# How close is samba to a real active directory server?

## 1clue

Hi,

I need to write an app against Active Directory on Windows 2008r2 for my job.

I don't have Windows 2008r2 and I don't need or want Active Directory, except for this.

So I guess I need to know two things:

How close is Samba to Active Directory 2008 with respect to authentication and group membership queries?

How hard is it to install and set up this way?

I see this:  http://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Samba/HOWTO  I just don't know if it's close enough to do the job.

Thanks.

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## szatox

AFAIR Novel used to provide linux servers configured to work as AD controller for windows clients, using samba on his end, so it should be close enough to do the job. Sorry, no idea about details. I'm sure it is possible though.

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## 1clue

I'm aware that people use Samba in place of Windows domain controllers in real businesses, I just don't know how well it works or how much pain you need to go through to set it up.

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## Anon-E-moose

Are you wanting samba to be an AD server?

If so, I think you'll need to be running samba 4 at the very least.

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## AgBr

AFAIK Samba 4 is a fully compatible implementation of the AD server. According publications I have read, Microsoft is even involved in the development.

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## 1clue

OK thanks for the input.  Still don't know if I actually want one around, but at least it's still an option as opposed to buying a Win2k8 license just to test this thing.

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## AgBr

 *1clue wrote:*   

> OK thanks for the input.  Still don't know if I actually want one around, but at least it's still an option as opposed to buying a Win2k8 license just to test this thing.

 

AFAIK you can just download the server and test it for some weeks, without activating a license.

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## 1clue

 *AgBr wrote:*   

>  *1clue wrote:*   OK thanks for the input.  Still don't know if I actually want one around, but at least it's still an option as opposed to buying a Win2k8 license just to test this thing. 
> 
> AFAIK you can just download the server and test it for some weeks, without activating a license.

 

Yes, you get a month to activate Microsoft Windows licenses.  It's how I do it with any windows image, get the iso from Microsoft (so you KNOW it's not altered) and then buy a license from someplace reputable.  But I don't want Active Directory on anything I keep (meaning, paid for) and I think this project will take longer than a month.

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