[Samba] Linux desktop setup with authentication against Samba AD DC

[Rowland Penny]

On Sun, 24 Nov 2024 20:35:17 +0100
Peter Milesson via samba <samba at lists.samba.org> wrote:

> Hi folks,
> 
> YFYI, I've succeeded setting up something that seems workable.
> 
> When domain users log in on their Linux PCs, they get their
> /home/<user> folders mapped over CIFS from a Samba or Windows server.
> When they log out, the /home/<user> folder is unmounted and deleted,
> and their profile data remains on the server. The whole setup works
> similarly to redirected folders in a Windows server environment. The
> setup is intended for casual users that don't need a full blown
> Windows desktop with M$ 365 and everything else that follows. There
> are lots of capable desktop applications under Linux, that can
> replace their Windows counterparts, giving the users a nice full
> value experience. For companies using mainly web based applications,
> it's a dirt cheap solution. The hardware is really cheap, and it's a
> snap to roll out new PCs with all basic settings. Using Samba Linux
> GPOs, it should be about the same administrative work for the
> administrator, as with Windows desktop PCs.
> 
> The setup is based on Debian Bookworm, the display manager is
> LightDM, and the desktop manager LXDE. Authentication is made with
> Kerberos to a Samba or Windows AD DC through PAM. PAM-mount is taking
> care of mapping the user folders from a share with Linux user
> profiles. The hardest bit was making PAM-mount unmounting and
> deleting the user folders on the Linux PC during the logout process.
> It needed some tweaking.
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Peter
> 
> 

Care to tell us how you set this up ?
Also why LXDE ? Isn't it the DE that sort of refuses to die ?
From my understanding LXDE was replaced by LXQt, but, as is possible,
LXDE was forked and now gets intermittent updates.

Rowland