1 I'm using [LDAP][] ([RFC 4510][rfc4510]) to maintain a centralized
2 address book at home. Here are my setup notes, mostly following
3 Gentoo's [LDAP howto][howto].
5 Install [OpenLDAP][] with the `ldap` USE flag enabled:
9 If you get complaints about a `cyrus-sasl` ↔ `openldap` dependency
10 cycle, you should temporarily (or permanently) disable the `ldap` USE
11 flag for `cyrus-sasl`:
13 # echo 'dev-libs/cyrus-sasl -ldap' > /etc/portage/package.use/ldap
14 # -ldap" emerge -av1 cyrus-sasl
17 Generate an administrative password:
21 Re-enter new password:
22 {SSHA}EzP6I82DZRnW+ou6lyiXHGxSpSOw2XO4
24 Configure the `slapd` LDAP server. Here is a very minimal
25 configuration, read the [OpenLDAP Admin Guide][admin] for details:
27 # emacs /etc/openldap/slapd.conf
28 # cat /etc/openldap/slapd.conf
29 include /etc/openldap/schema/core.schema
30 include /etc/openldap/schema/cosine.schema
31 include /etc/openldap/schema/inetorgperson.schema
32 pidfile /var/run/openldap/slapd.pid
33 argsfile /var/run/openldap/slapd.args
35 suffix "dc=example,dc=com"
37 rootdn "cn=Manager,dc=example,dc=com"
38 rootpw {SSHA}EzP6I82DZRnW+ou6lyiXHGxSpSOw2XO4
39 directory /var/lib/openldap-data
42 Note that [inetorgperson][] is huge, but it's standardized. I think
43 it's better to pick a big standard right off, than to outgrow
44 something smaller and need to migrate.
46 Gentoo creates the default database directory for you, so you can
47 ignore warnings about needing to create it yourself.
49 Configure LDAP client access. Again, read the docs for details on
50 adapting this to your particular situation:
52 # emacs /etc/openldap/ldap.conf
53 $ cat /etc/openldap/ldap.conf
54 BASE dc=example,dc=com
55 URI ldap://ldapserver.example.com
57 You can edit '/etc/conf.d/slapd' if you want command line options
58 passed to `slapd` when the service starts, but the defaults looked
63 # /etc/init.d/slapd start
65 Add it to your default runlevel:
67 # eselect rc add /etc/init.d/slapd default
71 $ ldapsearch -x -b '' -s base '(objectclass=*)'
73 Build a hierarchy in your database (this will depend on your
74 organizational structure):
76 $ emacs /tmp/people.ldif
77 $ cat /tmp/people.ldif
80 dn: dc=example, dc=com
82 objectClass: organization
86 dn: ou=people, dc=example,dc=com
87 objectClass: organizationalUnit
89 description: All people in organisation
91 dn: cn=Manager, dc=example,dc=com
92 objectClass: organizationalRole
94 description: Directory Manager
95 $ ldapadd -D "cn=Manager,dc=example,dc=com" -xW -f /tmp/people.ldif
101 If you currently keep your addresses in [abook][], you can export them
104 $ abook --convert --infile ~/.abook/addressbook --outformat ldif \
105 | abook-ldif-cleanup.py --basedn 'ou=people,dc=example,dc=com' > dump.ldif
107 where [[abook-ldif-cleanup.py]] does some compatibility processing
108 using the [python-ldap][] module.
110 Add the people to your LDAP database:
112 $ ldapadd -D "cn=Manager,dc=example,dc=com" -xW -f dump.ldif
114 To check if that worked, you can list all the entries in your
117 $ ldapsearch -x -b 'dc=example,dc=com' '(objectclass=*)'
119 Then remove the temporary files:
126 Ok, we've put lots of people into the `people` OU, but what if we want
127 to assign them to another department? We can use aliases ([RFC
128 4512][rfc4512]), the symlinks of the LDAP world. To see how this
129 works, lets create a test OU to play with:
131 $ emacs /tmp/test.ldif
134 dn: ou=test, dc=example,dc=com
135 objectClass: organizationalUnit
137 $ ldapadd -D "cn=Manager,dc=example,dc=com" -xW -f /tmp/test.ldif
140 Now assign one of your people to that group:
142 $ emacs /tmp/alias.ldif
143 $ cat /tmp/alias.ldif
145 dn: cn=Jane Doe, ou=test,dc=example,dc=com
147 aliasedObjectName: cn=Jane Doe, ou=people,dc=example,dc=com
148 $ ldapadd -D "cn=Manager,dc=example,dc=com" -xW -f /tmp/alias.ldif
151 The `extensibleObject` class allows us to add the DN field, without it
154 $ ldapadd -D "cn=Manager,dc=example,dc=com" -xW -f /tmp/alias.ldif
156 adding new entry "cn=Jane Doe, ou=test,dc=example,dc=com"
157 ldap_add: Object class violation (65)
158 additional info: attribute 'cn' not allowed
160 You can search for all entries (including aliases) with
162 $ ldapsearch -x -b 'ou=test, dc=example,dc=com' '(objectclass=*)'
164 dn: cn=Jane Doe,ou=test,dc=example,dc=com
166 objectClass: extensibleObject
167 aliasedObjectName:: Y249TWljaGVsIFZhbGxpw6hyZXMsb3U9cGVvcGxlLGRjPXRyZW1pbHksZGM9dXM=
170 You can control dereferencing with the `-a` option:
172 $ ldapsearch -x -a always -b 'ou=test, dc=example,dc=com' '(objectclass=*)'
174 dn: cn=Jane Doe,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com
179 Once you've played around, you can remove the `test` OU and its
182 $ ldapdelete -D "cn=Manager,dc=example,dc=com" -xW -r ou=test,dc=example,dc=com
187 There are a number of tools to make it easier to manage LDAP
188 databases. Command line junkies will probably like [shelldap][]:
190 $ shelldap --server ldapserver.example.com
196 dn: cn=Manager,dc=example,dc=com
197 objectClass: organizationalRole
206 If you use the [[Mutt]] email client (or just want a simple way to
207 query email addresses from the command line) there are a [number of
208 scripts][mutts] available. Pick whichever sounds most appealing to
209 you. I wrote up [[mutt-ldap.py]], which lets you configuration the
210 connection details via a config file (`~/.mutt-ldap.rc`) rather than
211 editing the script itself. Usage details are available in the
217 You can configure Apple's [Address Book][aab] to search an LDAP
218 directory. See [[Humanizing_OS_X]] for details.
223 It took me a bit of work to get [SSL/TLS][] working with my
224 [[GnuTLS]]-linked OpenLDAP. First, you'll probably need to generate
225 new SSL/TLS keys (`/etc/openldap/ssl/*`) with [certtool][] (see
226 [[X.509_certificates]]). Then add the following lines to
227 `/etc/openldap/slapd.conf`:
229 TLSCipherSuite NORMAL
230 TLSCACertificateFile /etc/openldap/ssl/ca.crt
231 TLSCertificateFile /etc/openldap/ssl/ldap.crt
232 TLSCertificateKeyFile /etc/openldap/ssl/ldap.key
233 TLSVerifyClient never
235 Where `ca.crt`, `ldap.crt`, and `ldap.key` are your new CA,
236 certificate, and private key. If you want to disable unencrypted
237 connections completely, remove the `ldap://` entry from your `slapd`
238 command line by editing (on Gentoo) `/etc/conf.d/slapd` so it has
240 OPTS="-h 'ldaps:// ldapi://%2fvar%2frun%2fopenldap%2fslapd.sock'"
242 Now you should be able to restart `slapd` so it will use the new
245 Have clients running on your server use the local socket by editing
246 `/etc/openldap/ldap.conf` to set:
248 URI ldapi://%2fvar%2frun%2fopenldap%2fslapd.sock
250 Test your server setup by running (on the server)
252 $ ldapsearch -x -b '' -s base '(objectclass=*)'
254 Copy your CA over to any client machines (I put it in
255 `/etc/openldap/ssl/ldapserver.crt`), and set them up with the
256 following two lines in `/etc/openldap/ldap.conf`:
258 URI ldaps://ldapserver.example.com
259 TLS_CACERT /etc/openldap/ssl/ldapserver.crt
261 Test your client setup by running (on the client)
263 $ ldapsearch -x -b '' -s base '(objectclass=*)'
265 You can configure `shelldap` with the following lines in
268 server: ldaps://ldapserver.example.com
270 tls_cacert: /etc/openldap/ssl/ldapserver.crt
272 You can configure `mutt-ldap.py` with the following lines in
281 I wanted to mirror my home LDAP info on my public Ubuntu server.
282 Here's a quick rundown of the Ubuntu setup. Install OpenLDAP:
284 $ sudo apt-get install slapd ldap-utils
286 Don't serve in the clear:
288 $ cat /etc/default/slapd
290 SLAPD_SERVICES="ldaps:/// ldapi:///"
293 Avoid `Unrecognized database type (hdb)` by loading the `hdb` backend
294 module before declaring `hdb` databases:
296 $ sudo cat /etc/ldap/slapd.conf
302 Convert the old school `slapd.conf` to the new [slapd.d][]:
304 $ sudo mv slapd.d{,.bak}
306 $ sudo slaptest -f slapd.conf -F slapd.d
308 hdb_db_open: database "dc=example,dc=com": db_open(/var/lib/slapd/id2entry.bdb) failed: No such file or directory (2).
310 slap_startup failed (test would succeed using the -u switch)
312 $ sudo chown -R openldap.openldap slapd.d
314 Don't worry about that `db_open` error, the conversion to `slapd.d`
315 will have completed successfully.
317 Set permissions on the database directory (note that the databases
318 should be under `/var/lib/ldap` to match Ubuntu's default apparmor
319 config. Otherwise you'll see `invalid path: Permission denied` errors
320 when `slapd` tries to initialize the databaes).
322 $ sudo chown openldap.openldap /var/lib/ldap/
323 $ sudo chmod 750 /var/lib/ldap/
325 Configure your clients
327 $ cat /etc/ldap/ldap.conf
328 BASE dc=example,dc=com
329 URI ldaps://example.com
330 TLS_CACERT /etc/ldap/ssl/ldapserver.crt
332 Start `slapd` and add it to your default runlevel:
334 $ sudo /etc/init.d/slapd start
335 $ sudo update-rc.d slapd defaults
337 Finally, import your directory data. Dump the data on your master
340 master$ sudo slapcat -b 'dc=example,dc=com' > database.ldif
342 Load the data on your slave:
344 $ sudo /etc/init.d/slapd stop
345 $ sudo slapadd -l database.ldif
346 $ sudo /etc/init.d/slapd start
351 There's a [good overview][schema] of schema and objectclasses by Brian
352 Jones on O'Reilly. If you want to use inetOrgPerson but also include
353 the countryName attribute, ...
355 [LDAP]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDAP
356 [rfc4510]: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4510
357 [howto]: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/ldap-howto.xml
358 [OpenLDAP]: http://www.openldap.org/
359 [admin]: http://www.openldap.org/doc/admin/
360 [inetorgperson]: http://www.apps.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2798.html
361 [abook]: http://abook.sourceforge.net/
362 [LDIF]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDAP_Data_Interchange_Format
363 [python-ldap]: http://www.python-ldap.org/
364 [rfc4512]: http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4512
365 [shelldap]: http://projects.martini.nu/shelldap/
366 [mutts]: http://wiki.mutt.org/?QueryCommand
367 [aab]: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2486
368 [SSL/TLS]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security
369 [certtool]:http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/manual/html_node/Invoking-certtool.html#Invoking-certtool
370 [slapd.d]: http://www.openldap.org/doc/admin24/slapdconf2.html
371 [schema]: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/sysadmin/2006/11/09/demystifying-ldap-data.html