[TriLUG] Novell jumps into Linux

[Jon Carnes]

On Wed, 2003-06-25 at 07:40, Jim Ray wrote:
> On Wed, 2003-06-25 at 07:34, Sinner from the Prairy wrote:
> > On Tuesday 24 June 2003 05:07 pm, Jon Carnes wrote:
> > > By the time you have setup the non-transparent OpenLDAP controls for
> > > Samba, Cups, and Postfix - you will have put in enough consulting
> > hours
> > > that you could have bought e-directory.
> > 
> > +100
> 
> wouldn't it be possible to script all setup to automate those
> procedures?

To some degree you can automate a lot, but you still have to setup
users, directories, and rights structures and unfortunately there are
few web-based tools or gui's that help you out here.  Any GUI would have
to be designed somewhat around the setup process - or at least around
the final result of that setup process.

A bright note in this area is SUSE's OpenExchange server. A group of us
got together last night and installed it at a local startup company.

The setup rocks! It has a few quirks, and you have to read the
documentation, but it does largely setup OpenLDAP for you and
specifically uses LDAP to control all aspects of the server:
  User logins, 
  Mail aliases,
  POP and IMAP logins 
  Calendaring
  Access to Samba shares
  Web access

The really cool part is the web-based controls that you get as a
front-end to manage all your users/groups/services. It even allows you
to browse the LDAP database (should you be so inclined)

The SUSE OpenExchange server is definitely worth the price (under a $1k)
for a drop and insert Exchange replacement.

The back-end (hidden) scripting involved in setting up the OpenLDAP is
fairly intense, but works well - as long as you only install the apps
and packages prechosen by SUSE.

So... at least at the single server level, heavy scripting can automate
the install of LDAP into something useful (using a local copy of
OpenLDAP) - but that is just one machine. To make this truly useful as a
Directory Administrator you would have to extend the install to all your
workstations and servers - and have a Network wide LDAP setup that each
of the computers accesses.

We are still a long way from that point. 

Jon Carnes