LDAP Authentication | ProVision Documentation (PV Cloud)

LDAP authentication options are accessed by clicking the "Authentication" sub-tab at the top of the Admin Settings page, then selecting "LDAP" from the "Authentication Options" module.

ProVision authenticates against an LDAP server by using the following three steps:

Attempts to do an LDAP query for the user based on the Auth DN provided
Pulls the user's own object from the LDAP server
Attempts to match group names in the "LDAP Group Attribute" against existing groups in ProVision.

Before you enter LDAP settings, ensure that you have the LDAP server set up and configured for ProVision.

Set up an LDAP Server for Authentication

To setup an LDAP server for this authentication, you must perform the following three procedures:

Configure the LDAP server using the provided LDAP Schema
Create the LDAP user(s) in a 'LDIF' file
(Optional) Test the query using LDAP Search, if desired.
Configure ProVision with the LDAP authentication settings by enabling LDAP then entering (at minimum) the following information:
1. LDAP Server Address
2. Port
3. LDAP Auth DN List
4. LDAP Fetch DN
5. LDAP Filter DN
6. LDAP Group Attribute

Step 1: Configure the LDAP Server

Configure the LDAP Server

Configuring the LDAP server involves adding the schema and adding LDAP users / groups to the server.

LDAP Schema - Example

attributetype (1.3.6.1.4.1.5023215.2.3.21 NAME 'sixConnGroup' SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.15 ) objectclass ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.5023215.2.4.2 NAME 'sixConnectPermissionsV2' DESC '6Connect Permissions Object v2' SUP top AUXILIARY MUST ( sixConnGroup ) )

Step 2: Create LDAP User(s)

Create LDAP User(s)

SSH into your openLDAP server and create a new 'LDIF' file.

LDIF File - Example

dn: cn=JoeSmith,ou=people,dc=6connect,dc=com
cn: JoeSmith
sn: JoeSmith
objectclass: top
objectclass: person
objectclass: sixConnectPermissionsV2
sixConnGroup: "Global Admins"
sixConnGroup: "IT Engineering"
sixConnGroup: "Sales"
sixConnGroup: "Customer Admin"
userPassword: testpass

To create a new user, make a new LDIF file and change all instances of "JoeSmith" to whatever username you wish to create and update the password. Keep all of the object class definitions as listed above. Add a sixConnGroup declaration for each ProVision user group a user is in.

After the file is created, run the following command to add the new user to LDAP server in the following format:

 ldapadd -h [SERVER] -x -f [LDIF FILE] -D [ROOTDN] -w [ROOT PW] -v

Add User to LDAP Server - Example

 ldapadd -h localhost -x -f 6connect.ldif -D "cn=JoeSmith,dc=6connect,dc=com" -w secret -v

The user will now be active in openLDAP and can be used to login to ProVision.

Step 3: (Optional) Test the LDAP Server with LDAP Search

Test the LDAP Server with LDAP Search

The best method to confirm the LDAP server settings is to perform an LDAP search.

To query the LDAP server, run the following command while SSH'ed into your LDAP Server, replacing the placeholders (in brackets) with your specific LDAP information:

ldapsearch -b [BASE] -h [IPADDRESS] -D [DOMAIN] -w [PASSWORD] [USER]

Note: We have not been able to use a v6 address at with this tool, even though multiple sources say it should work.

At the end of the command where [USER] is specified, user or groups can be used (in LDAP format) to query.

Example with User

ldapsearch -b "dc=6connect,dc=com" -h sometestserver.lab.com -D "cn=JoeSmith,ou=people,dc=6connect,dc=com" -w testpass "cn=JoeSmith"

Example with Group

ldapsearch -b "dc=6connect,dc=com" -h sometestserver.lab.com -D "cn=JoeSmith,ou=people,dc=6connect,dc=com" -w testpass "cn=JoeSmith" memberOf

The LDAP search should return the extended LDIF information similar to the following:

PowerShell

# extended LDIF
#
# LDAPv3
# base <dc=6connect,dc=com> with scope subtree
# filter: cn=JoeSmith
# requesting: memberOf
#

# JoeSmith, 6connect.com
dn: cn=JoeSmith,dc=6connect,dc=com
memberOf: cn=Global Admins,ou=groups,dc=6connect,dc=com

# search result
search: 2
result: 0 Success

# numResponses: 2
# numEntries: 1

The Auth DN is used to derive the ldapsearch base and domain, then uses the Fetch DN to pull the user, and the Group Attribute to filter on the list of groups the user is a part of. The end result is this list of user groups:

memberOf: cn=Global Admins,ou=groups,dc=6connect,dc=com

Step 4: Configure ProVision for LDAP Authentication

Configure ProVision for LDAP Authentication

To configure the use of LDAP authentication with ProVision:

Log into ProVision
Go to Settings Tab → Admin Settings -> Authentication
Select LDAP under Authentication Options
Toggle the LDAP Enable selector to the "ON" position.
Fill in the hostname or ip address, authentication port, LDAP Security, Auth DN List, and Fetch DN, and LDAP Group Attribute.

Some example values in this case would be:

LDAP Enable: ON
LDAP Server Address: IP or Domain, such as 1.2.3.4 or somelabserver.lab.com
LDAP Port: 389 ( or SSL/TLS port is 636)
LDAP Security: None
LDAP Auth DN: cn=%LOGIN%,dc=6connect,dc=com
LDAP Fetch DN: cn=%LOGIN%
LDAP Filter DN: cn=%LOGIN%
LDAP Group Attribute List: memberOf
LDAP Username / LDAP Password: Optionally, you may enter LDAP admin credentials to allow ProVision to import and sync LDAP contacts. See Contact Manager for details on LDAP contacts.

Click Save Changes.

NOTE: If you experience authentication errors at this step, confirm the LDAP settings using an LDAP Search, as described in the previous section.

Setting default login authentication options

The default login is 'Local", but the default login method displayed may be updated by performing the following steps:

In the ProVision directory, navigate to the /data/globals.php open the file in vi (or other text editor)
Add in the following text as the last line of the file (before the closing ?>)
```
define('DEFAULT_LOGIN_TYPE', 'ldap');
```
1. Acceptable values are "local", "radius", "ldap" and "saml". If this line is not present in globals.php, the default option is "local".

Using SSL encryption

To use SSL encryption with LDAP, the ldap.conf file must be correctly configured on the ProVision server.
Typically, the LDAP configuration file is kept at "/etc/ldap/ldap.conf". Make sure the following line is present:

    TLS_REQCERT allow

Then, restart the webserver.

Add or Update LDAP Settings

To view, add, or update LDAP settings, go to the Settings Tab → Admin to enter the Admin area of ProVision.

Then, click the "Authentication" sub-tab at the top of the Admin Settings page, and select the LDAP tab from the Authentication Options module.

The following settings are available to add or update:

List of LDAP Servers: View / Add LDAP servers
LDAP Enable: Check the box to enable LDAP functionality.
LDAP Server Address: The IP address or domain of your LDAP server.
LDAP Port: 389 ( or SSL/TLS port is 636)
LDAP Security: Select the security method of your LDAP server - SSL, TLS or None
LDAP Auth DN List: A query string that will be used to authenticate the user against the LDAP server. %LOGIN% is a variable string that will be replaced with the user name. This may be in list format, and the auth system will try each to authenticate the user. (ex: cn=%LOGIN%,ou=people,dc=6connect,dc=com)
LDAP Fetch DN List: The LDAP query that will be used to pull the user object
LDAP Filter DN List: Used to construct the LDAP query.
LDAP Group Attributes List: The LDAP attribute that will hold the LDAP-GNI group links. If using an internal list of user groups instead of ProVision groups, enter the attribute name for the LDAP groups here. If a Group Attribute is set, it will be used first, otherwise the ProVision schema will be used.
LDAP Username / LDAP Password: Optionally, you may enter LDAP admin credentials to allow ProVision to import and sync LDAP contacts. See Contact Manager for details on LDAP contacts.
Use system user for login queries: Enable / Disable to use the system user for queries
Try socket connection first: Enable / Disable to attempt socket connection as the first method.

When done, click Save Changes.

NOTE: Mapping Permissions to ProVision schema: To integrate ProVision permissions with your existing directory structure then you will need the ProVision schema. It should snap in with any existing LDAP structure and allow you to assign ProVision permissions to your existing users. You can download a copy of the schema.

Adding a Secondary LDAP Server

Once at least one LDAP server has been added, a list will appear at the top of the module. Add an additional server by clicking "Add new server".

ProVision will try to connect to each server listed in the order listed, until a success is returned. Disabled servers will display in grey, and the currently selected server will display in bold.