2. Connecting to a Directory Server¶

The calculate-client package is most efficient if you have a directory server. In this case, you can store all settings centrally. For you to be able to call the server, the latter must have the calculate-server package. You can use Calculate Directory Server, which includes this package.

A user session in thus set with an allowance for working applications on the server. To access the settings, you have to connect your desktop workstation to the domain.

_Terms we use here are similar to those used for Windows NT, because the principle is overall the same. You can connect to the server as a Windows workstation as well as a Linux workstation. Both systems will have access to the shared resources on the server, the network services and store their user settings there.

To enter in the domain you need to do the following:

Configure samba on the server using this manual.
Set the client user password by entering:
```
cl-passwd --smb client samba
```
Enter the computer in the domain. To do this, register on the client machine (CLD) as root and execute:
```
cl-client HOST
```
Enter the client user password you have specified earlier. Instead of the network server name, you can use its IP address. You can check the server availability by the ping HOST command.

The password you entered is cached on the client system, in the /var/calculate/calculate.env file:

[client]
cl_remote_host = HOST
cl_remote_pw = password

If entered successfully in the domain, the program does the following:

Mounts the network directory /var/calculate/remote.
Connects the user of the server directory, when /etc/pam.d/system-auth, /etc/nsswitch.conf files, etc. have been configured.
Prepares /home, mounting the local directory /var/calculate/calculate-home over it to avoid conflicts with local users' data.
Adds itself to the autostart to check the server for availability and to be able to configure the system at booting.