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Diffstat (limited to 'WHATSNEW.txt')
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1 files changed, 114 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/WHATSNEW.txt b/WHATSNEW.txt index 6c0835883d1..c4b8a04704f 100644 --- a/WHATSNEW.txt +++ b/WHATSNEW.txt @@ -1,6 +1,74 @@ -The Samba Team is proud to present our first alpha release of Samba4. +What's new in Samba 4 alpha1 +============================ -Samba4 aims to be a compatible replacement for +Samba 4 is the ambitious next version of the Samba suite that is being +developed in parallel to the stable 3.0 series. The main emphasis in +this branch is support for the Active Directory logon protocols used +by Windows 2000 and above. + +Samba 4 is currently not yet in a state where it is usable in +production environments. Note the WARNINGS below, and the STATUS file, +which aims to document what should and should not work. + +Samba4 alpha1 is the culmination of 4.5 years of development under our +belt since Tridge first proposed a new Virtual File System (VFS) layer +for Samba3 (a project which eventually lead to our Active Directory +efforts), and 1.5 years since we first released a Technology Preview, +we wish to allow users, managers and developers to see how we have +progressed, and to invite feedback and support. + +WARNINGS +======== + +Samba4 alpha1 is not a final Samba release. That is more a reference +to Samba4's lack of the features we expect you will need than a +statement of code quality, but clearly it hasn't seen a broad +deployment yet. If you were to upgrade Samba3 (or indeed Windows) to +Samba4, you would find many things work, but that other key features +you may have relied on simply are not there yet. + +For example, while Samba 3.0 is an excellent member of a Active +Directory domain, Samba4 is happier as a domain controller: (This is +where we have done most of the research and development). + +While Samba4 is subjected to an awesome battery of tests on an +automated basis, and we have found Samba4 to be very stable in it's +behaviour, we have to recommend against upgrading production servers +from Samba 3 to Samba 4 at this stage. If you are upgrading an +experimental server, or looking to develop and test Samba, you should +backup all configuration and data. + +NEW FEATURES +============ + +Samba4 supports the server-side of the Active Directory logon environment +used by Windows 2000 and later, so we can do full domain join +and domain logon operations with these clients. + +Our Domain Controller (DC) implementation includes our own built-in +LDAP server and Kerberos Key Distribution Center (KDC) as well as the +Samba3-like logon services provided over CIFS. We correctly generate +the infamous Kerberos PAC, and include it with the Kerberos tickets we +issue. + +The new VFS features in Samba 4 adapts the filesystem on the server to +match the Windows client semantics, allowing Samba 4 to better match +windows behaviour and application expectations. This includes file +annotation information (in streams) and NT ACLs in particular. The +VFS is backed with an extensive automated test suite. + +A new scripting interface has been added to Samba 4, allowing +JavaScript programs to interface to Samba's internals. + +The Samba 4 architecture is based around an LDAP-like database that +can use a range of modular backends. One of the backends supports +standards compliant LDAP servers (including OpenLDAP), and we are +working on modules to map between AD-like behaviours and this backend. +We are aiming for Samba 4 to be powerful frontend to large +directories. + +CHANGES SINCE TP5 +================= In the time since TP5 was released in June 2007, Samba has continued to evolve, but you may particularly notice these areas: @@ -24,4 +92,48 @@ These are just some of the highlights of the work done in the past few months. More details can be found in our SVN history. +CHANGES +======= + +Those familiar with Samba 3 can find a list of user-visible changes +since that release series in the NEWS file. + +KNOWN ISSUES +============ + +- Domain member support is in it's infancy, and is not comparable to + the support found in Samba3. + +- There is no printing support in the current release. + +- Support for managing groups is currently poor (as the + memberOf/member linked attributes are not kept in sync). + +- Renaming and deleting subtrees (containers) in the the LDB tree will + have unexpected results. + +- The Samba4 port of the CTDB clustering support is not yet complete + +- Clock Synchronisation is critical. Many 'wrong password' errors are + actually due to Kerberos objecting to a clock skew between client + and server. + +RUNNING Samba4 +============== + +A short guide to setting up Samba 4 can be found in the howto.txt file +in root of the tarball. + +DEVELOPMENT and FEEDBACK +======================== +Bugs can be filed at https://bugzilla.samba.org/ but please be aware +that many features are simply not expected to work at this stage. + +The Samba Wiki at http://wiki.samba.org should detail some of these +development plans. + +Development and general discussion about Samba 4 happens mainly on +the #samba-technical IRC channel (on irc.freenode.net) and +the samba-technical mailing list (see http://lists.samba.org/ for +details). |