[techtalk] linux incognito

[Michelle]

Greetings!

I'm considering installing linux on an untouched 1.99GB partition on one of
my work computers, but I'm looking for some ideas on the networking aspects
of this before I actually do it.  I've set up dual-boot systems and
successfully networked a few linux/windows systems at home, but this will be
a bit different.

My network at work consists of primarily Windows/NT systems (i'm sure
there's some HP-UX or Solaris somewhere, but they don't let me play with
those *pout*) on an NT domain.  When I log onto the network, I authenticate
to the domain server (with "client for microsoft networks"), and am assigned
an IP address via DHCP.  Access to shared drives on network servers requires
this authentication.

So here's the question part:  I know how to set linux up to grab an IP
address from the DHCP server (At least I think I've done this before), but I
have no clue how to get it to authenticate to the domain controller, if
there even is a way.  Is there something linux can use to emulate the
"client for microsoft networks"?  Someone told me that the samba tools would
do this, but after reading the samba man page, I'm not quite seeing it.  I
haven't found any FAQ's or HOW-TO's.. and I'm running out of ideas of what
to look for.

I basically need to make linux look as much as possible like a silly windows
box from the rest of the network, just so I don't get questioned as to what
on earth I'm doing *grin*.  I'm planning to make sure I turn off extra
services when I'm not using them (like ftp and telnet) or move them to other
ports where they won't be noticed as much.  If anyone has any other ideas,
or has done something similar... I'd appreciate any input.

Michelle Steiner
astraea at vivid.net


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