Domain and Directory Services under Linux

I'm currently researching for a way to create a Domain for Windows users and an Active Directory under Linux. I've googled around for various methods of doing so and I wanted to see if I'm in the right path.

First there's Samba along with OpenLDAP. I've encountered this method a lot and it seems it's the most popular way of doing it. Now I'm talking about making the server a PDC, doesn't sound like it's simple to implement and I've read that the current version of Samba doesn't fully support AD.

Then I found 389 Directory Server directory.fedoraproject.org/ and there is a good guide that sorta guides you trough the process of creating a PDC and using 389.

What I'm looking to do is:

• Create a PDC in a Linux server
• There has to be a Directory, along with policies.
• The directory has to replicate to at least other 2 servers

Also, if such solution is posible, is there a way to migrate an Active Directory to another solution?

Thanks for your time

I am waiting for samba 4 ...

Hope there will be a beta soon ...

I've tried samba3 with openldap ... but there where some issues, as:
- No AD-Policies (I couldn't set up Kerberos, just didn't get it)
- Desktop and Own-Files deleted some files
- Changing password had a strange behavior ... because I just changed the NT-HASH password ... but not the other hashes ...

Small problem like that occurred in my tests ...

It's my first time I've heard about the 389 Directory Server.

Apparently it's what Red Hat uses but without the payed support, it's completely open source.

I was reading on samba 4 and it mentions native support for AD and other goodies, unfortunately I can't wait until it's released. Another option I saw was Apache Directory Service, but it seems a little new and experimental.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rokurosv

First there's Samba along with OpenLDAP. I've encountered this method a lot and it seems it's the most popular way of doing it.

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I think you are wrong here. For windows clients the most popular way is active directory :)
lots of good links here
What Are Some Good Open Source Alternatives to Active Directory? - Server Fault
but, I don't think there is any real alternative to Active Directory to provide as good control over windows machines. samba 4 sounds promising, but its not here yet.

Sounds like it cannot be fully replaced with open source solutions. Thanks for the link, found a couple of useful links. Still what are the main limitations of using an OSS solution? I think the most important factor would be policies.