[Samba] NT4 SP3 PDC with MS Exchange 5.5 to Samba 3.x ldapbac ked PDC and MS Exchange 5.5 still

[Derek Werthmuller]

 >>I have a client in a similar situation. NT4 PDC w/Exchange 5.5 and Samba
member servers. Main problem is that >>they're running an old custom
Outlook/Exchange workflow app which locks them in until it can be replaced.

Similar situation - though we've been able to replicate it fairly easily in
google apps.

>>As you're aware newer then XP cannot join an NT4 domain but can join a
Samba domain - and they will eventually >>need some new desktops. So my
thoughts have been running along the lines of demoting the NT4 PDC and
having a >>Samba server take over those duties. Problem's are the NT4 PDC is
not a supported task, and even if a registry >>hack can accomplish it
(according to an old post by Minasi it should) but the effect on Exchange
after this is >>apparently unknown. Also a test attempt to vampire the PDC
did not work due to capitalization problems (if the >>vampire script did a
lower case conversion this might have been a big start).

I did consider this, though the issue is what do I do with the existing NT4
PDC - I can demote this to BDC but from the samba docs samba PDC and Windows
BDC is not supported.  And I don't think it can demote the PDC to server
role.
I'm also trying to be very careful not to make substantial changes to the
exchange host - I need that working for a short while longer.

Thanks
	Derek


-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Smith [mailto:smb_77 at chrissmith.org] 
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2011 12:07 PM
To: Derek Werthmuller
Cc: samba at lists.samba.org
Subject: Re: [Samba] NT4 SP3 PDC with MS Exchange 5.5 to Samba 3.x
ldapbacked PDC and MS Exchange 5.5 still

On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 10:34 AM, Derek Werthmuller
<dwerthmu at ctg.albany.edu> wrote:
> Looking to make some changes to an old but working LAN, that has about 
> 10 samba servers serving printers and network shares and a NT 4 PDC 
> server with Exchange 5.5 on it.  The samba servers are members of the 
> nt4 domain, XP systems are members of the nt 4 domain also.
>
> I'd like to be able to support windows 7 clients as domain members, 
> right now the clients are all XP.
>
> Keeping the exchange is really a stop gap till we can move that 
> function to the cloud.
>
> Have others done similar upgrades successfully?  Does this sound
reasonable?



All services except for PDC, WINS and Exchange have been moved from the NT4
box. Outside email is handled by Google Apps. DNS, NTP, file and print
services, etc. all handled by Linux servers, firewall is OpenBSD/PF. Also to
protect from failure of the old hardware the PDC has been virtrualized and
running under VirtualBox where regular snapshots can be taken.

The virtualization of the NT4 PDC also provides an opportunity to experiment
with copies/snapshots so I hope to tackle this a bit more in depth when time
permits. Of course any clues, hints, experience to be shared in this area
are very welcome. I will gladly provide anything I find out that may be
useful.

Chris