What this book covers
Chapter 1, Installing the Samba 4 Server, provides us with a quick overview of the Debian GNU/Linux installation procedure, and we will learn how to install and configure all the Samba 4 dependencies needed for our Samba 4 use cases. In this chapter, the reader will learn how to validate the Samba 4 installation and how to execute basic tests to make sure that the Samba 4 installation is ready.
Chapter 2, Provisioning Samba 4 as an AD Domain Controller, talks about the basic tasks required to get a proper Samba 4 Active Directory as a Domain Controller configured on the network. This chapter will focus on minimal planning, checklists, and the key points to consider before starting the provisioning. We will learn how to provision the Samba 4 as an Active Directory Server in detail.
Chapter 3, Managing the Samba Active Directory Server, describes the different roles the Samba 4 Server can play on the network, and how to basically manage it using Microsoft Windows machines (for example, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2). The reader will learn how to integrate a Debian GNU/Linux client on the Samba 4 domain and to have the authentication and authorization working in this system. Also covered in this chapter are the replication and trust relationship characteristics of an Active Directory Domain Controller when running the Samba 4 Server at the present time.
Chapter 4, Replacing a Microsoft Windows Active Directory Server, intends to show you how to replace a Microsoft Windows Server Active Directory by a Samba 4 Server. We will learn the key consideration points, our example configuration scenario, some backup/recovery and rollback techniques, and in the end, the step-by-step procedure to execute the replacement of our Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 with the Samba 4 Server as the Active Directory Domain Controller. We will also learn about some basic tests and validations to make sure that the process is successful and the environment is fully functional.
Chapter 5, Upgrading from Samba Server Version 3, describes the main differences between Samba software Version 3 and Version 4 and the considerations before planning a successful upgrade. We will also learn about the plan, tests, validations, as well as a step-by-step procedure to execute the upgrade and all the commands and scripts that are needed to go from a Samba 3 Primary Domain Controller to a Samba 4 fully functional Active Directory Domain Controller.
Chapter 6, Printing and File Services, covers the file and printing services for the Samba 4 Server. We will learn about some differences between the file and printing capabilities of Samba Server Version 3 and Version 4. We will learn about the SMB/CIFS protocol versions of Samba 4, the Samba 4 file and print server daemons, Microsoft Windows print driver Version 3 and Version 4. We will learn how to configure a printer on the Samba 4 Server host using CUPS and how to share the printer on a Microsoft Active Directory network using Samba. We have introduced Microsoft Windows Point and Print Samba Server configuration and basic File sharing with Samba 4.
Chapter 7, Extending the Active Directory Schema Using Samba 4, describes how to extend the default Active Directory schema for some specific applications when using a built-in Samba 4 as the Active Directory Domain Controller.
Chapter 8, Implementing a Highly Available Distributed File Server, focuses on how to implement a highly available and distributed file server using Samba 4 Server, GlusterFS, and CTDB.
Chapter 9, The Samba 4 Python Scripting Interface, describes some basics about the Samba 4 internals, going through some code snippets and understanding the open source development and collaborative work. This chapter also provides us with an introduction to the Samba 4 Python bindings, teaches us how to explore and start using the new Python interface of the Samba 4 Server, and describes a practical example using the combined power of Python and Samba 4.
Appendix, References, provides the links for the references used in the book.