11.4 Logging In to an AD Domain
Provided your machine has been configured to authenticate against Active
Directory and you have a valid Windows user identity, you can log in to your
machine using the AD credentials. Login is supported for both desktop
environments (GNOME and KDE), the console, SSH, and any other PAM-aware
application.
IMPORTANT: Offline Authentication
SUSE Linux Enterprise supports offline authentication, allowing you to remain logged in to
your client machine even if the client machine is disconnected from the
network. This enables you to maintain a mobile style of working, for
example, it
allows you to continue to work even if you are on an airplane and do not
have a network connection.
11.4.1 GDM and KDM
To authenticate a GNOME client machine against an AD server, proceed
as follows:
-
Select the domain.
-
Enter your Windows username and press Enter.
-
Enter your Windows password and press Enter.
To authenticate a KDE client machine against an AD server, proceed as
follows:
-
Select the domain.
-
Enter your Windows username.
-
Enter your Windows password and press Enter.
If configured to do so, SUSE Linux Enterprise creates a user home directory on the local
machine on first login of each AD authenticated user. This allows you to
benefit from the AD support of SUSE Linux Enterprise while still having a completely
capable Linux machine at your disposal.
11.4.2 Console Login
As well as logging in to the AD client machine using a graphical front-end,
you can log in using the text-based console login or even remotely using
SSH.
To log in to your AD client from a console, enter
DOMAIN\user
at the login: prompt and provide the password.
To remotely log in to your AD client machine using SSH, proceed as follows:
-
At the login prompt, enter:
ssh DOMAIN\\user@hostname
The \ domain and login delimiter
is escaped with another \ sign.
-
Provide the user's password.
