I’ve been wondering on the internet for couple years and finally, I found the best tutorial to follow to implement openLDAP for my company, so this tutorial is courtesy of kifarunix.com blog for showing us such an incredible guide. So the reason why I copy it here? it is because I’m afraid the author might take down his/her blog and then I lose the only best guide I’ve seen so far for implementing openLDAP in centos 8. So, Here we go…
You need to change “dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com” with valid domain you have or it will not work
Run System Update
To update your system packages, run the command :
dnf update
Install Required Dependencies and Build Tools
There are quite a number of dependencies and build tools required for a successful build and compilation OpenLDAP from the source. Run the command below to install them.
dnf install cyrus-sasl-devel make libtool autoconf libtool-ltdl-devel openssl-devel libdb-devel tar gcc perl perl-devel wget vim
Create OpenLDAP System Account
In this demo, OpenLDAP will run with a non-privileged system user. Hence, run the command below to create OpenLDAP system user with custom user and group id:
Consult man useradd
for the description of the command line options used above.
useradd -r -M -d /var/lib/openldap -u 55 -s /usr/sbin/nologin ldap
Download OpenLDAP Source Tarball
The latest stable release of OpenLDAP as of this writing is OpenLDAP 2.4.52. Navigate to the OpenLDAP download’s page and grab the tarball.
VER = 2.4.52
wget ftp://ftp.openldap.org/pub/OpenLDAP/openldap-release/openldap-$VER.tgz
Extract the OpenLDAP Source Tarball
The tarball can be extracted by running the command :
tar xzf openldap-$VER.tgz
Compiling OpenLDAP
To compile OpenLDAP on CentOS 8, you first need to run the configure script to adapt OpenLDAP to your system and check if any required dependency is missing before you can proceed with installation.
cd openldap-$VER
With configure script, you can enable or disable various options while building OpenLDAP.
./configure --prefix=/usr --sysconfdir=/etc --disable-static \
--enable-debug --with-tls=openssl --with-cyrus-sasl --enable-dynamic \
--enable-crypt --enable-spasswd --enable-slapd --enable-modules \
--enable-rlookups --enable-backends=mod --disable-ndb --disable-sql \
--disable-shell --disable-bdb --disable-hdb --enable-overlays=mod
To learn more about the configuration options, consult :
./configure --help
If the configure script completes with no issues, the last line you should see is :
Please run "make depend" to build dependencies
As the line states, you need to run the <strong>make depend</strong>
command to build OpenLDAP dependencies.
make depend
Next, compile OpenLDAP on CentOS 8.
make
If you got time and patience, you can run the test suite to verify OpenLDAP build for any errors. You can however skip this step.
make test
Installing OpenLDAP on CentOS 8
If the compilation of OpenLDAP completes successfully, proceed to install it by running the command :
make install
OpenLDAP configuration files are now installed on /etc/openldap .
ls /etc/openldap/
and return with
certs ldap.conf ldap.conf.default schema slapd.conf slapd.conf.default slapd.ldif slapd.ldif.default
The libraries are installed under /usr/libexec/openldap .
Configuring OpenLDAP on CentOS 8
Now that the installation of OpenLDAP is complete, proceed to configure it.
Create OpenLDAP data and database directories
mkdir /var/lib/openldap /etc/openldap/slapd.d
Set the proper ownership and permissions on OpenLDAP directories and configuration files.
chown -R ldap:ldap /var/lib/openldap
chown root:ldap /etc/openldap/slapd.conf
chmod 640 /etc/openldap/slapd.conf
Create OpenLDAP Systemd Service
In order to run OpenLDAP as a service, you need to create a systemd service file as shown below.
vim /etc/systemd/system/slapd.service
[Unit]
Description=OpenLDAP Server Daemon
After=syslog.target network-online.target
Documentation=man:slapd
Documentation=man:slapd-mdb
[Service]
Type=forking
PIDFile=/var/lib/openldap/slapd.pid
Environment="SLAPD_URLS=ldap:/// ldapi:/// ldaps:///"
Environment="SLAPD_OPTIONS=-F /etc/openldap/slapd.d"
ExecStart=/usr/libexec/slapd -u ldap -g ldap -h ${SLAPD_URLS} $SLAPD_OPTIONS
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Save and quit the service file. Do not run the service yet.
Create OpenLDAP SUDO Schema
To configure LDAP with support sudo
, first, check if your version of installed sudo supports LDAP.
sudo -V | grep -i "ldap"
If sudo supports LDAP, you should see the lines below :
...
ldap.conf path: /etc/sudo-ldap.conf
ldap.secret path: /etc/ldap.secret
Check if LDAP sudo schema is available.
rpm -ql sudo | grep -i schema.openldap
if the result return as shown below :
/usr/share/doc/sudo/schema.OpenLDAP
then copy the schema.OpenLDAP to the schema directory.
cp /usr/share/doc/sudo/schema.OpenLDAP /etc/openldap/schema/sudo.schema
Next, you need to create sudo schema ldif file. Run the command below to create the sudo.ldif file. This ldif file is obtained from Lullabot github repository.
cat << 'EOL' > /etc/openldap/schema/sudo.ldif
dn: cn=sudo,cn=schema,cn=config
objectClass: olcSchemaConfig
cn: sudo
olcAttributeTypes: ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.15953.9.1.1 NAME 'sudoUser' DESC 'User(s) who may run sudo' EQUALITY caseExactIA5Match SUBSTR caseExactIA5SubstringsMatch SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.26 )
olcAttributeTypes: ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.15953.9.1.2 NAME 'sudoHost' DESC 'Host(s) who may run sudo' EQUALITY caseExactIA5Match SUBSTR caseExactIA5SubstringsMatch SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.26 )
olcAttributeTypes: ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.15953.9.1.3 NAME 'sudoCommand' DESC 'Command(s) to be executed by sudo' EQUALITY caseExactIA5Match SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.26 )
olcAttributeTypes: ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.15953.9.1.4 NAME 'sudoRunAs' DESC 'User(s) impersonated by sudo (deprecated)' EQUALITY caseExactIA5Match SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.26 )
olcAttributeTypes: ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.15953.9.1.5 NAME 'sudoOption' DESC 'Options(s) followed by sudo' EQUALITY caseExactIA5Match SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.26 )
olcAttributeTypes: ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.15953.9.1.6 NAME 'sudoRunAsUser' DESC 'User(s) impersonated by sudo' EQUALITY caseExactIA5Match SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.26 )
olcAttributeTypes: ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.15953.9.1.7 NAME 'sudoRunAsGroup' DESC 'Group(s) impersonated by sudo' EQUALITY caseExactIA5Match SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.26 )
olcObjectClasses: ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.15953.9.2.1 NAME 'sudoRole' SUP top STRUCTURAL DESC 'Sudoer Entries' MUST ( cn ) MAY ( sudoUser $ sudoHost $ sudoCommand $ sudoRunAs $ sudoRunAsUser $ sudoRunAsGroup $ sudoOption $ description ) )
EOL
Update SLAPD Database
Rename and backup the original slapd.ldif file in /etc/openldap/slapd.ldif, and update it as follows:
mv /etc/openldap/slapd.ldif /etc/openldap/slapd.ldif.bak
vi /etc/openldap/slapd.ldif
dn: cn=config
objectClass: olcGlobal
cn: config
olcArgsFile: /var/lib/openldap/slapd.args
olcPidFile: /var/lib/openldap/slapd.pid
dn: cn=schema,cn=config
objectClass: olcSchemaConfig
cn: schema
dn: cn=module,cn=config
objectClass: olcModuleList
cn: module
olcModulepath: /usr/libexec/openldap
olcModuleload: back_mdb.la
include: file:///etc/openldap/schema/core.ldif
include: file:///etc/openldap/schema/cosine.ldif
include: file:///etc/openldap/schema/nis.ldif
include: file:///etc/openldap/schema/inetorgperson.ldif
include: file:///etc/openldap/schema/ppolicy.ldif
include: file:///etc/openldap/schema/sudo.ldif
dn: olcDatabase=frontend,cn=config
objectClass: olcDatabaseConfig
objectClass: olcFrontendConfig
olcDatabase: frontend
olcAccess: to *
by dn.base="gidNumber=0+uidNumber=0,cn=peercred,cn=external,cn=auth" manage
by * none
dn: olcDatabase=config,cn=config
objectClass: olcDatabaseConfig
olcDatabase: config
olcRootDN: cn=config
olcAccess: to *
by dn.base="gidNumber=0+uidNumber=0,cn=peercred,cn=external,cn=auth" manage
by * none
- To update the SLAPD database from the information provided on the SLAPD LDIF file above, use
<strong>slapadd</strong>
command with the option -n 0 which creates the first database. - To specify the configuration directory, /etc/openldap/slapd.d, use option -F and option -l to specify location of the LDIF file above.
Before you can write the changes to the database, perform a dry run to see what would happen. Pass -u option to slapadd command.
slapadd -n 0 -F /etc/openldap/slapd.d -l /etc/openldap/slapd.ldif -u
If the command above executes with no error, implement the changes.
slapadd -n 0 -F <code>/etc/openldap/slapd.d</code> -l /etc/openldap/slapd.ldif
This command creates slapd database configurations under /etc/openldap/slapd.d directory.
ls /etc/openldap/slapd.d
and came back with :
'cn=config' 'cn=config.ldif'
Set the user and group ownership of the /etc/openldap/slapd.d
directory and the files in it to ldap user.
chown -R ldap:ldap /etc/openldap/slapd.d
Running SLAPD Service
Reload systemd configurations and start and enable OpenLDAP service to run on boot.
systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now slapd
Check the status:
systemctl status slapd
● slapd.service - OpenLDAP Server Daemon
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/slapd.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2019-12-07 12:10:52 EST; 6s ago
Docs: man:slapd
man:slapd-mdb
Process: 14975 ExecStart=/usr/libexec/slapd -u ldap -g ldap -h ${SLAPD_URLS} $SLAPD_OPTIONS (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 14976 (slapd)
Tasks: 2 (limit: 5061)
Memory: 3.0M
CGroup: /system.slice/slapd.service
└─14976 /usr/libexec/slapd -u ldap -g ldap -h ldap:/// ldapi:/// ldaps:/// -F /etc/openldap/slapd.d
Configure OpenLDAP Logging on CentOS 8
To enable OpenLDAP to log connections, operations, results statistics, create and ldif file and update the database as follows. Such OpenLDAP logging is enabled on log level 256 with keyword stats by modifying the olcLogLevel attribute as shown below.
vim enable-ldap-log.ldif
dn: cn=config
changeType: modify
replace: olcLogLevel
olcLogLevel: stats
ldapmodify -Y external -H ldapi:/// -f enable-ldap-log.ldif
ldapsearch -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -b cn=config "(objectClass=olcGlobal)" olcLogLevel -LLL -Q
and return with :
dn: cn=config
olcLogLevel: stats
Configure Rsyslog to enable OpenLDAP to log to a specific file. By default, OpenLDAP logs to local4
facility.
echo "local4.* /var/log/slapd.log" >> /etc/rsyslog.conf
Restart Rsyslog
systemctl restart rsyslog
You should now be able to read the LDAP logs on /var/log/slapd.log.
Create OpenLDAP Default Root DN
Next, create MDB database defining the root DN as well as the access control lists.
First, generate the root DN password.
slappasswd
New password: ENTER PASSWWORD
Re-enter new password: RE-ENTER PASSWORD
{SSHA}qAZah0xybYLcMfPUAN0SG4ki8JxC4bIF
Paste the password hash generated above as the value of olcRootPW in the Root DN ldif file below.
vim rootdn.ldif
Replace the domain components, dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com with your appropriate names.
dn: olcDatabase=mdb,cn=config
objectClass: olcDatabaseConfig
objectClass: olcMdbConfig
olcDatabase: mdb
olcDbMaxSize: 42949672960
olcDbDirectory: /var/lib/openldap
olcSuffix: dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com
olcRootDN: cn=admin,dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com
olcRootPW: {SSHA}5Hcgjj4gtcr/exLcdSRuYgH6bFhIqkSe
olcDbIndex: uid pres,eq
olcDbIndex: cn,sn pres,eq,approx,sub
olcDbIndex: mail pres,eq,sub
olcDbIndex: objectClass pres,eq
olcDbIndex: loginShell pres,eq
olcDbIndex: sudoUser,sudoHost pres,eq
olcAccess: to attrs=userPassword,shadowLastChange,shadowExpire
by self write
by anonymous auth
by dn.subtree="gidNumber=0+uidNumber=0,cn=peercred,cn=external,cn=auth" manage
by dn.subtree="ou=system,dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com" read
by * none
olcAccess: to dn.subtree="ou=system,dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com" by dn.subtree="gidNumber=0+uidNumber=0,cn=peercred,cn=external,cn=auth" manage
by * none
olcAccess: to dn.subtree="dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com" by dn.subtree="gidNumber=0+uidNumber=0,cn=peercred,cn=external,cn=auth" manage
by users read
by * none
Read more about ACL on OpenLDAP Access Control.
Updated the slapd database with the content above;
ldapadd -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -f rootdn.ldif
Configure OpenLDAP with SSL/TLS
To secure OpenLDAP communication between the client and the server, configured it to use SSL/TLS certificates.
In this guide, we are self-signed certificates. You can choose to obtain the commercially signed and trusted certificates from your preferred CAs, for production environments.
openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout \
/etc/pki/tls/ldapserver.key -out /etc/pki/tls/ldapserver.crt
chown ldap:ldap /etc/pki/tls/{ldapserver.crt,ldapserver.key}
Update the OpenLDAP Server TLS certificates attributes.
vi add-tls.ldif
dn: cn=config
changetype: modify
add: olcTLSCACertificateFile
olcTLSCACertificateFile: /etc/pki/tls/ldapserver.crt
-
add: olcTLSCertificateKeyFile
olcTLSCertificateKeyFile: /etc/pki/tls/ldapserver.key
-
add: olcTLSCertificateFile
olcTLSCertificateFile: /etc/pki/tls/ldapserver.crt
Note that we have used self-signed certificate as both the certificate and the CA certificate.
ldapadd -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -f add-tls.ldif
You can confirm this by running;
slapcat -b "cn=config" | grep olcTLS
and return with:
olcTLSCACertificateFile: /etc/pki/tls/ldapserver.crt
olcTLSCertificateKeyFile: /etc/pki/tls/ldapserver.key
olcTLSCertificateFile: /etc/pki/tls/ldapserver.crt
Change the location of the CA certificate on /etc/openldap/ldap.conf
.
vim /etc/openldap/ldap.conf
...
#TLS_CACERT /etc/pki/tls/cert.pem
TLS_CACERT /etc/pki/tls/ldapserver.crt #--> add this line
Create OpenLDAP Base DN
Next, create your base DN or search base to define your organization structure and directory.
vim basedn.ldif
Replace the domain components and organization units accordingly.
dn: dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com
objectClass: dcObject
objectClass: organization
objectClass: top
o: MyOrganizaton-Name
dc: ldap
dn: ou=groups,dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com
objectClass: organizationalUnit
objectClass: top
ou: groups
dn: ou=people,dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com
objectClass: organizationalUnit
objectClass: top
ou: people
ldapadd -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -f basedn.ldif
Create OpenLDAP User Accounts
You can add users to your OpenLDAP server. Create an ldif file to define your users as follows.
vim users.ldif
dn: uid=johndoe,ou=people,dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com
objectClass: inetOrgPerson
objectClass: posixAccount
objectClass: shadowAccount
uid: johndoe
cn: John
sn: Doe
loginShell: /bin/bash
uidNumber: 10000
gidNumber: 10000
homeDirectory: /home/johndoe
shadowMax: 60
shadowMin: 1
shadowWarning: 7
shadowInactive: 7
shadowLastChange: 0
dn: cn=johndoe,ou=groups,dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com
objectClass: posixGroup
cn: johndoe
gidNumber: 10000
memberUid: johndoe
Add the user to the OpenLDAP database.
ldapadd -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -f users.ldif
Setting password for LDAP User
To set the password for user above, run the command below;
ldappasswd -H ldapi:/// -Y EXTERNAL -S "uid=johndoe,ou=people,dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com"
Create OpenLDAP Bind DN and Bind DN User
Bind DN user is used for performing LDAP operations such as resolving User IDs and group IDs. In this guide, we create a bind DN ou called system
. Note the access controls associated with this ou as defined on the root DN above.
List the Access control lists on the database;
ldapsearch -Q -LLL -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -b cn=config '(olcDatabase={1}mdb)' olcAccess
Create the BindDN user password.
slappasswd
New password: Password
Re-enter new password: Password
{SSHA}Z7qPE2f8oRfHMo1DSbzdOqbr4jNgqBpC
Paste the password hash value above as the value of userPassword attribute in the file below:
vim bindDNuser.ldif
dn: ou=system,dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com
objectClass: organizationalUnit
objectClass: top
ou: system
dn: cn=readonly,ou=system,dc=ldap,dc=<your-domain>,dc=com
objectClass: organizationalRole
objectClass: simpleSecurityObject
cn: readonly
userPassword: {SSHA}Z7qPE2f8oRfHMo1DSbzdOqbr4jNgqBpC
description: Bind DN user for LDAP Operations
ldapadd -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -f bindDNuser.ldif
Allow OpenLDAP Service on Firewall
To allow remote clients to query OpenLDAP server, allow the ldap
(389 UDP/TCP) and ldaps
(636 UDP/TCP) service on firewall.
firewall-cmd --add-service={ldap,ldaps} --permanent
firewall-cmd --reload
Testing OpenLDAP Authentication
Well, there you go. You have learnt how to install and setup OpenLDAP server on CentOS 8. To verify that users can actually connect to the systems via the OpenLDAP server, you need to configure OpenLDAP clients on the remote systems.
Note: you can also use phpLDAPadmin to manage and administer your OpenLDAP. Learn how to install phpLDAPadmin on CentOS 8 here.
and that’s it, your ldap server ready to serve its purpose.