[Samba] Naming conventions with samba4 & AD with computer with "_"

[Rowland Penny]

On Sun, 16 Oct 2016 21:59:30 +0200
Trenta sis via samba <samba at lists.samba.org> wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> I am testing to migrate samba 3 nt domain to samba 4 ad, It is sure
> to keep machines with hostname "_" and dns records a or cname with "_"
> 
> I am reading some information, but nothing clear if we can keep this
> old convention....
> 
> We have made some test and seems that any problem is generated, but
> we are not sure  if we can continue with this naming convention...
> thanks
> 
> 2016-10-10 19:25 GMT+02:00 Trenta sis <trenta.sis at gmail.com>:
> 
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm evaluating to migrate samba 3 domain to samba 4 with AD, but our
> > environment contains dns names with "_", and in samba wiki appears
> > https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/909264 that you can't use dns
> > names with "_"
> >
> > Disallowed charactersDNS host names cannot contain the following
> > characters:
> >
> >    - comma (,)
> >    - tilde (~)
> >    - colon (:)
> >    - exclamation point (!)
> >    - at sign (@)
> >    - number sign (#)
> >    - dollar sign ($)
> >    - percent (%)
> >    - caret (^)
> >    - ampersand (&)
> >    - apostrophe (')
> >    - period (.)
> >    - parentheses (())
> >    - braces ({})
> >    - *underscore (_)*
> >    - white space (blank)
> >
> > The underscore has a special role, as it is permitted for the first
> > character in SRV records by RFC definition, but newer DNS servers
> > may also allow it anywhere in a name. For more details, see:
> > http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc959336.aspx.
> > I have tested samba 3 to samba 4 and seems that computer objectes
> > with "_" are migrated and we can add dns A with "_"
> >
> >
> > I have tried to add a cname with "_" and seems thats wokrs, but I'm
> > not sure If really I can user "_" in computer names and dns names
> > or this requires to be replaces by "-" befores upgrade...
> >
> >
> > It is required to rename machiens with "_" and dns A and cname with
> > "_" to "-", for example... ?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> >

If you read the documentation you posted links to, yes, you can use the
underscore character, but it is not recommended, as other dns servers
might not recognise it.

This might not be a problem now, but what if something changes in the
future ?

I would accept this and start changing things now.

Rowland