Linux Login server (like windows domains)?

[justinschw]

Hi all,

So there is something I want to do with Linux boxes and I don't really know the correct word for it; I was hoping I could describe it to you so you could help me. At my school in the computer labs there are PCs that run on a domain so that when you log into them, they don't log you in locally but through a logon server and it loads all your information which is actually stored remotely. So my question is: can this be done in Linux, and what is it called? I'd like to have a logon server that stores user accounts, home directories, etc. and I'd like to set up terminals that will allow users to log in who have accounts in the logon server. All the users' home directories, etc. are stored remotely and can be accessed upon login. Is this possible?

[mizzle]

Yes, this is possible.

There are a few ways to go about this. OpenLDAP, Samba Domain Controller, FreeIPA (is quite new).

OpenLDAP is probably the most common for Linux-only environments. Everything you describe is possible, but I can't promise you it's going to be easy

[justinschw]

Thank you so much!