A basic OpenLDAP server in under 15 minutes

Tested under Debian Lenny

This howto is basic, as in “no security involved”. I may come up with a second part to this guide about securing OpenLDAP with TLS, if I ever find the time.
Meanwhile see http://www.openldap.org/doc/admin23/security.html for the security aspect of things.

In this example, I’ll create a tree following this scheme : dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld.
It’s really up to you how you organize your tree, it’s really for organizational purposes. You can limit your tree to a single root branch, for example dc=myname.

Install OpenLDAP server and some useful utilities :

# apt-get install slapd ldap-utils

You should be prompted for a password, if not create it from the command line :

# slappasswd
New password:
Re-enter new password:
{SSHA}vFk3EP4SSW0RDm4yEKD

Edit /etc/ldap/slapd.conf :

You should copy the password obtained with slappasswd under the rootpw option.

include         /etc/ldap/schema/core.schema
include         /etc/ldap/schema/cosine.schema
include         /etc/ldap/schema/nis.schema
include         /etc/ldap/schema/inetorgperson.schema
pidfile         /var/run/slapd/slapd.pid
argsfile        /var/run/slapd/slapd.args
loglevel        none
modulepath	/usr/lib/ldap
moduleload	back_hdb
sizelimit 500
tool-threads 1
backend		hdb
database        hdb
suffix          "dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld"
rootdn          "cn=admin,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld"
rootpw		"{SSHA}vFk3EP4SSW0RDm4yEKD"
directory       "/var/lib/ldap"
dbconfig set_cachesize 0 2097152 0
dbconfig set_lk_max_objects 1500
dbconfig set_lk_max_locks 1500
dbconfig set_lk_max_lockers 1500
index           objectClass eq
lastmod         on
checkpoint      512 30
access to attrs=userPassword,shadowLastChange
        by dn="cn=admin,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld" write
        by anonymous auth
        by self write
        by * none
access to dn.base="" by * read
access to *
        by dn="cn=admin,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld" write
        by * read

“cn=admin,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld” is the database admin. This is what you will use as credential when you need to modify something in the database.

Then edit /etc/ldap/ldap.conf :

This is the configuration for the LDAP client.

HOST 127.0.0.1
BASE dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
URI ldap://localhost

Now create a directory that will contain some initial configuration files.

# mkdir /etc/ldap/LDIF

In this directory create the following files :

1_base.ldif (the base of our LDAP tree) :

dn: dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
dc: my
objectClass: domain

2_group.ldif (this will be the branch that will host our groups) :

dn: ou=Groups,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
ou: Groups
objectClass: organizationalUnit

3_dev.ldif (this is our first group) :

dn: cn=dev,ou=Groups,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
cn: dev
gidNumber: 30000
memberUid: user1
objectClass: posixGroup
objectClass: top
description: developers

4_people.ldif (this is the branch hosting users) :

dn: ou=People,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
ou: People
objectClass: organizationalUnit

5_user1.ldif (this is our first user) :

dn: uid=user1,ou=People,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
uid: user1
cn: John Doe
displayName: John Doe
givenName: Doe
sn: Doe
objectClass: inetOrgPerson
userPassword: pass
mail: johndoe@domain.tld

When we are done, we can restart OpenLDAP and create the tree and import some data :

# /etc/init.d/slapd restart
# cd /etc/ldap/LDIF
# for i in `ls`; do ldapadd -x -D "cn=admin,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld" -W -f $i ; done

You should be prompted for the admin password as much as you have LDIF files in the directory.
If you didn’t name your file 1_base.ldif, 2_group.ldif, etc. the command may fail as it may try to add a group or user before creating its branch.

Now you should be able to query the LDAP tree :

# ldapsearch -x
# extended LDIF
#
# LDAPv3
# base <dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld> (default) with scope subtree
# filter: (objectclass=*)
# requesting: ALL
#

# my.domain.tld
dn: dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
dc: my
objectClass: domain

# Groups, my.domain.tld
dn: ou=Groups,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
ou: Groups
objectClass: organizationalUnit

# People, my.domain.tld
dn: ou=People,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
ou: People
objectClass: organizationalUnit

# user1, People, my.domain.tld
dn: uid=user1,ou=People,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
uid: user1
cn: John Doe
displayName: John Doe
givenName: Doe
sn: Doe
objectClass: inetOrgPerson
mail: johndoe@domain.tld

# dev, Groups, my.domain.tld
dn: cn=dev,ou=Groups,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld
cn: dev
gidNumber: 30000
memberUid: user1
objectClass: posixGroup
objectClass: top
description: developers

# search result
search: 2
result: 0 Success

# numResponses: 6
# numEntries: 5

This command requires /etc/ldap/ldap.conf. If you don’t have ldap.conf configured you’d have to type the whole command :

# ldapsearch -x -b "dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld" -H ldap://server

Now, you can authenticate several services against your new LDAP server.
For example, web authentication in Apache.. Take a look at http://www.wains.be/index.php/2010/01/26/apache-simple-authentication-and-ldap-authentication-examples/

You also may want to install PHP LDAP Admin for managing your LDAP database through a web GUI :

# apt-get install phpldapadmin

Then go to http://server/phpldapadmin and authentify with cn=admin,dc=my,dc=domain,dc=tld and your rootpw.