Centrify and Canonical Expand Partnership; Rave Reviews for Centrify Express Continue

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Earlier this week we announced an expanded partnership with Canonical, the guys behind Ubuntu Linux. The net net of the relationship is that Canonical is now distributing Centrify's free Active Directory authentication solution, Centrify Express, through its Ubuntu Software Partner Repository. By using Centrify Express, IT professionals can quickly and easily integrate Ubuntu 10.04 LTS or Ubuntu 10.10 servers and desktops into Microsoft Active Directory for centralized authentication and single sign-on. In addition, Canonical has certified Centrify Express to meet Ubuntu's ease-of-use and performance standards, and has elevated Centrify to be a Gold Software Partner of Canonical.

[To learn more about this relationship, Canonical and Centrify are hosting a joint webinar on December 2nd entitled "Ubuntu for the Enterprise: Five Steps to Ensure Successful Adoption," which you can register for here.]

This partnership is great news for Ubuntu users, who have increasingly expressed dissatisfaction with some of the other Active Directory authentication tools out there for Ubuntu, and are making the switch to Centrify. Here's what one Ubuntu user recently wrote about Centrify Express vis-a-vis another solution:

"I gave Centrify a try and I was very impressed. I did one command and everything was working almost too well. I started checking common problem spots, reviewed what the scripts did in my etc folder, and eyed my DC for weak/failed auth attempts. So far it all looks good ... shocking.

I'm not going to make Centrify out to be the best thing since sliced bread...but I was pretty much blown away with the simplicity of the package and the level of integration it provided on an Ubuntu system.

I give this package a strong recommendation. Thanks for sharing the info."

Another Ubuntu user also recently wrote: "I stumbled upon Centrify this morning on Ubuntu 10.10. Up until now I have been using [another solution] on our school workstations. I must say that I am really really impressed!" Not surprisingly, these comments parallel what other reviewers of Centrify Express have said when comparing Centrify Express to other free AD integration solutions.

And finally, here is what Matt Asay, the COO of Canonical, had to say about this partnership: "Centrify Express is a proven, free application that enables enterprise administrators to manage user accounts centrally from Active Directory while also securing Ubuntu systems on the desktop, server and in the cloud. We are pleased to make Centrify Express available from the Ubuntu Software Partner Repository."

So how can Ubuntu users get Centrify Express? Ubuntu users can take advantage of a number of built-in package managers like Software Center, Synaptic, Adept, Aptitude, apt-get or others to install Centrify Express from the Ubuntu repository. For complete instructions on how to do that, check out this Centrify Community posting on how to join Ubuntu to Active Directory, as well as these pointers on how to deploy Centrify Express on Ubuntu. We appreciate any and all feedback!!

Finally, don't forget to register for the Canonical and Centrify webinar on December 2nd entitled "Ubuntu for the Enterprise: Five Steps to Ensure Successful Adoption," which you can register for here.

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