Hi list, I'm trying to migrate from a workgroup based Samba server to a domain based Samba server. I need the following features - Roaming profiles - LDAP based user administration / authentication I think the LDAP part is mostly doable, though I do foresee some hair tearing, but my main concern is with the roaming profiles. Users do not have a fixed workstation and log-on to whichever workstation is available. However, they need to be access their mail through Outlook. This is the crucial point. AFAIK, there is no way to use Outlook with roaming profiles. A quick search on the Microsoft website indicates that I would need an Exchange server to implement roaming profiles+mail. My question is - can it be done without Exchange (ie using PST files)? My understanding is that the size of the PST files prohibits roaming profiles. FWIW, my mail configuration is IMAP based, not POP-based, so it _might_ make the PST files smaller, though I'm not sure. Thanks.
Ong Chin Kiat wrote:> I need the following features > - Roaming profiles > - LDAP based user administration / authentication > > My question is - can it be done without Exchange (ie using PST files)?Officially, it can't be done because officially you can't put PST files on network drives. In practice, you can do it, although depending on your setup it may be a really REALLY bad idea. I have inherited a site that has several dozen users storing their PST files on a samba server, it has it's share of problems but with an otherwise stable setup they are not insurmountable. If you have half a dozen workstations with gigabit links to a modern server, then you might get away with it (maybe). If you have a a few hundred users on thinnet, then forget it. Since you are using IMAP you might find other mail clients would make life much simpler. You should be able to exclude any local mail store from roaming and just let it populate everything from IMAP at first logon. *Michael Heydon - IT Administrator * michaelh@jaswin.com.au <mailto:michaelh@jaswin.com.au>
Ong Chin Kiat schrieb:> Hi list, > > I'm trying to migrate from a workgroup based Samba server to a domain based > Samba server. > > I need the following features > - Roaming profiles > - LDAP based user administration / authentication > > I think the LDAP part is mostly doable, though I do foresee some hair > tearing, but my main concern is with the roaming profiles. > > Users do not have a fixed workstation and log-on to whichever workstation is > available. However, they need to be access their mail through Outlook. This > is the crucial point. AFAIK, there is no way to use Outlook with roaming > profiles. A quick search on the Microsoft website indicates that I would > need an Exchange server to implement roaming profiles+mail. > > My question is - can it be done without Exchange (ie using PST files)? My > understanding is that the size of the PST files prohibits roaming profiles. > FWIW, my mail configuration is IMAP based, not POP-based, so it _might_ make > the PST files smaller, though I'm not sure. > > Thanks.Hi, you may put pst files on a samba share, as the place where they get hosted is free configurable in outlook i e. you can setup their default place with an adm to users home which has normally nothing to do with profile share but as default a pst file can only be opened by one user at the same time, the other problem is open big pst files over the network is very slow and may damage the pst file, better use an internal imap server like dovecot -- Best Regards MfG Robert Schetterer Germany/Munich/Bavaria
it can be done, read pages 209-213 of samba 3 by example.pdf. you can redirect the PST files to a network share, or modify the registry to carry the local settings directory (by default it doesn't) but this will lead to large profiles and users asking why its taking a long time to log in/out. Ong Chin Kiat wrote:> Hi list, > > I'm trying to migrate from a workgroup based Samba server to a domain based > Samba server. > > I need the following features > - Roaming profiles > - LDAP based user administration / authentication > > I think the LDAP part is mostly doable, though I do foresee some hair > tearing, but my main concern is with the roaming profiles. > > Users do not have a fixed workstation and log-on to whichever workstation is > available. However, they need to be access their mail through Outlook. This > is the crucial point. AFAIK, there is no way to use Outlook with roaming > profiles. A quick search on the Microsoft website indicates that I would > need an Exchange server to implement roaming profiles+mail. > > My question is - can it be done without Exchange (ie using PST files)? My > understanding is that the size of the PST files prohibits roaming profiles. > FWIW, my mail configuration is IMAP based, not POP-based, so it _might_ make > the PST files smaller, though I'm not sure. > > Thanks. >
On Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 11:43 PM, Ong Chin Kiat <titantoppler@gmail.com> wrote:> Hi list, > > I'm trying to migrate from a workgroup based Samba server to a domain based > Samba server. > > I need the following features > - Roaming profiles > - LDAP based user administration / authentication > > I think the LDAP part is mostly doable, though I do foresee some hair > tearing, but my main concern is with the roaming profiles. > > Users do not have a fixed workstation and log-on to whichever workstation is > available. However, they need to be access their mail through Outlook. This > is the crucial point. AFAIK, there is no way to use Outlook with roaming > profiles. A quick search on the Microsoft website indicates that I would > need an Exchange server to implement roaming profiles+mail. > > My question is - can it be done without Exchange (ie using PST files)? My > understanding is that the size of the PST files prohibits roaming profiles. > FWIW, my mail configuration is IMAP based, not POP-based, so it _might_ make > the PST files smaller, though I'm not sure. >We just created new.pst files on the local hard drives instead of where Outlook wanted and then deleted the original .pst (after moving any mail to the new .pst) and adjusted settings so that the mail accounts were associated with the new .pst files. John
Just place the .PST files in redirected folders on the server.
> > you may put pst files on a samba share, as the place > where they get hosted is free configurable in outlook > i e. you can setup their default place with an adm > to users home which has normally nothing to do with profile share > but as default a pst file can only be opened by one user at the same > time, the other problem is open big pst files over the network > is very slow and may damage the pst file,Are there any recommandations about the maximum size of a pst file hosted on a samba server ? regards, Thierry
> Are there any recommandations about the maximum size of a pst file hosted > on a samba server ? >The maximum ANSI size of a pst file is 2GB even on Windows. It can be bigger with Unicode but it is not recommended for performance reasons. This article explains it: How to configure the size limit for both (.pst) and (.ost) files in Outlook 2007 and in Outlook 2003 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/832925 Furthermore, a search in Google with the keywords "maximum pst file size" will give you interesting results...
On Thu, 2008-11-20 at 22:02 +0100, Martin Konold wrote:> Am Donnerstag, 20. November 2008 21:36:17 schrieb Thierry Lacoste: > > Hi, > > > Are there any recommandations about the maximum size of a pst file > > hosted on a samba server ? > > Simply don't do it. There are technical reasons why this is unreliable, > dangerious and generally not recommended. > > see also: > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297019 > http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/archive/2007/01/21/network-stored-pst-files- > don-t-do-it.aspx > > Actually things are even worse than the above mentioned articles may make you > think. Deadlocks and dataloss are part of the problem. > > I propose to look into a imap server based solution like Kolab www.kolab.org. > > Regards, > -- martin >I'm assuming this question is driven by your usage of Outlook against a POP server or something like that? The easiest and best way to get around this is to not user POP3, and deploy a proper IMAP or MAPI server. Courier, Dovecot and Cyrus all do IMAP but Outlook is a lousy IMAP client. My favorite way to address this need (implying that I actually think Outlook, for all it's technical flaws, is a good tool from a user perspective) is to deploy Scalix as the mailserver. If you're running a small network (under 10 Outlook users), Scalix is free and it works *very well*. We use it here, and we have client machines running Windows Vista/ Oulook 2007, Linux/ Evolution and Linux/ Kontact (KMail) and they all work great. Rubin -- Rubin Bennett rbTechnologies, LLC 80 Carleton Boulevard East Montpelier, VT 05651 (802)223-4448 http://thatitguy.com "Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too." Voltaire, Essay on Tolerance French author, humanist, rationalist, & satirist (1694 - 1778)
Thierry Lacoste schrieb:>> >> you may put pst files on a samba share, as the place >> where they get hosted is free configurable in outlook >> i e. you can setup their default place with an adm >> to users home which has normally nothing to do with profile share >> but as default a pst file can only be opened by one user at the same >> time, the other problem is open big pst files over the network >> is very slow and may damage the pst file, > Are there any recommandations about the maximum size of a pst file hosted > on a samba server ? > > regards, > Thierry >Hi Thierry, depending on your network speed reality shows that you might get into Problems if a pst file grows bigger then 0,5 GB dont use the idea of hosting default Outlook pst files on samba or whatever windows server its ok for backup pst files which you might use only in special cases , but not as default because outlook then does a lot of writes and reads in the pst so if any small network problem comes up you will loose parts or damage the pst file -- Best Regards MfG Robert Schetterer Germany/Munich/Bavaria
Still.. yes, agree it is dangerous to run pst from network. but if you make sure you have good network components. set you network card fixed to 1000Mbit Full of 100Mb full duplex. and it is possible, at least, im running it now for almost 4 years. very 4 months i ask my users to cleanup there outlook so the pst wont get a to big size. I have had 1 damaged pst file in these 4 years and that was because a computer problem. still. not recommended. scalix is a nice alternative. Imap with a DBMAIL backend is also nice or zarafa as email server is also nice. im switching to zarafa atm. Louis>-----Oorspronkelijk bericht----- >Van: samba-bounces+belle=bazuin.nl@lists.samba.org >[mailto:samba-bounces+belle=bazuin.nl@lists.samba.org] Namens >Robert Schetterer >Verzonden: vrijdag 21 november 2008 1:17 >Aan: Thierry Lacoste >CC: samba@lists.samba.org >Onderwerp: Re: [Samba] Outlook and roaming profiles? > >Thierry Lacoste schrieb: >>> >>> you may put pst files on a samba share, as the place >>> where they get hosted is free configurable in outlook >>> i e. you can setup their default place with an adm >>> to users home which has normally nothing to do with profile share >>> but as default a pst file can only be opened by one user at the same >>> time, the other problem is open big pst files over the network >>> is very slow and may damage the pst file, >> Are there any recommandations about the maximum size of a >pst file hosted >> on a samba server ? >> >> regards, >> Thierry >> > >Hi Thierry, depending on your network speed >reality shows that you might get into Problems >if a pst file grows bigger then 0,5 GB >dont use the idea of hosting default Outlook >pst files on samba or whatever windows server >its ok for backup pst files which you might use >only in special cases , but not as default >because outlook then does a lot of writes and reads >in the pst so if any small network problem comes up >you will loose parts or damage the pst file > >-- >Best Regards > >MfG Robert Schetterer > >Germany/Munich/Bavaria >-- >To unsubscribe from this list go to the following URL and read the >instructions: https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/samba >