Syncing uids between two boxes

[alexraasch]

I have a server and a backup server running. The server provides a number of SMB-shares. I am running a backup script that copies everything to the backup box every 60 minutes. Also, the backup server provides the same shares as does the server, so people can continue working when the main server crashes.

The problem is that a user can have different uids on both machines (depending on which users were created before) and therefore be denied access to his own files. Is there a way to ``sync'' the uids between the two? To make things more complicated, the main server runs an LDAP authentication mechanism, the backup server uses /etc/passwd and shadow.

[adaptr]

If you run samba on both then make samba authenticate against the other (master) server - this obviates the need to share any user info across the boxes.

Samba can authenticate any way you please - LDAP is certainly supported.

All you will need is a username mapping scheme from one box to the other.

EDIT: I must add to this that this is a very unstable scheme, since when the master server goes down you can effectively not use the backup box at all - since as you say the users are different.
So the setup doesn't work as it is now, either.
Either offload logins to a 3rd server or replicate the users between the boxes - LDAP does replication, of course.
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>>> emerge (3 of 7) mcse/70-293 to /
Essential tools: gentoolkit eix profuse screen

[alexraasch]

I can have the backup samba authenticate against the LDAP server, but what if that server goes offline?

[alexraasch]

Authenticating Samba against the LDAP server doesn't solve the uid problem either. Samba only checks permissions for its own shares but not for the folders inside.