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With the Likewise UID-GID Management Module, you can enhance the functionality of Likewise Open. Specifically you can:
- Authenticate users and groups with Likewise Open by using UID-GID information from Active Directory.
- Centralise and simplify UID-GID management by using Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC) to manage your Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X users.
- Control access to Linux, Unix, and Mac computers based on the UID-GID values that you set.
- Set home directories and login shells in ADUC.
- Mirror your organisational units with Likewise cells and map Active Directory users and groups to UIDs and GIDs.
- Administer organisational units for Linux and Unix with Cell Manager, a Likewise MMC snap-in for managing Likewise cells.
What is the Likewise UID-GID Module doing?
In Likewise Open, a UID and GID are generated by hashing the user or group's security identifier, or SID, from Active Directory. You do not need to make any changes to Active Directory. Although a UID and GID stays the same across host machines, you cannot set UIDs and GIDs for Linux and Unix in Active Directory.
Using AD to set and manage UIDs and GIDs is a feature of the Likewise UID-GID management tool. If you have UIDs and GIDs defined in Active Directory, Likewise Open will not use those UIDs and GIDs unless you have installed the Likewise UID-GID management tool.
Moreover, if your Active Directory relative identifiers, or RIDs, are a number greater than 524,287, the Likewise Open algorithm that generates UIDs and GIDs can result in UID-GID collisions among users and groups. In such cases, it is recommended that you use the Likewise UID-GID management tool.
Comparing Likewise Open and Enterprise
What’s the difference?
Likewise Open is freely downloadable open source software for authenticating Linux, Unix, and Mac computers with Microsoft Active Directory.
Likewise Enterprise is a commercially licensed, fully supported product that provides advanced Active Directory authentication, authorization, management, and reporting capabilities for Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X computers. Likewise Enterprise includes a management console, MMC snap-ins, and hundreds of group policies that empower you to manage Linux and Unix computers within Active Directory.
Who should choose Likewise
If you meet any of the following business requirements, Likewise Enterprise is the solution for you:
| Feature | Business Requirement |
|---|---|
| MMC snap-ins for Active Directory Users and Computers | To seamlessly integrate Linux, Unix, and Mac users and computers into Microsoft Active Directory and manage their settings from a central location |
| Migration | To migrate user information from insecure NIS or /etc/passwd files into Active Directory |
| Granular Access Control | To customise the mapping of an Active Directory user to a set of Unix attributes so you can provide users with different primary and secondary group memberships on different machines |
| Group Policy | To simplify the management of your network with group policies and apply granular levels of access and privilege to different non-Windows users |
| Compliance and Security Reporting | To demonstrate compliance with regulatory and security requirements |
| Technical Support | To obtain enterprise-level, 24x7 technical support |
Feature Comparison
Feature |
Likewise Open License |
Likewise Enterprise Commercial License |
|---|---|---|
| Tools Included |
|
|
| Authentication Features |
|
|
| Group Policies for Linux, Unix, and Mac | Apply a few policies to all Linux systems together:
|
Apply hundreds of group policies to non-Windows systems selectively:
|
