HOWTO: Replace Windows PDC and Exchange Server with Linux.

[mbottrell]

Hi all,

I recently lost my cewl with my Windows 2000 server after it decided to have a fatal BSOD after a Windows update. :(

I spat the dummy -- as this was our main FS and PDC holding some 300Gb of mirrored data.

Looking up the info I got the usual:

"This is a known issue with Windows 2000/2003 Server. Contact Microsoft for a patch".

Damn -- known issue and no public patch! That would be right. :mad:

Well this happened late on a Friday night.... I really didn't want to pay for a Microsoft 'tech' to tell me how to fix one of their KNOWN bugs.... that no public patch was available for. :mad:

At this point I decide enough of Windoze servers and time to upgrade.

I used the same hardware, grabbed some new disks and ended up with a nice hefty Linux server...

It now is the Primary Domain Controller, and also replaces our Exchange Server. :) Our WinXP Pro desktops now auth against it and read our mail via Outlook to our 'LinExchange box'... complete with Shared folders and a Global Address Book! :D


I recovered all the data off the 'Win2K disks' (using Linux) and copied it all back.

I'm interested if people would like me to document how I pulled this off with my trusty Linux CDs and a a net-connection. :)

If there is enough interest ... I'll put a HOWTO up for it....

Cheers,

Matt.

[Phil]

i am especially interested in how you go linux to act as an 'exchange server' especially with a shared address book.

[mbottrell]

Originally posted by soundguy
i am especially interested in how you go linux to act as an 'exchange server' especially with a shared address book.

No worries.. give me a week or too... I'm at 'battle-stations' at present with toooo many deadlines to consider.

I will post something up however over the next few weeks.

Yes -- shared address book and shared folders is a buzz! :D

It will also cover breaking and replacing Linux mirrors. ;)

Cheers,

Matt.

[Butt-Ugly]

I think that would be a fantastic contribution to the forums. :D

I look forward to having a read myself.

Cheers,

BU.

[Pigs]

I'm very interested how you did this as well. I'd like to loosen the MS grip around here.

Cheers

[taso]

Originally posted by mbottrell
I recently lost my cewl with my Windows 2000 server after it decided to have a fatal BSOD after a Windows update. :(

If it works you are blessed. Leave it alone and pray to Bill three times a day.

"This is a known issue with Windows 2000/2003 Server. Contact Microsoft for a patch".

Damn -- known issue and no public patch! That would be right. :mad:

Which updates were they?

I'm interested if people would like me to document how I pulled this off with my trusty Linux CDs and a a net-connection. :)

If there is enough interest ... I'll put a HOWTO up for it....

I'm interested in the Exchange 'replacement'. I'm sure many others are too. That seems to be the only obstacle to replacing Windows servers with Linux ones.

[Pigs]

Using the windows update site gets most of the known patches however if you want to get them all and let 1 program do the legwork for you I'd recommend a visit to Shavlik.

They do a patch pushing program called HFNetChkPro and for a network of under 10 machines its free. Try https://www.shavlik.com/pDownloadForm4.aspx

Works well and allows remote admin and pushing of all the "hard to find" MS patches.

Its a great tool. 1 button domain patching.

I recommend it to you.

Cheers

[alexs]

Originally posted by soundguy
i am especially interested in how you go linux to act as an 'exchange server' especially with a shared address book.


me too, been looking at http://www.opengroupware.org/.

but still not sure

[ScottieDog]

I have been using a modified version of Red Hat called "e-smith" for a couple of years now. It takes about 15 minutes to configure, and replaces everything your Windows server does.

File & Print Share, Mail Server, Proxy Server, Web Server, Gateway/Firewall, FTP, DHCP & BOOTP Server, etc, etc. It also has a webmail interface. Handles IMAP, POP3, LDAP, etc.

With no knowledge of Linux, I had this running in 15 minutes, and host multiple domain names.

http://www.e-smith.org (Download 6.0 unsupported release)
http://www.contribs.org (Forums for users of "e-smith").

Only down side I can think of, is no shared address book or calendars. But then again, I have not really looked for a solution.

The online community is great in asissting with problems, but you can also get help from authorised agents in most cities.

Finally, once configured, you can just about forget it. Never had problems with MS security holes ;-)

[mbottrell]

Hi all,

Nope I haven't forgetten about this! :D

Sorry I have been extremely busy of late and probably will for another 3-4 weeks. :(

It is coming.

Yeah I looked at both of the two listed above... both are good at what they do.

As I love to tinker, and wringe the last CPU cycle outta every CPU I always prefer rolling my own (It's a great way to learn the 'guts' as well).

It works on total OpenSource package with some hacks/patches thrown in. :)

I'll be building RPMS for those on Redhat based systems and happy to host *.deb packages for those that wanna build and supply 'em. :)

Cheers,

Matt.

[jok11n]

Originally posted by ScottieDog
IOnly down side I can think of, is no shared address book or calendars. But then again, I have not really looked for a solution.



Do a search on contribs for twiggi, someone there (Darrel May I think, but I could be wrong) has rolled it up into a single rpm and it will do what you want

[cwispy]

If and when you get it written, you should submit it to "the linux documumentation project" (www.tldp.org). The more HOWTOs submitted, the more chance that someone else will be able to take up Linux and save some poor money from landing in the pocket of the little bloke with the glasses. :D

What were the major software packages did you use out of interest?

cheers

cwispy

[CloSeR]

Hi..

Very interested in this how to... Always good to see new ways of ridding our network of MS..

Patiently Waiting..






CLoSeR

[Pigs]

Tap Tap Tap.....

[H4Inf]

That would be fantastic =)

[Bruticus]

Twould be good.

[henare]

I too would be interested in your Exchange replacement. I have looked at quite a few solutions but can't bring myself to use IMAP in our hosted environment - it's just not as polished for appearance-centric clients. Outlook, Exchange and MAPI are about the only thing holding me back from moving our complete backend to FLOSS

[mikev]

Microsoft will not charge you if you contact them for patches listed in KB articles -- just tell them what you are after at the commencement of the call. They usually take about 4 - 24 hours to arrive via email.

I would be interested in an Exchange alternative that runs under Linux. Imap4 does a lot for centralised mail, but global address lists, public folders, shared calendars, F/B data etc are very much an Exchange / Groupwise / Notes solution that little progress seems to be made on under FOSS. Communigate Pro, Samsung Contact, SUSE OpenExchange etc all do this via MAPI plugins, but their cost is still fairly restrictive and they really do not give any benefit over Exchange.

I assume your addressing is somehow performed against an LDAP directory?

Cheers

N\ikeV

[kal]

Hmmm I'm interested to see how you did it as well. I recently received my Under the Brim email from redhat, which included a very similar replacement process article and I have done it half way at work(although slightly differently to the article). What I'm missing is calender and appointment support for outlook clients for a linux MTA/Groupware product (using sendmail as mail gateway/blackhole filter then passing off to exchange). The article mentioned Scalix as a drop in replacement for exchange, which sounds great (never heard of it before this). I noticed that you didnt mention calendering or appointments. is this because it doesnt work or just not an issue in your setup? Looking forward to the howto..

[atevet]

So - anyone have any clue when a HOWTO is going to be posted? Last time Matt posted on this topic was several months ago already, and I'm sure there are plenty out there waiting eagerly (including me :)

[archonit.net]

Matt stop reading other forums and show us how this howto goes ;)

Unless there's been too many teething problems with Samba and Win2k.... I had a plethora of them and it was hell. Change a zillion registry settings, modify the smb.conf file a billion times and when they finally worked it worked well - until we found out that some of the My Documents files weren't saving to the server at all..... Weird bug and we had it again. twice in a row.

Why does a PDC never work out first time?! :(

[CloSeR]

Originally posted by archonit.net
Why does a PDC never work out first time?! :(

Im hearing loud and clear man..

:)

It NEVER just works.

CLoSeR

[mbottrell]

Okay...

:o I've been a very busy boy of late... I've got approx. 10 commercial sites underway at the same time. :( (unfortunately paid work gets a priority!)

I have definately not forgotten about this. :D

I do have a client who's rolling out this in mid-may as a corporate solutoin, and I'll be using the HOWTO as a guide (to check it's accuracy and ensure I haven't left anything out!)

I wish to do a full dry-run prior to releasing it.... as I would prefer a full and well-documeted solution rather than creating a support headache for myself.

If you can wait about 30 days... you'll have the doco! :D

Please bare with me.... and watch this space! :D

Cheers,

Matt.

[mbottrell]

Originally posted by archonit.net
Matt stop reading other forums and show us how this howto goes ;)

Unless there's been too many teething problems with Samba and Win2k.... I had a plethora of them and it was hell. Change a zillion registry settings, modify the smb.conf file a billion times and when they finally worked it worked well - until we found out that some of the My Documents files weren't saving to the server at all..... Weird bug and we had it again. twice in a row.

Why does a PDC never work out first time?! :(

Actually I didn't find those issues. I have one *.reg that gets applied and that's it. :)

I have found from experience though a slow and methodical approach is the best for PDC/Samba and Win2K/XP is the best approach.... rushing it does create problems....

There are a few gotchas if you miss some steps.... I do have one bizarre bug I'm trying to sort... it's related to permissions...

Seems at present it will allow you to save a 'new' file, but you are denied permission to update (or overwrite) the file from then on. :confused: I'm still working through this one. :( Though permissions through the smb.conf and the UNIX system should allow the overwrite. strange... very strange...

I'm keeping an eye out to see if others are experiencing the same problem.

Cheers,

Matt.

[archonit.net]

Bah I think he's just bluffing and watching too much TV and refusing to help everyone ;P

- if anyone wants the windows 2000 server 'how to' guide it's attached below:

: Install windows 2000 server
: run the 'configure my server' wizard
: install and set up active directory using the wizard - it's hard NOT to be able to figure it out.
: add users via the 'users and computers'.
... create a folder called profiles. Share this folder.
... to add a user create a new account, and enter this shared folder '//server/profiles/username' as the profile directory.
... set the HOME to be h: (or similiar) and set it to //server/profiles/username as well.
: create a new machine account, based on the computer name NOT the username
: Go to the other computer. Enter the domain name in it's netbios form (for some reason adding .net at the end did not work).
: the rest should be obvious.

See matt? Only takes a few minutes to write one of these up! You're lazy!!!

(and i'm gonna run off and cower before he gets angry!)

:P :P :P

[archonit.net]

Where's the guide? :)

My config worked perfectly but I spent ages trying to figure out what was going wrong until I realised that it was simply an error with directory permissions.

Ive pasted it below. Someone might find it useful.
This acts as a password authentication server and domain logons. A person's profile is stored on it.

I also had to change the registry of a winxp computer as by defualt there's something screwy with trusted zones or some crap like that. I forget now ;)

Hurry up with the guide matt... I've already got PDC, Squid, Clam, Apache, SquirrelMail, IMAP, sendmail all working ace....

/etc/samba/smb.conf

workgroup = akunno.net
netbios name = webserver
server string = aKuNNo.NET
security = domain
hosts allow = 192.168.0. 127.
encrypt passwords = Yes
domain logons = Yes
os level = 35
preferred master = yes
domain master = yes

domain admin group = root
admin users = root

add user script = /usr/sbin/useradd -m %u
delete user script = /usr/sbin/userdel -r %u

unix password sync = yes
passwd program = /bin/passwd -r files %u; cd /var/yp; make passwd
passwd chat = *New\spasswd:* "%n\n" *new\spassword:* "%n\n" *updated\spasswd* . *pushed\spasswd*

log file = /var/log/samba.%m
max log size = 50
ssl CA certDir = /etc/ssl/certs
logon path = \\%L\Profiles\%U
logon drive = H:
logon home = \\%L\%U\
logon script = logon.bat

#============================ Share Definitions ==============================
[homes]
comment = Home Directories
browseable = no
writable = yes

# Un-comment the following and create the netlogon directory for Domain Logons
[netlogon]
comment = Network Logon Service
browseable = no
path = /home/domain/netlogon
write list = mikeblake root


[Profiles]
path = /home/
browseable = no
writeable = yes
nt acl support = yes
profile acls = yes

[mbottrell]

Originally posted by archonit.net
Bah I think he's just bluffing and watching too much TV and refusing to help everyone ;P
....

See matt? Only takes a few minutes to write one of these up! You're lazy!!!

(and i'm gonna run off and cower before he gets angry!)

:P :P :P

:D *crosses archonit.net off XMas list*

NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Damn.. caught out watching TV again! :eek:

Stay tuned.. .a well docoed and commented guide is due out in just over 2.5 weeks. :D

Though.. your conf works well. :) Will get the basic stuff up and running. :D

Cheers,

Matt.

[Shakow]

Almost 2 months later ............... :P

[axcairns]

Another vote for e-smith here. If you can't wait for Matt to get off his shiny hiney then give it a go. Does everything you expect except shared calendar out of the box and, as pointed out, there is a 'contrib' to do that.

I don't use shared calendar but had my web/file/mail/DB/PDC server up and running in half an hour with the following add-ons -

- phpmyadmin mysql admin module
- clamAV anti-virus
- SpamAssassin spam filter

Never did get gateway/firewall running though...

Cheers,

Allan