Samba AD Domain Controller on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

Samba is the standard open source implementation of Active Directory and the SMB protocol. In domain controller mode a single service provides a Kerberos KDC, an LDAP directory, SMB file services and the internal DNS that Active Directory depends on. This cloudimg image runs Samba 4.19.5 on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS from the Ubuntu archive's main component, so Ubuntu backports security fixes for the life of the LTS and unattended upgrades deliver them.

This image contains no domain, and that is the point. An Active Directory domain is an identity, not just a daemon: provisioning mints the realm, the machine SID, the krbtgt key and the Administrator password in one shot. A provisioned domain baked into an image would hand every customer the same krbtgt key, letting anyone holding it forge Kerberos golden tickets into every other customer's domain. So this image ships with no realm, no SID, no krbtgt key, no Administrator password and no directory database at all. Your domain is minted on first boot of your own VM, with every secret generated there and written to a root only file.

A private network appliance. A domain controller must never face the internet. Open the AD ports to your own VNet only; the guide gives the exact NSG rules, including the ephemeral RPC range that domain joins require.

Samba is GPL-3.0, free and open source with no per seat or per deployment fee. cloudimg is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Samba Team. The cloudimg charge covers packaging, hardening, security patching and 24/7 support.