Join a Samba3-Domain with WinXP pro

1. Create the machine-account on the server
   • for ldap its: smbldap-useradd -w MACHINENAME$ (dont forget the trailing $)
   • for smbpasswd its the smbpasswd-command
2. Be sure that on XP-side the following is set:
   • WINNS-server to the IP of the samba-machine
   • netbios over tcp/ip is enabled
   • you can set these via DHCP on serverside or start->controlpanel->network->properties->internetprotocol->advanced
3. start->controlpanel->system->computername-> change -> Domain
   • as username/password you need the username of a Administrator (Domainadministrator !!) and the passwort set with smbpasswd or smbldap-passwd
   • username = Administrator password=xxxxxxxx
   • note that - opposite to samba2.x - you dont need to use server\Administrator as username and that - also opposite to samba2.x - root is not mandatory

• be sure there is a group Domain Admins and a user Administrator for samba. When using LDAP and following the instructions these user/group is generated by some script during the install. You can set/reset the password of your Administrator with above mentioned commands.
• in your smb.conf be sure to have admin users= Administrator @”Domain Admins”
• note that its able to migrate existing machines from 2.x to 3.x without having a proper DomainAdmin, but as soon as you like to add new machines, you have to take care about that. (see also migrate_samba)

be sure that you set the netbios-name-servers-options for you clients

http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-Guide/secure.html#ch4dhcpdns
I use a minimalistic config for my simple subnet:

default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;

authoritative;
default-lease-time 473040000;
max-lease-time 473040000;
ddns-update-style none;
option subnet-mask 255.255.255.0;
option broadcast-address 192.168.0.255;
option routers 192.168.0.1;
option domain-name-servers 192.168.0.1;
option netbios-name-servers 192.168.0.1;
option domain-name "local";

subnet 192.168.0.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
   range 192.168.0.200 192.168.0.253;
}

log-facility local7;