14 DAY TRIAL // Today, May 23, 2016, Alessio Fattorini has informed Softpedia about the release and immediate availability for download of the third Alpha build of the upcoming NethServer 7 server-oriented operating system.
NethServer 7 Alpha 3 is here today, ready for public testing, after being in development for the past three months, during which the hard-working team of developers led by Alessio Fattorini managed to implement long-anticipated features like Active Directory integration and a centralized account management.
But there are many other things to get excited about, as NethServer 7 Alpha 3 comes with a new Account Management module, which was designed from the ground up to let users connect a remote NethServer system running OpenLDAP open-source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), as well as a remote Active Directory (AD) domain controller, such as Samba or Windows.
"NethServer is now designed to leverage existing Active Directory infrastructure and simplify administrative and user control," said Alessio Fattorini. "Administrators can quickly and securely roll out policy decisions using their existing Active Directory. Users authenticate against a single directory, removing the need for multiple accounts, syncing passwords or duplicating information."
The OS is now capable of running as a Samba Active Directory Controller
Another interesting feature implemented in the third Alpha build of the NethServer 7 operating system, which will be based on the latest CentOS 7 server-oriented distribution, which, in turn, is based on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.x series, is the ability for the GNU/Linux server to run as a Samba Active Directory Controller, thanks to the built-in support for the newest Samba 4 technologies.
As such, you can use the NethServer operating system to replace a Microsoft Active Directory Domain Controller. Moreover, NethServer 7 Alpha 3 brings major enhancements to the built-in mail server, the implementation of SSSD (System Security Services Daemon) instead of the current user management layer, as well as the enablement of NethForge Software Center category by default, thus allowing users to find extra modules built by the community more easily.
At the moment, NethServer 7 offers support for the OpenVPN, PostgreSQL, HTTPD, Roundcube, Collectd with CGP, IPS (Snort), Backup, MariaDB (MySQL), DNS and DHCP, Hylafax, Webtop 4, Firewall, Printers, Bandwidth monitor (ntopng), Chat, FTP, SNMP, and UPS modules, and drops support for the Web fax client (Faxweb2) and Collectd web ones.
NethServer 7 Alpha 3 is available for download as a 64-bit ISO image right now via our website if you plan on helping Mr. Fattorini and his team of developers polish the server-oriented operating system before the final release hits the streets later this year. Just please try to keep in mind that an Alpha build is considered a pre-release version, not suitable for deployment in production environments.
