I’m a Linux/Unix systems admin who also manages a Macintosh server infrastructure & there is a lone Mac Mini in the mix running 10.9.4 that I would like Windows XP & Windows 7 users to connect to with little or no hassle. The problem? Windows users can’t seem to even get to the point of a password prompt yet connect. Mind you this server replaced a Mac OS X 10.6.8 server that had issues, but never had issues with Windows users connected.

The gist of this post is: The tons of different messages out there about Mac OS X 10.9.4 Samba support are mind-numbingly confusing. Can anyone share some solid specifics here?

I’ve read pieces like this one here that suggest turning off file sharing & then adding a share with AFP/SMB enabled would work. But the suggestion seems to apply to 10.8. And from what I know a lot has changed in Samba support in 10.9 let alone the iterations to 10.9.4.

Then I found this great tutorial here that explains things step-by-step. Which seems like it should work, but the problem is the example given applies to a local user created on the Mac when I would like users in an Active Directory group—which the Mac is bound to—access the Mac Mini shares.

There are also tons of great tips here on MacWindows.com but nothing seems solid to the issue I am facing.

So from what I am reading these are my options:

• Local User Versus Active Directory: Setup a common local user on the Mac OS X 10.9.4 server to be used for Samba sharing since Active Directory won’t work. Is this really the case? Because loss of AD integration is a major pain.
• Do Extended File Attributes Get Retained from Windows Users: If this were to work, how do extended attributes come into play? Loss of metadata & related info is not an option.
• How Fragile is Any of this to Updates: How does any of this shake out with Mac OS X updates as well as Windows updates?
• Installing Official, Open Source Samba: Would upgrading the Samba install on the server to the official open source Samba via a package like SMBUp or via the Hombrew method described here help or make the issue worse?

I fully understand there have historically been issues in mixed environments, but nowadays Windows users connecting to a Mac seem to have a truly hellish road ahead of them. Unless I am missing something?