ClearFoundation

Hello,
just installed ClearOS in a virtualbox to evaluate. I must say that I am impressed with what it can do out-of-the-box and I am especially impressed by the ease of maintenance / configuration.
Big compliments to the developers and the community!

As an Ubuntu user on the desktop I am looking for a simple way to have (sorry for the MS comparison) roaming network user accounts (profiles) for the desktops / laptops. This will enable me to also have Ubuntu (or any other Linux desktop client) as a viable and centrally managed desktop environment in my company (or home).

ClearOS comes with Windows Networking, but is it also able to do this for Linux as a client?

Just curious.

regards and keep up the good work!
Ruud.

Ruud

I use Linux as main only OS - you will have no issues. Even if the server would block Linux (why I do not know, worse case situation here). SAMBA would let you use ClearOS seamlessly.

As for backups on linux a simple rsync with a cron job would let you copy your home folder to the server. if you did not want to do it command line way install grsync it is a GUI for rsync.

MS roaming profiles I believe would have to be a hack of some sorts. But you can set the users MY Docs to the ClearOS server as default. Or use a free sync program to sync the users docs to the ClearOS server and have the sync going every 10-15 minutes.

Hope this helps.

Hi Tracey,
thanks for your reply.
What I am looking for is / what I mean by roaming is: I have a laptop that is either used off-line or online. When online I would like to be authenticated by a directory server that holds my credentials.
When offline these credentials should also be available locally. Copying the home folder using (g)rsynch will do the trick I guess to have my settings and data synchronized between my laptop and the network. But what if I log on to a laptop a a colleague? Windows then uses the Active directory to authenticate my account and creates automatically a local account. This also enables me to roam not only over on/offline but also over different laptop / PC's in the network. I log on to the network as opposed to now me logging in to the laptop / PC.

Does this make any sense / clearify the roaming part?

regards,
Ruud.

Aloha Rudd,
Are you looking at making the ClearOS box act as a PDC? I am working with a client that already is using the ClearOS as a primary Microsoft server. This seems to working okay with no major issues. The Samba and LDAP work great for the 50 workstations that communicate to the system

Brian Low wrote:
Aloha Rudd,
Are you looking at making the ClearOS box act as a PDC? I am working with a client that already is using the ClearOS as a primary Microsoft server. This seems to working okay with no major issues. The Samba and LDAP work great for the 50 workstations that communicate to the system
Aloha Brain
In fact I'm looking for what the PDC functionality is for windows clients, but then for Linux clients (e.g. Ubuntu).
regards,
Ruud.

Hi Ruud,

I don't believe your issue is going to be on the server side. If I understand Ubuntu correctly, your issue will be on the Ubuntu PC side. Ubuntu was never designed to be a workstation in a business setting. At least not the free version. I'm not sure about LTS versions. So I think roaming profiles, without serious hacks, will be out of the question. CentOS desktop might be a better choice. Even then, I'm not sure about roaming profiles.

Good Luck!

Do you have a active Dir already? if yes then look at the page:

help.ubuntu.com/community/ActiveDirectoryWinbindHowto

It uses a app called winbind for that.

There is one more app called likewise-open - here is a how-to:

secadmin.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/adding...roup-to-gain-access/


Hope this helps.

ER Stearns wrote:
Hi Ruud,

I don't believe your issue is going to be on the server side. If I understand Ubuntu correctly, your issue will be on the Ubuntu PC side. Ubuntu was never designed to be a workstation in a business setting. At least not the free version. I'm not sure about LTS versions. So I think roaming profiles, without serious hacks, will be out of the question. CentOS desktop might be a better choice. Even then, I'm not sure about roaming profiles.

Good Luck!

Hi ER, Thanks for your reply, true part of it is a client side issue and in my opinion this is what is holding Ubuntu back from use in corporate environments as the clients of choice.

Tracy Holz wrote:
Do you have a active Dir already? if yes then look at the page:

help.ubuntu.com/community/ActiveDirectoryWinbindHowto

It uses a app called winbind for that.

There is one more app called likewise-open - here is a how-to:

secadmin.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/adding...roup-to-gain-access/


Hope this helps.

Hi Tracey, this is what I was aiming at in this thread. I do not have a (Windows) Active Directory but was wondering if ClearOS could play this Directory Service role (and then for now windows clients)?
By doing so we would have an open alternative for Active Directory out-of-the box (I know there are also other implementations, but they require a lot of configuration and understanding of the underlaying principles).

Second part is of course the client side as stated in the quote (ER) above. Ubuntu will be aiming it's arrows on that one, I am sure > help.ubuntu.com/community/CorporateUbuntu

Thanks for your replies, good to interact on this and hear your opinions / visions on the subject.

regards,
Ruud.

A bit late coming but this should help you immensely.

Hi,

I used to use Microsoft SBS for client installs and have done quite a few installs. All I wish to say is from the perspective of roaming profiles is that in a supposed Microsoft "plug and play" enviroment it is very prone for errors.
The roaming profiles functions works well if all the clients are identical installs. Start throwing different versions of windows and application software at SBS and it all gets very hard to administer. Everytime you think you have got all the hatches bolted down your client will bring a new device to the server and suddenly you will realise Microsoft have changed either dependancies or directory structure.
I used to find that profiles would somehow get corrupted over periods of time and basically came to the solution that I would dictate purchases so that OS and installation could be controlled.

Stuart