Linux or Mac boxes as members of a Windows network

["McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>]

Assume I run a desktop computer connected to the company network, am a
logged-in member of domain and workgroup, and therefore have seamless
access to company file and printer resources anywhere in the world from
my Windows desktop.  That is, the network is expecting my PC (by
IP/hostname, or just by MAC address to which the network assigns IP and
hostname...), and merely needs to get my personal credentials (login ID
and password). Similarly I could log in down the hall on somebody else's
computer, using my credentials, and still have the same intranet access
that I have from my regular desk.

But let's go back to my Windows PC (where I'm logged in and connected to
local servers and to servers and desktop shares in a dozen other
offices), and reboot... into Linux. 

 

What's needed for that computer (same hardware, same MAC address,
willing to accept hostname and IP from DHCP server), to be recognized as
a valid box on that network, prompt for my credentials, and then give me
the same access, with the same ease (in, say, KDE/Konqueror instead of
in Windows Explorer) of access to all the servers and shares?

 

Must everything out in the company WAN be running Samba and CUPS?  (Not
going to happen.)

 

Or is there some straightforward thing that IT Dept. (specifically the
network admins) can do that basically says "Hey, we still recognize this
PC even though it happens to be running Linux instead of Windows just
now, and we'll allow you to present your credentials, and we'll accept
them if you're you"??

I'm tired of using ftp and ssh and VNC and other non-integrated
approaches to achieve limited, spotty access. I'll install and run
whatever it takes on the Linux PC, but what do I need to request from IT
to make the other half of the arrangement work? 

 

Who's got experience with mixed networks and can point to just the right
FAQ or Howto?  I suspect that there's just a switch (preference) that
somebody in IT needs to flip so that the mostly Windows servers will
stop being picky about the religion of the connecting computer. But is
that too simplistic?

 

(At my previous company, half the servers were Solaris and Linux, but
Linux (at that time) wasn't yet ready for the corporate desktop, so I
didn't have the issue). Now, I do... so it rankles, slightly.)

 

>From you warriors at the forefront, what's the current poop?

 

Thanks,

 

Kevin

 


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