Triple Boot Macbook setup with Directory Server Weekend
I just got thru a grueling weekend installing (re-installing) OS 10.5 Server and a my MacBook with a triple boot configuration. It was fun and it was a success. I just wanted to put down some notes for others, but after I want to make some comment about windows and computers in general.
The installing required reinstalling due to bugs in 10.5 Server. For the most part out of the 3 configuration option available I would say the Workgroup selection is the best for anyone. It gives you all the option you want. For some reason with advanced I could never get the Workgroup working when I enabled it using SMB in Server Preferences. But every time I used the Workgroup Configuration and immediately converted it to Advanced, followed up with a stopping all services and installing 10.5.1 updates (round 1), then turning back on services, most everything worked fine, except for sharing an entire secondary internal or external Hard Drive (Volume), in which eventual that would be the only thing shared, if you don't share an entire volume it doesn't break. I did have to though re-installs due to neatness and for some bug where the UNIX System files/folders got exposed (broken out).
The roaming profiles works incredibly with Windows. And to top that off Apple has a feature I haven't seen ever before where you can tie a network account to a local account. This also leads to being able to have "Mobile Account" for my user account on my laptop enabled in Accounts, in System Preferences. With this you can have your user account that is on the server that you use to login to any system connected to the directory to sync to the laptop hard drive. In case you run to Starbucks or the mountains. Not having to sync this yourself is great instead of using Transmit or some other third party sync program with a network share.
The last note I wanted to say was about having to go back and forth between installs with either Windows XP or Windows Vista. I would have to say stick with XP. I liked Vista but after fiddling with it more and more. I have an analogy that I think is pretty on point. Let's say there was a company that had 500 employees (Microsoft) and they wrote 100 books (Windows 98/2000) and you bought them to read and learn. By the time you got to the 75th book they said here is 200 more books (Windows XP) some replacing the original 100 books. So you take it upon yourself to go thru the next 200 books. By the time you get to the 150th book they are like here is 500 books (Windows Vista). At this point you say to yourself "forget this, I'll just finish the remaining 50 books and forget about the next 500 hundred replacements, I have a life to live and other stuff to do."
The installing required reinstalling due to bugs in 10.5 Server. For the most part out of the 3 configuration option available I would say the Workgroup selection is the best for anyone. It gives you all the option you want. For some reason with advanced I could never get the Workgroup working when I enabled it using SMB in Server Preferences. But every time I used the Workgroup Configuration and immediately converted it to Advanced, followed up with a stopping all services and installing 10.5.1 updates (round 1), then turning back on services, most everything worked fine, except for sharing an entire secondary internal or external Hard Drive (Volume), in which eventual that would be the only thing shared, if you don't share an entire volume it doesn't break. I did have to though re-installs due to neatness and for some bug where the UNIX System files/folders got exposed (broken out).
The roaming profiles works incredibly with Windows. And to top that off Apple has a feature I haven't seen ever before where you can tie a network account to a local account. This also leads to being able to have "Mobile Account" for my user account on my laptop enabled in Accounts, in System Preferences. With this you can have your user account that is on the server that you use to login to any system connected to the directory to sync to the laptop hard drive. In case you run to Starbucks or the mountains. Not having to sync this yourself is great instead of using Transmit or some other third party sync program with a network share.
The last note I wanted to say was about having to go back and forth between installs with either Windows XP or Windows Vista. I would have to say stick with XP. I liked Vista but after fiddling with it more and more. I have an analogy that I think is pretty on point. Let's say there was a company that had 500 employees (Microsoft) and they wrote 100 books (Windows 98/2000) and you bought them to read and learn. By the time you got to the 75th book they said here is 200 more books (Windows XP) some replacing the original 100 books. So you take it upon yourself to go thru the next 200 books. By the time you get to the 150th book they are like here is 500 books (Windows Vista). At this point you say to yourself "forget this, I'll just finish the remaining 50 books and forget about the next 500 hundred replacements, I have a life to live and other stuff to do."