Active Directory Integration for Samba

Centrify delivers a packaged and tested version of Samba that works seamlessly on systems that have been joined to Active Directory using DirectControl

We were impressed that within minutes we could get DirectControl up and running and working seamlessly with Samba, something that was not possible with alternatives we considered.

Christopher Smith
IS Manager, RadioFrame Networks

Samba enables Windows users to access file shares on a UNIX server using native Windows SMB protocols. Samba can be configured to use Active Directory to authenticate Windows users. However, when a Windows user saves a file on a UNIX share, Samba must assign UNIX user and group IDs to the file. Windows users do not typically have UNIX profiles, so Samba will set and store arbitrary values for these attributes on each UNIX server. Since Samba does not have a way to centrally store UNIX identity information in Active Directory, users can have different attributes from one server to the next. In most enterprise situations, this is not a workable solution.

Centrify overcomes this shortcoming with a packaged and tested version of Samba that works seamlessly on systems that have been joined to Active Directory using DirectControl. Centrify provides this Centrify-enabled version of Samba free of charge to help you be more productive and to accelerate your deployment. Customers and those evaluating DirectControl can download it from the Centrify Download Center. See below for more insight into the features and benefits of using the Centrify-enabled Samba.

• Customers & Evaluators: Log in to Download Samba
• Others: Request a Free Centrify Suite Evaluation
• Features & Benefits of the Centrify-Enabled Samba
• View the Chalktalk

Features and Benefits

Centrify's Samba solution makes this Open Source tool enterprise-ready and provides the following additional key features to enable Active Directory users to securely and consistently access UNIX SMB file shares:

• Centrally controlled user identity mapping. The Centrify-enabled Samba module controls the mapping of Active Directory accounts to UNIX Zone profiles to ensure consistent file system access controls across all servers that are joined to the Active Directory domain with DirectControl.
• Multi-domain single sign-on support. Users from one Active Directory domain can access Samba shares on servers in another trusted domain without being prompted for their credentials. This is the same behavior that users would expect when using an all-Windows environment.
• Active Directory group-based access controls. Some UNIX operating systems limit the number of groups that a user can belong to. For example, a Solaris user can not be a member of more than 32 groups. Centrify's solution overcomes this limitation and also supports nested groups, enabling Samba to leverage Active Directory groups for file access control regardless of the UNIX operating system's limitations.
• Automated configuration. The DirectControl for Samba solution includes scripts to automatically configure Samba to work with DirectControl and Active Directory, and scripts to start the appropriate services each time the UNIX system boots. Centrify includes pre-compiled binary versions of the DirectControl-enabled Samba package for each of the supported platforms.

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Supported Platforms

Summary

Details

Systems A-Z		32-bit	64-bit
How to read this chart: Early Access Recent Additions Supported
CentOS Linux	3.8 x86
	3.8 x86_64
	4.4 x86
	4.4 x86_64
	4.6 x86
	4.6 x86_64
	4.7 x86
	4.7 x86_64
	5.0 x86
	5.0 x86_64
	5.1 x86
	5.1 x86_64
	5.2 x86
	5.2 x86_64
	5.3 x86
	5.3 x86_64
Debian Linux	3.0 x86
	3.1 x86
	3.1 x86_64
	4.0 x86
	4.0 x86_64
	5.0 x86
	5.0 x86_64
Hewlett Packard HP-UX	11.00 PA-RISC
	11.00 PA-RISC Trusted
	11.11 PA-RISC
	11.11 PA-RISC Trusted
	11.23 PA-RISC
	11.23 PA-RISC Trusted
	11.23 Itanium
	11.23 Itanium Trusted
	11.31 PA-RISC
	11.31 PA-RISC Trusted
	11.31 Itanium
	11.31 Itanium Trusted
IBM AIX	5.1
	5.2
	5.3
	6.1
Mandriva Linux One	2008
	2009
	2009.1
	2010
Novell SUSE Linux	Ent. Server 8.0 x86
	Ent. Desktop 9.0 x86
	Ent. Server 9.0 x86
	Ent. Server 9.0 x86_64
	Ent. Desktop Pro 9.1 x86
	Ent. Desktop Pro 9.2 x86
	Ent. Desktop Pro 9.3 x86
	Ent. Desktop 10.0 x86
	Ent. Server 10.0 x86
	Ent. Server 10.0 x86_64
	Ent. Desktop 11.0 x86
	Ent. Server 11.0 x86
	Ent. Server 11.0 x86_64
OpenSUSE Linux	10.1 x86
	10.1 x86_64
	10.2 x86
	10.2 x86_64
	10.3 x86
	10.3 x86_64
	11.0 x86
	11.0 x86_64
	11.1 x86
	11.1 x86_64
	11.2 x86
	11.2 x86_64
Oracle Enterprise Linux	4.0 x86
	4.0 x86_64
	5.0 x86
	5.0 x86_64
Red Hat Linux	9.0 x86
Red Hat Enterprise Linux	Desktop 5.1 x86
	Desktop 5.1 x86_64
	Desktop 5.2 x86
	Desktop 5.2 x86_64
	Desktop 5.3 x86
	Desktop 5.3 x86_64
	Desktop 5.4 x86
	Desktop 5.4 x86_64
	AS/ES/WS 3.0 x86
	AS/ES/WS 3.0 x86_64
	AS/ES/WS 4.0 x86
	AS/ES/WS 4.0 x86_64
	AS/ES/WS 5.0 x86
	AS/ES/WS 5.0 x86_64
	AS/ES/WS 5.1 x86
	AS/ES/WS 5.1 x86_64
	AS/ES/WS 5.2 x86
	AS/ES/WS 5.2 x86_64
	AS/ES/WS 5.3 x86
	AS/ES/WS 5.3 x86_64
	AS/ES/WS 5.4 x86
	AS/ES/WS 5.4 x86_64
Red Hat Fedora	Core 3 x86
	Core 3 x86_64
	Core 4 x86
	Core 4 x86_64
	Core 5 x86
	Core 5 x86_64
	6 x86
	6 x86_64
	7 x86
	7 x86_64
	8 x86
	8 x86_64
	9 x86
	9 x86_64
	10 x86
	10 x86_64
	11 x86
	11 x86_64
	12 x86
	12 x86_64
Scientific Linux	3.0.8 x86
	3.0.8 x86_64
	3.0.9 x86
	3.0.9 x86_64
	4.4 x86
	4.4 x86_64
	4.5 x86
	4.5 x86_64
	4.6 x86
	4.6 x86_64
	4.7 x86
	4.7 x86_64
	5.0 x86
	5.0 x86_64
	5.1 x86
	5.1 x86_64
	5.2 x86
	5.2 x86_64
	5.3 x86
	5.3 x86_64
Silicon Graphics IRIX	6.5.22 MIPS
	6.5.23 MIPS
	6.5.24 MIPS
	6.5.25 MIPS
	6.5.26 MIPS
	6.5.27 MIPS
	6.5.28 MIPS
	6.5.29 MIPS
Sun Solaris	8 SPARC
	9 SPARC
	9 x86
	10 SPARC
	10 x86
	10 x86_64
Ubuntu Linux	Desktop 6.06 LTS x86
	Desktop 6.06 LTS x86_64
	Server 6.06 LTS x86
	Server 6.06 LTS x86_64
	Desktop 7.04 x86
	Desktop 7.04 x86_64
	Server 7.04 x86
	Server 7.04 x86_64
	Desktop 7.10 x86
	Desktop 7.10 x86_64
	Server 7.10 x86
	Server 7.10 x86_64
	Desktop 8.04 LTS x86
	Desktop 8.04 LTS x86_64
	Server 8.04 LTS x86
	Server 8.04 LTS x86_64
	Desktop 8.10 x86
	Desktop 8.10 x86_64
	Server 8.10 x86
	Server 8.10 x86_64
	Desktop 9.04 x86
	Desktop 9.04 x86_64
	Server 9.04 x86
	Server 9.04 x86_64
	Desktop 9.10 x86
	Desktop 9.10 x86_64
	Server 9.10 x86
	Server 9.10 x86_64

= Currently supported.
= Available through our Early Access program. Ask your Centrify support or sales representative for access.

Summary

Details

Systems A-Z		32-bit	64-bit
Click Show Details for a list of every platform, including notifications of upcoming or recently added versions.
CentOS Linux	3, 4, 5 x86
	3, 4, 5 x86_64
Debian Linux	3.0, 3.1, 4.0, 5.0 x86
	3.1, 4.0, 5.0 x86_64
Hewlett Packard HP-UX	11.00, 11.11, 11.23, 11.31 PA-RISC
	11.23, 11.31 Itanium
IBM AIX	5.x, 6.1
Mandriva Linux One	2008, 2009, 2010 x86
Novell SUSE Linux	Ent. Desktop 9.0, 9.x, 10, 11 x86
	Ent. Server 8, 9, 10, 11 x86
	Ent. Server 9, 10, 11 x86_64
OpenSUSE Linux	10.x, 11.x x86
	10.x, 11.x x86_64
Oracle Enterprise Linux	4, 5 x86
	4, 5 x86_64
Red Hat Linux	9 x86
Red Hat Enterprise Linux	Desktop 5.x x86
	Desktop 5.x x86_64
	AS/ES/WS 3, 4, 5 x86
	AS/ES/WS 3, 4, 5 x86_64
Red Hat Fedora	3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 x86
	3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 x86_64
Scientific Linux	3, 4, 5 x86
	3, 4, 5 x86_64
Silicon Graphics IRIX	6.5.x MIPS
Sun Solaris	8, 9, 10 SPARC
	9, 10 x86
	10 x86_64
Ubuntu Linux	6.06 LTS, 7.04, 7.10, 8.04 LTS, 8.10, 9.04, 9.10 x86
	6.06 LTS, 7.04, 7.10, 8.04 LTS, 8.10, 9.04, 9.10 x86_64