SAMBA again

[Chong Yu Meng]

Roger Oberholtzer wrote:

>
>Is the domain a mystical fuzzy place :) How does one enter it? Can one
>do so entirely and completely from Linux? Is this what the admin login
>(via the Linux 'net join ads' command) from the Linux machine
>accomplishes? Or is there something else that must also happen
>before/after this? Can a Windows server admin check that a machine is in
>the AD?
>
>I hate to seem dense on this point, but I think there is a lot of
>talking around the issue without ever explicitly stating specifics. That
>and the local IT guys are showing a surprising lack of usefulness on
>this point.
>
>  
>
Hi Roger,

I would have to say that I agree with you. The problem is that a lot of 
the plumbing is hidden -- that is one of the appealing "features" of 
Windows. That is why it seems like Windows admins are tip-toeing around 
the subject. It seems like they are evasive because they are protecting 
some mystical secret, but really, it is because so little is known about 
the operating system and applications. If you want to know something or 
get something done, you need to first impersonate a Windows sysadmin, 
attempt to join a Windows domain with a Windows PC, see all the strange 
peculiarities in your domain, and THEN -- then, you try to join a Linux 
machine to the domain. You need to know the IP address of your WINS 
server, get a domain administrator's credentials and get a valid machine 
account (even if this is not necessary in Active Directory. I was told 
the same thing when I first started my present job, and found that to be 
completely false, but I am running on an NT4 domain).

Have you got a valid machine account added to AD yet? It seems that you 
are being given "the run-around". Very common, very typical. You need to 
pretend to be a clueless newbie admin and ask them if they can create an 
account for a Windows PC (Note: I say Windows PC, not Linux Samba PC! 
Even if it is a lie...). Appealing to their ego and specifying what you 
need clearly, yet humbly, will get you much further. I've had to jump 
through a LOT of hoops in my time, before I could even join one Windows 
notebook to the domain (took me almost 3 months of weekly reminders to 
the Windows admins), so expect to be frustrated and be very, very patient.

Regards,
pascal chong