[ubuntu-uk] Central authentication in Ubuntu

[Chris Rowson]

Hello folks,

I've been wondering for a while, how I could put in place some kind of
central authentication for a series of Ubuntu desktops/laptops.

At work, I achieve this using Active Directory and Windows, but I
wondered if there was a Linuxified version of this setup. I've been
thinking of volunteering to get some community IT access up in the
local area, and of course being able to configure PCs centrally would
be great. There wouldn't be a great deal of money, so setting up a
Windows Domain would be out of the question.

So, whats out there that would allow me to create users/passwords
centrally (but perhaps still allow laptops to cache credentials),
would allow me to have automatically mapped file storage (like a
mapped network drive in Windows), and if possible, help me to apply
some level of desktop configuration?

Any advice?

Chris