Backward Golden Triangle

[Mhanson]

Hello Folks, I really would like to get some information to see if what I am wanting to do is even feesable.

First of all I will give an outline of our current setup. We are a cross platform environment, but mostly consisting of Macintosh computer. Currently we have roaming profiles setup with our Open Directory Server, and the Windows computers are standalone unmanaged local accounts.

What we would like to accomplish is getting the Windows computer to connect to a Active Directory so we can properly manage the user experience, and mount the corresponding Mac “home folders” on the Windows side when a user logs in.

I would like to use Samba as the PDC and get the Windows Server 03 box to bind as a SDC/BDC. I would prefer not to have Win 03 Server as our primary “user directory”, but is this possible. I also don’t want to have to maintain two separate user directories.

From what I have read, Samba is seen as a pre 2k AD, and therefor 03 Server does not want to bind to it. There may be a way to get around that, but I rather not half bake something. Is there a proper way to peer Win 03 Server with 10.5 Open Directory.

I realize that client management will have to take place on each platform respectivly, but what I really want is single sign on for network resources, and only have to manage adds/drops/password on a single server.

Any information and/or feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Mhanson]

Any takers on my question? I find it hard to believe that nobody have ever tried what I am proposing. Or at least somebody could tell me how completely insane I am.

[Dave Hagan]

It would be lovely if OS X Server supported the Windows Group Policy. But tis not the case. It’s one way right now (AD -> OD). I’ve seen someone who’s gone through the effort of extending their Active Directory schema to include all of the OpenDirectory schema and use Workgroup Manager with their Active Directory server.

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