Linux Redhat Experts..?

Question

I have 2 redhat servers in a windows environment and want redhat to authenticate against LDAP not itself. More than one password to remember is asking way too much of end users, any advice/links appreciated

Answer 1

The first route would be to use "authconf" to enable and configure ldap authentication. The steps differ a bit depending on the distro version, but here are some ideas for starters,

=== References

Source: Red Hat Linux 9: Red Hat Linux x86 Installation Guide
Section: 3.26. Authentication Configuration
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/linux/RHL-9-Manual/install-guide/s1-authconfig.html

Source: Red Hat Linux 7.2: The Official Red Hat Linux Alpha Installation Guide
Section: Authentication Configuration
http://h21007.www2.hp.com/dspp/files/unprotected/linux/redhat/ig/s1-guimode-authconf.html

Older Article: LDAP Client Login Authentication
Section: LDAP Authentication for Red Hat Linux:
Use command: /usr/bin/authconfig
http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LDAP_Authentication.html

=== Basic Configuration Options

Enable LDAP — tells your computer to use LDAP for some or all authentication. LDAP consolidates certain types of information within your organization. For example, all of the different lists of users within your organization can be merged into one LDAP directory. For more information about LDAP, refer to the Red Hat Linux Reference Guide, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP). You can choose from the following options:

LDAP Server — allows you to access a specified server (by providing an IP address) running the LDAP protocol.

LDAP Base DN — allows you to look up user information by its Distinguished Name (DN).

Use TLS (Transport Layer Security) lookups — this option allows LDAP to send encrypted user names and passwords to an LDAP server before authentication.

=== Note: If your Windows servers are working in Active Directory and Kerberos is required for domain authentication, then you may want to or need to consider enabling and configuring Kerboros in the authconf tool, too.

Enable Kerberos — Kerberos is a secure system for providing network authentication services. For more information about Kerberos, see the chapter titled Kerberos in the Red Hat Linux Reference Guide. There are three options to choose from here:

Realm — this option allows you to access a network that uses Kerberos, composed of one or a few servers (also known as KDCs) and a potentially large number of clients.

KDC — this option allows you access to the Key Distribution Center (KDC), a machine that issues Kerberos tickets (sometimes called a Ticket Granting Server or TGS).

Admin Server — this option allows you to access a server running kadmind.

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Depending on the usage of the Redhat servers, a second alternative could be to enable and configure Samba server/shares, if users are just accessing data from these servers.