Desktop Install - Central Login ??

[Gavin McCullagh]

Hi,

On Mon, 21 Jul 2008, David Stalane wrote:

> I want the kids to be able to log in from any machine in the lab
> I want the teachers to be able to log in from any machine in the school

Thin clients would be a very quick way to do this, but installed desktops
have their advantages too.

> Do I have to use server/thin client or can i do this with the desktop
> install? i.e. having authentication and user space on just one box but
> run all the applications locally.

You can store /home/ on a server with NFS, then mount that directory as
/home on each desktop.  This will mean that user's files and settings are
available from any computer.

You can use any of a number of centralised authentication schemes (LDAP,
NIS, AD) to allow consistent logins on any computer.  I've never needed to
make rules about which computers certain groups can login to, but I'm
guessing that should be pretty doable.

Gavin