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Building a Panther Server as an OD Master and Windows PDC

By Yuval Kossovsky
March 2, 2004 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - In my last column, I promised to detail the building of a Panther server as an Open Directory (OD) Master and Windows Primary Domain Controller (PDC). Now that my system is up and running, I can tell you how it was done.
It's important to note that for primarily Windows shops, the Panther server can participate in an Active Directory environment as a member server, relying on the AD Master to handle authentication quite nicely. The setup of a Panther server as a PDC, however, is oriented mainly to Apple shops and those who wish to easily integrate Windows desktops without having to maintain a parallel server environment.
I have two Xservers in this configuration. The first acts as the primary authentication server housing the OD Master and the Windows PDC. The second server is the OD replica that handles authentication whenever the master is off-line, and it also acts as the file server.
Configuring the servers was relatively simple, though a few bugs required many hours to understand and develop work-arounds for. Hopefully, you'll be able to learn from my solutions and have a trouble-free installation.
Creating the OD Master and PDC is a selection that you make during the initial server setup. According to Apple Computer Inc., you should select a server to be the PDC during initial setup, because changing that option later will be problematic.
OD Master and PDC
To do so, simply choose a domain or workgroup name, enable Windows Internet Naming Service or enter the IP address of an existing WINS server, and check "enable virtual directory support." WINS maps Windows NetBIOS (machine) names to IP addresses and enables network browsing. Virtual directory support allows users to log in to a Macintosh or Windows machine in the domain and have access to their files.
OD Master and PDC
That is all you need to do during setup to enable Windows support on your Panther server! The next step is adding machines to the domain so that you can log in using an OD account. This process is the same as when the server is a Windows box. You run the network ID wizard, or right-click on "my computer" and "get properties." You will need to use a domain admin account and the naming convention DOMAIN\username or username@domain when entering your ID.
Once the machine has been added to the domain, you can log in using any account in the directory. You can also enable remote support and use Microsoft's Remote Desktop Connection for OS X to control the machines. I



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