Join a Windows Client to a Samba Domain

Verify the following parameters in the smb.conf file:

Set the security parameter to “user.”

Set the workgroup parameter to the name of the domain.

Set the encrypt passwords parameter to “yes.”

[global]
security = user
workgroup = SAMBADOM #SAMBA Domain name
domain logon = yes
encrypt passwords = yes

On the Samba PDC Server, create a machine trust account for a Windows Client in the /etc/passwd file, using the following command:

useradd -g machines -c NT_workstation -d /home/temp -s /bin/false client1$

An example of the command can be seen within the upper dark rectangle in Figure 4-1, below.

The resulting entry for a client machine named “CLIENT1” would be:

client1$:*.801:800:NT Workstation 1:/home/temp:/bin/false

where 801 is a uid and 800 is the group id of a group called “machines.” A uid or group id can be any unique number. You may find that uid values 0 through 100 are considered special, and/or server specific. This may, or may not apply to your system.

The machine account is the machine’s name with a dollar sign character (“$”) appended to it. The home directory can be set to /home/temp. The shell field in the /etc/passwd file is not used and can be set to /bin/false.

An example of the entry can be seen within the lower dark rectangle in Figure 4-1, below.

Figure 4-1 Create A Machine Trust Account

Run the smbpasswd program to add a machine entry for a Windows Client to the /var/opt/samba/private/smbpasswd file using the following command:

smbpasswd -a -m client1

An example of this command can be seen within the upper dark rectangle in Figure 4-2, below, and an example of the associated machine entry can be seen in the lower rectangle.

In this example, the “client1” machine entry is the machine name of a Windows Client.

Figure 4-2 Add A Machine Entry

Logon to Windows NT as a local admin user.

From the Windows NT desktop, click ‘Start’, ‘Settings’ and ‘Control Panel’. When the Control Panel window opens, double-click on the ‘Network’ icon. When the ‘Network’ window opens, click the ‘Identification’ tab. Refer to Figure 4-3 below.

Enter the Samba domain name in the ‘Domain’ field, and click on the ‘Change’ button. Refer to Figure 4-3 below.