Introduction

The JS7 - LDAP authentication for the JOC Cockpit is offered from the JS7 - LDAP Identity Service and relies on a connection between the Identity Service offers authentication from an LDAP Directory Service and is available from JS7 - REST Web Service API and the LDAP Server.

• Early JS7 releases make use of of the JS7 - Shiro Identity Service, for migration see JS7 - Shiro Identity Service Migration.
• The connection to the an LDAP Server can be secured, see JS7 - LDAP over TLS (using STARTTLS ) and LDAP over SSL (using LDAPS).

This article describes explains the steps required for configuration with of an LDAP Directory Service:

• Step 1: Basic LDAP Configuration
• Step 2: Authentication
• Step 3: Authorization
  • Define rolesDefine groupRolesMapping
  • Define group/roles mapping
  • Define the LDAP attribute attributes to search for groups

Relevant Tools

• An LDAP Browser:
  • The screenshots used in this article were made with indicate the Softerra® LDAP Browser that was configured used to connect to use the relevant LDAP Directory Service.
• A command line utilityCommand Line Client:
  
  • The examples used in this article are executed with ldapSearch.

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The following diagram provides an overview of the setup proceedingsteps to set up LDAP connections:

1 [label="1. Set up basic LDAP configuration\n(URL, etc.)"]
1 -> 2 [weight=5, len=0.5]
2 [label="2. Set up Authentication\n(userDnTemplate)"]
2 -> 3
3 [label="3. Set up Authorization\n/Roles, Assignments/Mappings"]
3 -> 4
4 [shape="diamond", label="Should roles be assigned from LDAP\nby security group memberships?",fillcolor="lightblue"]
4 -> 5 [label="Yes"]
5 [label="Define Group/Roles Mapping"]
4 -> 10 [label="No"]
10 [label="Create accounts and assign roles"]
10 -> E2
E2 [shape="circle", style="filled", label="End", color="pink"]
5 -> 6
6 [shape="diamond", label="Does the user account object include a\nmemberOf attribute?",fillcolor="lightblue"]
6 -> 20 [label="Yes"]
20 [label="Specify User Search\l - searchBase\l - userSearchFilter"]
20 -> E3
E3 [shape="circle", style="filled", label="End", color="pink"]
6 -> 7 [label="No"]
7 [label="Specify Group Search\l - groupSearchBase\l - groupSearchFilter\l - groupNameAttribute"]
7 -> 8
8 [shape="diamond", label="Does the member attribute contain\nthe account name from the login?",fillcolor="lightblue"]
8 -> E4 [label="Yes"]
E4 [shape="circle", style="filled", label="End", color="pink"]
8 -> 9 [label="No"]
9 [label="Specify User Search\l - searchBase\l - userSearchFilter"] 
9 -> E5
E5 [shape="circle", style="filled", label="End", color="pink"]

...

The LDAP configuration can be managed from the Administration->Manage Identity Services view like this:.

Add Identity Service

In a first step click the Add Identity Service button that brings up the following popup window.

• A Name has to be specified that identifies the LDAP Identity Service.
• The Identity Service Type gives a choice
  • LDAP: to map user/role assignments from security group membership in the LDAP Server,
  • LDAP-JOC: to manage user/role assignments from for the Identity Service with JOC Cockpit.
• Do not make the Identify Service Required before you are certain that the service configuration works fine.
• Select the single-factor Authentication Scheme.
  
  

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• Simple Mode: The most frequently used settings are available.
• Expert Mode:: The full set of settings is available.
  

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Specify General Settings 

See the JS7 - LDAP Identity Service, chapter: Identity Service Settings for detailed explanations about the general settings.

The following table lists the general items used to configure an LDAP connection.

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authentication authentication

Step 2: LDAP Authentication

Specify Specify Authentication Settings

The following table lists possible values for authentication with an LDAP Server:
The . The value {0} will be substituted with the account name.

Verification

ldapsearch -h localhost -p 389 -b "uid=ur,ou=People,dc=sos" -x

# This should return a result such as:

# ur, People, sos
dn: uid=ur,ou=People,dc=sos
mail: *********
uid: ur
givenName: Uwe
objectClass: top
objectClass: person
objectClass: organizationalPerson
objectClass: inetorgperson
sn: Risse
cn: Uwe Risse
preferredLanguage: de
# search result
search: 2
result: 0 Success

# numResponses: 2
# numEntries: 1

ldapsearch -h ldap.forumsys.com -p 389 -b "uid=gauss,dc=example,dc=com" -x

# This should return a result such as:

# extended LDIF
#
# LDAPv3
# base <uid=gauss,dc=example,dc=com> with scope subtree
# filter: (objectclass=*)
# requesting: ALL
#
 
# gauss, example.com
dn: uid=gauss,dc=example,dc=com
objectClass: inetOrgPerson
objectClass: organizationalPerson
objectClass: person
objectClass: top
cn: Carl Friedrich Gauss
sn: Gauss
uid: gauss
mail: gauss@ldap.forumsys.com
 
# search result
search: 2
result: 0 Success
 
# numResponses: 2
# numEntries: 1

ldapsearch -h ldap.forumsys.com -p 389 -b "uid=gauss,dc=example,dc=com" -W -D "uid=gauss,dc=example,dc=com"

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authorization authorization

Step 3: Authorization

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• LDAP: add a Group/Roles mapping: membership . Membership of a user account in a security group groups of the LDAP Server is mapped to a role roles in the Identity Service.
• LDAP-JOC: add a user account and assign roles with JOC Cockpit. Accounts are managed with the Identity Service in parallel to the LDAP Server. No user passwords are managed with by the JOC Cockpit as authentication is performed with by the LDAP Directory Service.

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assigning_roles_in_the_shiro.ini_file assigning_roles_in_the_shiro.ini_file

Assign Roles with Identity Service Type LDAP-JOC

For details see JS7 - Manage Roles and Permissions.

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assigning_roles_from_ldap_groups assigning_roles_from_ldap_groups

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grouprolesmapping grouprolesmapping

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Assign Roles

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with

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Identity Service

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Type LDAP

The group/roles mapping defines a search for LDAP groups and a map that assigns these maps resulting LDAP groups to a roleJOC Cockpit roles.

The search for LDAP groups can be executed with one of these the following options:

• The Account has a memberOf attribute. Then you LDAP Server makes use the memberOf attribute: In this case users can retrieve the list of groups and should proceed with the Approach 1: User Search . Then proceed with Using memberOf with User Searchand use of the memberOf Attribute section of this page.
• The Account LDAP Server does not have a memberOf attribute. The group contains the Accounts make use of the memberOf attribute: In this case the LDAP groups include the accounts that are members of the group, Then . Users should proceed with Using the Approach 2: Group Search for account membership section of this page.

These options cannot be mixed!

With the founded groups a map is defined, that maps the groups to roles.

In both searches the account can be substituted

How substitutions will be done

In the groupSearchFilter and the userSearchFilter you can specify %s e.g. 

(uid=%s)

The %s will be substituted with the account from the login. If you login with domain\account oder account@domain the value for the user is account.

You can specify ^s e.g.

(uid=^s)

The placeholder ^s will be substituted with the original value from the login e.g. account@domain.

Usersearch

This approach looks for the Account entry and reads the memberOf attribute. This attribute is often used when, for example, configuring Microsoft Active Directory^® LDAP servers. 

Define a userSearchFilter and a searchBase that will find the account .

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Microsoft Active Directory^® that supports memberOff attribute

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LDAP Search Base

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Example: ou=People,dc=sos

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General

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LDAP Search Base

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Example: ou=People,dc=sos

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Groupsearch

Microsoft Active Directory^® that supports memberOff attribute

General

Group Roles Mapping

The mapping is defined in the expert tab of the LDAP Identity Service Manage Settings view.

Note that the value of the group depends on the result of the group search. It is the value of the attribute that you have specified with the groupNameAttribute. Default for the groupNameAttribute is memberOf. This indicates that if you are retrieving group memberships by use of the memberOf attribute of an account then you have to specify the complete value of the memberOf attribute value, i.e. the distinguished names of group hits.

Example for Group Mapping with Microsoft Active Directory by memberOf Attribute

A typical mapping when using Microsoft Active Directory with the memberOf attribute for group memberships includes to specify group hts by their distinguished name like this:

• CN=Group1,OU=SpecialGroups,OU=Groups,OU=Company,DC=sos-berlin,DC=com ==>  all
• CN=AnotherGroup,OU=SpecialGroups,OU=Groups,OU=CompanyDC=sos-berlin,DC=com ==>  adminitrator
• CN=Beginners,OU=SecurityGroups,OU=Groups,OU=Company,DC=sos-berlin,DC=com ==> business_user

Example for Group Mapping by cn Attribute

A mapping that is based on group search would identify group hits by the value of their common name like this:

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An LDAP Browser can be used to get the correct values for the searchBase and the userSearchFilter. Perform a directory search with the values. You should find only one entry. 

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The searchBase is the value of the base DN (or ParentDN in the screenshot above).

Hint: if the attribute name in your environment is not the default memberOf then you can specify the name of the attribute with the groupNameAttribute key as described in the next section.

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If the Account entries have the memberOf attribute then you can skip this section and proceed with Using memberOf with User Search. Settings: 

• ldapRealm.groupSearchBase 
• ldapRealm.groupNameAttribute
• ldapRealm.groupSearchFilter

When the memberOf attribute is not available for the Account then you can use the Group Search.

Define the groupSearchBase and the groupSearchFilter. For example:

• ldapRealm.groupSearchBase = ou=Groups,dc=sos
• ldapRealm.groupSearchFilter = (uniqueMember=uid=%s,ou=People,dc=sos)

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Getting the value for the groupSearchBase

Identify the location where the groups are stored. This is your groupSearchBase.

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Getting the value for the groupSearchFilter

Click one group Entry (in the screenshot, cn=apl) and see how the members are stored there.

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The groupSearchFilter is configured with attr=val where attr is name of the attribute and val is the content. In this example, the attr is uniqueMember and the val uid=%s,ou=People,dc=sos, where the userid is replaced with %s. This results in:

• ldapRealm.groupSearchFilter = (uniqueMember=uid=%s,ou=People,dc=sos)

Verifing the groupSearchFilter with the ldapSearch command

 ldapsearch -h localhost -p 389 -b "ou=Groups,dc=sos" -s sub "uniqueMember=uid=ur,ou=People,dc=sos" -x

This search should return the group entries the Account is a member of. Identify the attribute containing the group name that is to be used in the user roles mapping. This can be seen in the next listing

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using_member_of_with_user_search using_member_of_with_user_search

Approach 1: User Search and use of the memberOf Attribute

This approach looks up the account in the LDAP Server and reads the memberOf attribute. This attribute frequently is available from Microsoft Active Directory^® LDAP Servers.

Users define the LDAP Search Base and LDAP User Search Filter to look up the account.

Verification

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groupsearch groupsearch

Approach 2: Group Search for account membership 

This approach looks up groups in the LDAP Server that the account is a member of.

Users define the LDAP Group Search Base and LDAP Group Search Filter to look up groups:

Verification by LDAP Browser

Verification by ldapSearch

# extended LDIF
#
# LDAPv3
# base <ou=Groups,dc=sos> with scope subtree
# filter: uniqueMember=uid=ur,ou=People,dc=sos
# requesting: ALL
#
 
# sos, Groups, sos
dn: cn=sos,ou=Groups,dc=sos
description: Employees of SOS GmbH
objectClass: top
objectClass: groupofuniquenames
cn: sos
uniqueMember: uid=ur,ou=People,dc=sos
uniqueMember: uid=fTester,ou=People,dc=sos

# apl, Groups, sos
dn: cn=apl,ou=Groups,dc=sos
objectClass: top
objectClass: groupofuniquenames
cn: apl
uniqueMember: uid=ur,ou=People,dc=sos
uniqueMember: uid=fTester,ou=People,dc=sos
 
# search result
search: 2
result: 0 Success
 
# numResponses: 3
# numEntries: 2

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substitution_of_the_username substitution_of_the_username

Nested User Search in Group Search

Consider a situation from the above example:

• LDAP query example includes (uniqueMember=

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• uid=ur,ou=People,dc=sos

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• )
• The value of the uid attribute usually is specified by the %s placeholder and is substituted by the account from account@domain used for login. This example makes use of ur.
• If the uid attribute does not make use of the user's account but some other attribute available for the account then an additional LDAP query is required to the identify the account.

For example, if the uid attribute holds the value of the cn attribute then users have to search for the account first and then specify the name of the attribute that holds the value for the substitution.

The following settings have to be specified:

Verification

Verifing the groupSearchBase and groupSearchFilter with an LDAP Browser

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Now set the groupNameAttribute to the name of the attribute that contains the group name.

• ldapRealm.groupNameAttribute = cn

Hint: The complete content of this attribute must be used in the groupRolesMap attribute. Typical content of the attribute could be ou=Groups,dc=sos,cn=groupname .

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If the roles are assigned with the JOC Account Manager using the Identity Service LDAP-JOC you can skip this chapter.

If the value of the member of the groups contains the Account name from the login then you can skip this chapter

Sometimes the values of the member do not contain the Account Name from the login but, for example, the cn of the Account. In this case you have to search for the Account first and then specify the name of the attribute that should be used instead of the Account name from the login .

To achieve this, specify a searchBase, a userSearchFilter and a userNameAttribute.

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ldapsearch -h localhost -p 389 -b "ou=People,dc=sos" -s sub "uid=fTester" -x

# This should return the following result

# extended LDIF
#
# LDAPv3
# base <ou=People,dc=sos> with scope subtree
# filter: uid=fTester
# requesting: ALL
#

# fTester, People, sos
dn: uid=fTester,ou=People,dc=sos
mail: info@sos-berlin.com
uid: fTester
givenName: Fritz
objectClass: top
objectClass: person
objectClass: organizationalPerson
objectClass: inetorgperson
sn: Tester
cn: Fritz Tester

# search result
search: 2
result: 0 Success

# numResponses: 2
# numEntries: 1

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Perform a directory search with your LDAP client to check the User Search configuration. You should find only one Account entry with the given Account name.

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Then identify the name of the attribute that contains the value for substitution. For example:

• ldapRealm.userNameAttribute = cn

The configuration will look like this:

Examples and special configurations

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Group Search 

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Group Roles Mapping

The mapping is configured with the "Expert Mode" of the LDAP Identity Service Settings.

Examples

Group/roles Mapping with Approach 1: User Search and use of the memberOf Attribute

In the JOC Cockpit Identity Service Settings the following group/roles mapping is specified:

Explanation:

• As Approach 1: User Search and use of the memberOf Attribute is used then distinguished names of groups have to be specified.

Group/roles Mapping with Approach 2: Group Search for account membership

In the JOC Cockpit Identity Service Settings the following group/roles mapping is specified, for example when using the cn attribute for group names:

Explanation:

• As Approach 2: Group Search for account membership is used the group's Common Name is specified.

A public LDAP Server for Testing

An online LDAP Server is available for public access (managed by Forum Systems). This server can be used to test LDAP authentication and authorization.

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Group Search where the member attribute does not contain the account name but the common name

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memberOf in the account record

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public LDAP Server

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A public LDAP Server for testing the connection

An online public LDAP server which can be accessed using a relatively simple configuration is available from Forum Systems. This server can be used to set up a test environment with LDAP authentication. In this article we will refer to the authentication of two user accounts on this server - gauss and newton - that are each members of a different LDAP group as shown in the following table:

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• The LDAP Server offers two accounts:
  • gauss: the user account is assigned the all role which allows access to any operation in JOC Cockpit.
  • newton: the user account is assigned the application_manager role which includes to manage scheduling object, but for example does not allow to restart a Controller.
  • The roles and permissions are described with the JS7 - Default Roles and Permissions article.
• The accounts are members in different LDAP groups that are mapped to respective roles in JOC Cockpit.

• The LDAP settings are available for download: PublicLDAP.ldap.json

  • The popup window to manage LDAP Server settings offers an Upload button to import downloaded settings.
    
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• Both accounts gauss and newton make use of the same password:
  
  

  User Account	Password	LDAP Group

• Role
  gauss	password	mathematicians	all
  newton	password	scientists

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• application_

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• manager

 Logging

References

• JS7 - Logging
  
  • JS7 - Log Files and Locations
  • JS7 - Log Levels and Debug Options

Use Cases

• For

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• analysis of LDAP Server connections, authentication and authorization consider increasing the log level and checking the output of JOC Cockpit's authentication-debug.log file.