Assistance on how to setup Nethserver as PDC and AD for Windows Computers

Support
, , ,
#1

Hello,

I’ve installed Nethserver 7 rc2 on a virtual machine. I have one NIC (green) on Nethserver. I’ve installed Samba Active Directory and set it up as per this post - https://thingsdomakesense.wordpress.com/2016/11/11/nethserver-7-rc2-installing-samba-active-directory/.

My IP of my Nethserver is:
192.168.2.2
My IP of my AD on Nethserver is:
192.168.2.3

I have a physical server (Untangle) as my firewall and DHCP and DNS server. It has an IP of 192.168.2.1. I will not be removing this physical server.

With the setup I’ve explained above, what do I need to install from the Software Center so that my Nethserver will do the following:

  • Primary Domain Controller
  1. Does installing the Samba Active Directory give me the ability to be a domain controller or do I need to install more? Or would following this post and installing File Server work on Nethserver 7 RC2 - http://gamblisfx.com/how-to-create-a-primary-domain-controller-on-nethserver-6-6/
  2. I want startup scripts to be run when a domain computer is logging in. When I had used Zentyal we could add .bat files for each user. How do I do that in Nethserver.
  3. I also want each user to have their own personal drive to store data on when they are domain connected. What do I install for that ability?
  4. I’m then looking to be able to use Nethserver to allow/disallow access to the Internet for all Domain and Non-Domain computers in our office. A small number of computers will be connected to the Nethserver domain…but other standalone workstations (shared by many people) do not need to be on the domain sot hey will be workgroup computers. I will be pointing all devices in our office to Nethserver for DHCP and DNS and want to be able to have Nethserver allow or reject access to the Internet based on the devices IP address. How can I set this up?

Thank you.

1 Like
#2

Hello Forum,

Perhaps I’ve put this in the wrong forum? Please advise if this post should be moved.

Otherwise…could someone point out where I can find the information I need based on the questions from my post please.

Thanking you in advance for any assistance/pointers you can provide…

#3

Hi @greavette, first of all: I’ve also tested NethServer just for two month, but I’m trying to answer your questions as I’m almost in the same situation as you.
As far as I know a domain controller stringently needs to be responsible for DNS. I’m unsure with DHCP, but in all configurations I’ve seen the DC is also responsible for this.

Yes, it does.

I suppose your users use Microsoft Windows as operating system!?
Then you have to install and use the RSAT tools (https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=45520) on one of the Windows computers to configure this batch files for each user separately (or set a policy). If you’re interested in details, I can create a short tutorial.

The personal folders are created by NethServer when a user first logs in. You can reach them by calling
\\servername\user@domain
with file explorer (replace servername, user and domain with your values). You can also add this as a home folder for your windows user and connect it e.g. as H: drive using RSAT. To my knowledge setting it as a policy is not possible because of the domain being part of the personal folder name. (When setting as policy it only allows to configure a base path for personal folders and in this searches for a folder named as the login of the user.)
The same as above: if you’re interested in details, I can create a short tutorial.

Your question regarding the firewalls has to be answered by someone else. But if you set your DC as gateway, it think it’s easy to configure access for each computer.

7 Likes
#4

Hello @uliversal, very much appreciate your help with my forum post!

I’ve taken the dive back into this again and downloaded the latest Nethserver 7 (final) and followed this post - https://thingsdomakesense.wordpress.com/2017/02/09/installing-and-configuring-nethserver-7-final-for-samba-active-directory-and-simple-file-sharing/.

So far so good in that the setup of the Active Directory on Nethserver worked with no issues during install/setup and I’ve successfully connected one of my test Windows 7 VM’s to the new domain! This is great news because I’ve been kicking at this can for a while in ClearOS and couldn’t get this test VM to connect to my ClearOS Domain…first time trying using Nethserver and it worked!

Now I’ll need to look at your other suggestions and install RSAT…but if you are willing and able to make a tutorial to help myself and others who may find this thread then yes and thank you to a tutorial! I do see myself digging deeper into Nethserver and hope to help others as I learn more. :slight_smile:

Question for you @uliversal…or anyone else who knows how to setup a domain in Nethserver. Is there a way to set the name of the domain to what you want during the configuration? I noticed when I went through the setup the name of my domain was locked and couldn’t be changed. This makes sense of course but I was just curious if I could change this. My thought being that today I setup my domain with name companyxyz today and tomorrow I want to setup a new domain called companyxyz1. Is the name of the domain not configurable during setup?

Thank you.

1 Like
#5

Hi @greavette, you have to issue a command from the console,

config set smb service Workgroup your_netbios_domain

It is documented here

http://docs.nethserver.org/en/v7/accounts.html#join-an-existing-active-directory-domain

#6

Hello @davidep, could this instruction be done after I’ve setup my domain and added users (the one computer I added so far was only for testing and not used in Prod).

Thanks!

#7

Those instructions apply to a new installation, before pressing the “Start DC” button.

By now, renaming a running NetBIOS domain name thereafter is not possible: you have to reinstall!

However, I see in Windows forums this is possible. Information about Samba implementation are more difficult to find. Just to start, from the Univention support

We could implement this feature in the future, though.

3 Likes
#8

Thank you @davidep, I’m so early in my setup that I decided to rebuild/reinstall my Nethserver install and give it the name I wanted.

Works like a charm!

I can’t believe how easy this was to do. I’ve struggled for months with setting up a non-windows domain controller and with Nethserver I was successful within minutes. Nicely done Nethserver!

6 Likes
#9

I’m happy to hear it!

Could you mark this topic solved?

1 Like
#10

Whoops! sorry about that @davidep. Forgot to mark this post solved. :slight_smile:

Thanks Team!

#11

FYI broken link!
https://thingsdomakesense.wordpress.com/2017/02/09/installing-and-configuring-nethserver-7-final-for-samba-active-directory-and-simple-file-sharing/

#12

I think you can read the docs and have all information you need
http://docs.nethserver.org/en/v7/accounts.html#samba-active-directory-local-provider-installation
http://docs.nethserver.org/en/v7/shared_folder.html