LDAP Authentication for applications

Description

LDAP authentication for applications

SME Server 8 and 9 allow the use of SME user's database in other applications

either local, eg. a LAMP app

on the server itself, eg. egroupware

on the local network, eg. another server in the local network which runs an ERP, but uses SME server user/group database

or even a remote host, eg. a GLPI instance used to manage requests from several clients using SME server.

View your LDAP Schema, ObjectClasses and Attributes with Phpldapadmin

If you want to use the LDAP directory of your SME Server as authentication source on third party software, here are the parameters you need

User Base: ou=Users,dc=domain,dc=tld
Group Base: ou=Groups,dc=domain,dc=tld
Host: <the ip or hostname of your SME Server> (prefer the hostname or you'll have additional problem with certificate verification)

If you need to setup a filter to display only users, you can use the following:

(&(objectClass=inetOrgPerson)(objectClass=sambaSamAccount))

If you need to setup a filter to display only groups, you can use the following:

(&(objectClass=mailboxRelatedObject)(objectClass=posixGroup))

Note:

Most of the time, anonymous binds are sufficient, no need to configure the Admin DN and password. A few applications do require to bind as a valid user. This is needed when your application needs access attributes like uidNumber, gidNumber, homeDIrectory, loginShell etc... (for example, if you need to authenticate another Linux box using nss_ldap or sssd, you'll need to bind as a valid user). In this case, you can create a regular user (you may name it auth for example), set it a password, and use it's dn and credential to bind to your LDAP server

Note:

The LDAP directory can be consulted with plain text connections, but for security reason, authentication against LDAP is only allowed using SSL or TLS (or if your application runs directly on SME itself). So if you want to authenticate against LDAP on a remote box, you need to be sure to use LDAPs on port 636, or TLS on port 389. You also need to be sure your application can validate the certificate of your SME Server. If you try to authenticate over a plain text connection, SME will simply reject the authentication

Example setups for different types of clients

Example

Here are some example of working configurations

Redmine

Name: LDAP_Linux

Host: <your server name or ip>

Port: 636 (LDAPS checked)

Base DN: ou=Users,dc=yourdomain,dc=com

On the fly user creation: (checked)

First name: givenName

Last name: sn

Email: mail

PaperCut

Host: localhost or IP of SME server

Use SSL (mark checkbox)

DN Base: dc=sampledomain,dc=com

DN Administrador: uid=admin,ou=Users,dc=sampledomain,dc=com

Use the TEST CONFIGURATION button to verify you can get profiles

OpenFire

Host: localhost or IP of SME server

Porta: 389

DN Base: ou="Users",dc="sampledomain",dc="com"

DN Administrador: uid="admin",ou="Users",dc="sampledomain",dc="com"

(when typing, you'll put no double quotes, but they will show later when you're reading the Server Configuration TAB.)

Use the TEST CONFIGURATION button to verify you can get profiles (not only administrator, press button twice and see other one!)

SugarCRM

Applications should use anonymous bind, there is no need to use the LDAP root password

Enabled LDAP server

Server: IP of the SME server

Port Number: 389

Base DN: ou=Users,dc=sampledomain,dc=com

Bind Attribute: dn

Authenticated User: uid=root,ou=Users,dc=sampledomain,dc=com

Authenticated Password: ldaps admin's password

Enabled Auto Create Users

Synology NAS

Enabled LDAP client

Server: IP of the SME server

Encryption: SSL

Base DN: dc=sampledomain,dc=tld

Bind DN:uid=admin,ou=Users,dc=sampledomain,dc=tld

Bind pass: your admin password

Softether VPN

Please see SoftEther_VPN#Radius_authentication

Bugs

Please raise bugs under the SME Server 8 section