would be Ubuntu, but it does not have to be that. I am hoping to get something that is "easy" to administer and a turnkey solution would be best I think. A nice GUI would be great.
Nethserver does not seem to say anything about AD , and it looks to do WAY more than I'd need it to, there is no need for content filtering, firewalling, VPN etc. Just AD.
If Nethserver is the free one, i used it a little a long time ago and nothing is enabled unless you do it. So that the functionality is there, but only if you want it.
Yes, I've used it before and it is "all off" by default. You have to add each and every function that you want to enable.
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@tim_g
Ahh, gotcha. Yes it does supply a service. However the company that makes the software could care less about Windows client licensing, and as a franchisee they have zero options on using this software.
And running it on a server has proven to be very complicated, especially for support as their support guys are completely gun shy when they see the SBS logo on a remote session. 99.99% of their franchises merely run the software on Windows 7 (Was XP, until earlier this year).
