Add Windows Clients to Linux Samba Domain

In the previous guide we showed you how to install / setup your Turnkey Linux PDC on a physical server. Now we will show you how to add Windows client computers to your Linux / Samba domain.

For the examples we will use Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Before you begin:

Before you begin we are assuming that all the following are true:

• Your PDC is setup properly and that you can access it via a web browser

• You have administrative rights on the XP client(s)

• Your XP client(s) are on the same subnet as your PDC

• DO NOT TRY TO CREATE ANY SAMBA USERS - JOIN THE CLIENT(S) FIRST

All being well then you are good to go.

Network Settings:

In order to add your Windows client machines to your domain you MUST set certain TCP / IP settings, namely WINS on ALL client machines to be added.

• First navigate to Network Connections via Control Panel

• Then right click on the Local Area Connection you want to use and select Properties

• Then select Internet Protocol (TCP / IP) and select properties

• Now click the Advanced tab

• Then select the WINS tab at the top

• Now select Add

• Now enter the IP address of your PDC as shown:

• Then click Add then OK, OK then Close

• Make sure you can ping from client to server

Joining the Domain:

Now you can start to add your client(s) to the domain. To do this:

• Right click on My Computer and select Properties then Computer Name

• Select Change and enter your domain name as shown:

• Click OK

• All being well you should be prompted for your Samba Administrator password as shown:

• Enter these credentials and click OK

• You should now see a message welcoming you to the domain as shown:

• Click OK and reboot the machine

• Login to the domain as the Samba admin to test

Congratulations you have now joined your XP client to a Linux / Samba domain. Now you must do this for ALL client machines that you wish to add to the domain.

In our next article we will show you how to add users to your Linux / Samba domain.

Should you have any questions etc then please Contact Us