Configuration overview

LemonLDAP::NG reads configuration from two sources:

_images/config-overview.png

The local configuration is generally stored in a /etc/lemonldap-ng/lemonldap-ng.ini file.

Its main purpose is to tell LemonLDAP::NG where it can find the shared configuration. But it also contains some important settings like the logging verbosity level.

The shared configuration is where most of the configuration is stored: authentication sources, applications, session backends, UI parameters, and so on. It needs to be shared between various componentes (Portal and Handler) and that’s why it’s generally stored in a shared database.

Backends

LemonLDAP::NG shared configuration is stored in a backend that allows all modules to access it.

Attention

Note that all LL::NG components must have access:

  • to the configuration backend

  • to the sessions storage backend

Detailed configuration backends documentation is available here.

By default, configuration is stored in files, so access through network is not possible. To allow this, use SOAP for configuration access, or use a network service like SQL database or LDAP directory.

Configuration backend can be set in the local configuration file, in configuration section.

For example, to configure the File configuration backend:

[configuration]
type=File
dirName = /usr/local/lemonldap-ng/data/conf

Tip

See How to change configuration backend to known how to change this.

Manager

Most of configuration can be done through LemonLDAP::NG Manager (by default http://manager.example.com).

By default, Manager is protected to allow only the demonstration user “dwho”.

Attention

This user will not be available anymore if you configure a new authentication backend! Remember to change the access rule in Manager virtual host to allow new administrators.

If you can not access the Manager anymore, you can unprotect it by editing lemonldap-ng.ini and changing the protection parameter:

[manager]

# Manager protection: by default, the manager is protected by a demo account.
# You can protect it :
# * by Apache itself,
# * by the parameter 'protection' which can take one of the following
# values :
#   * authenticate : all authenticated users can access
#   * manager      : manager is protected like other virtual hosts: you
#                    have to set rules in the corresponding virtual host
#   * rule: <rule> : you can set here directly the rule to apply
#   * none         : no protection

Tip

See Manager protection documentation to know how to use Apache modules or LL::NG to manage access to Manager.

The Manager displays main branches:

  • General Parameters: Authentication modules, portal, etc.

  • Variables: User information, macros and groups used to fill SSO session

  • Virtual Hosts: Access rules, headers, etc.

  • SAML 2 Service: SAML metadata administration

  • SAML identity providers: Registered IDP

  • SAML service providers: Registered SP

  • OpenID Connect Service: OpenID Connect service configuration

  • OpenID Connect Providers: Registered OP

  • OpenID Connect Relying Parties: Registered RP

LemonLDAP::NG configuration is mainly a key/value structure, so Manager will present all keys into a structured tree. A click on a key will display the associated value.

When all modifications are done, click on Save to store configuration.

Danger

LemonLDAP::NG will do some checks on configuration and display errors and warnings if any. Configuration is not saved if errors occur.

Tip

  • Configuration viewer allow some users to edit WebSSO configuration in Read Only mode.

  • You can set and display instance name in Manager menu by editing lemonldap-ng.ini in [manager] section:

[manager]
instanceName = LLNG_Demo

Tip

It is possible to use environment variable placeholders anywhere in configuration. Those placeholders will be replaced by each LLNG component using environment variables set locally. The format is: %SERVERENV:VariableName%. To enable this feature, you must edit lemonldap-ng.ini to set useServerEnv value in [configuration] section:

[configuration]
useServerEnv = 1

Manager API

Since 2.0.8, a Manager API is available for:

  • Second factors management for users

  • OpenID Connect RP management

  • SAML SP management

See Manager API documentation.

Attention

To access Manager API, enable the manager-api virtual host and change the access rule. You can protect the API through Basic authentication, IP white list or any other condition.

Configuration text editor

LemonLDAP::NG provide a script that allows one to edit configuration without graphical interface, this script is called lmConfigEditor and is stored in the LemonLDAP::NG bin/ directory, for example /usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin:

  • On Debian:

/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lmConfigEditor
  • On CentOS:

/usr/libexec/lemonldap-ng/bin/lmConfigEditor

Tip

This script must be run as root, it will then use the Apache user and group to access configuration.

Tip

You can change the user and group by setting --user and --group options in the command line.

The script uses the editor system command, that links to your favorite editor. To change it:

update-alternatives --config editor

The configuration is displayed as a big Perl Hash, that you can edit:

$VAR1 = {
          'ldapAuthnLevel' => '2',
          'notificationWildcard' => 'allusers',
          'loginHistoryEnabled' => '1',
          'key' => 'q`e)kJE%<&wm>uaA',
          'samlIDPSSODescriptorSingleSignOnServiceHTTPPost' => 'urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:bindings:HTTP-POST;#PORTAL#/saml/singleSignOn;',
          'portalSkin' => 'pastel',
          'failedLoginNumber' => '5',
          ...
          };

If a modification is done, the configuration is saved with a new configuration number. Else, current configuration is kept.

Command Line Interface (CLI)

LemonLDAP::NG provide a script that allows one to edit configuration items in non interactive mode. This script is called lemonldap-ng-cli and is stored in the LemonLDAP::NG bin/ directory, for example /usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin:

  • On Debian:

/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli
  • On CentOS:

/usr/libexec/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli

Tip

This script must be run as root, it will then use the Apache user and group to access configuration.

To see available actions, do:

/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli help

You can force an update of configuration cache with:

/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli update-cache

To get information about current configuration:

/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli info

To view a configuration parameter, for example portal URL:

/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli get portal

To set a parameter, for example domain:

/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli set domain example.org

To delete a parameter, for example portalSkinBackground:

/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli del portalSkinBackground

Tip

Use addKey and delKey actions to manage values of hash configuration parameters

You can use accessors (options) to change the behavior:

  • -sep: separator of hierarchical values (by default: /).

  • -iniFile: the lemonldap-ng.ini file to use if not default value.

  • -yes: do not prompt for confirmation before saving new configuration.

  • -cfgNum: the configuration number. If not set, it will use the latest configuration.

  • -force: set it to 1 to save a configuration earlier than latest.

Additional options:

  • –user=<user>: change user running the script

  • –group=<group>: change group running the script

Some examples:

/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli -cfgNum 10 get exportedHeaders/test1.example.com
/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli -yes 1 set notification 1
/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli -sep ',' get macros,_whatToTrace
/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli get portal --user=nginx --group=nginx

Tip

See other examples.

Apache

Attention

LemonLDAP::NG does not manage Apache configuration

LemonLDAP::NG ships 3 Apache configuration files:

  • portal-apache2.conf: Portal virtual host, with SOAP/REST end points

  • manager-apache2.conf: Manager virtual host

  • handler-apache2.conf : Handler declaration, reload virtual hosts

  • test-apache2.conf : Example protected virtual hosts

See how to deploy them.

Portal

After enabling any REST/SOAP endpoints in the Manager, you also need to configure some for of authentication on the corresponding URLs in the portal-apache2.conf configuration file.

By default, access to those URLs is denied:

# REST/SOAP functions for sessions management (disabled by default)
<Location /index.fcgi/adminSessions>
    Order deny,allow
    Deny from all
</Location>

Allowing configuration reload

In order to allow configuration reload from a different server (if your manager is on a different server or if you are using load-balancing), you need to edit the access rule in handler-apache2.conf

<Location /reload>
    #CHANGE THIS######
    Require ip 127 ::1
    ###########^^^^^^^
    SetHandler perl-script
    PerlResponseHandler Lemonldap::NG::Handler::ApacheMP2->reload
</Location>

Handler

In order to protect your application VHosts with the LemonLDAP::NG handler, you need to add these directives:

  • Load Handler in Apache memory:

(in a global configuration file)

PerlOptions +GlobalRequest
PerlModule Lemonldap::NG::Handler::ApacheMP2
  • Catch error pages:

ErrorDocument 403 http://auth.example.com/lmerror/403
ErrorDocument 404 http://auth.example.com/lmerror/404
ErrorDocument 500 http://auth.example.com/lmerror/500
ErrorDocument 502 http://auth.example.com/lmerror/502
ErrorDocument 503 http://auth.example.com/lmerror/503

Then, to protect a standard virtual host, the only configuration line to add is:

PerlHeaderParserHandler Lemonldap::NG::Handler::ApacheMP2

See test-apache2.conf for a complete example of a protected application

Nginx

Attention

LemonLDAP::NG does not manage Nginx configuration

LemonLDAP::NG ships 3 Nginx configuration files:

  • portal-nginx.conf: Portal virtual host, with REST/SOAP end points

  • manager-nginx.conf: Manager virtual host

  • handler-nginx.conf : Handler reload virtual hosts

  • test-nginx.conf : Example protected application

See how to deploy them.

Danger

LL::NG FastCGI server must be enabled and started separately.

Portal

After enabling any REST/SOAP endpoints in the Manager, you also need to configure some for of authentication on the corresponding URLs in the portal-nginx.conf configuration file.

By default, access to those URLs is denied:

location ~ ^/index.psgi/adminSessions {
  fastcgi_pass llng_portal_upstream;
  deny all;
}

Allowing configuration reload

In order to allow configuration reload from a different server (if your manager is on a different server or if you are using load-balancing), you need to edit the access rule in handler-nginx.conf

location = /reload {

  ## CHANGE THIS #
  allow 127.0.0.1;
  ######^^^^^^^^^#

  deny all;

  # FastCGI configuration
  include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params;
  fastcgi_pass unix:__FASTCGISOCKDIR__/llng-fastcgi.sock;
  fastcgi_param LLTYPE reload;
}

Handler

Nginx handler is provided by the LemonLDAP::NG FastCGI server.

  • Handle errors:

error_page 403 http://auth.example.com/lmerror/403;
error_page 404 http://auth.example.com/lmerror/404;
error_page 500 http://auth.example.com/lmerror/500;
error_page 502 http://auth.example.com/lmerror/502;
error_page 503 http://auth.example.com/lmerror/503;

To protect a standard virtual host, you must insert this (or create an included file):

# Insert $_user in logs
include /etc/lemonldap-ng/nginx-lmlog.conf;
access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log lm_combined;

# Internal call to FastCGI server
location = /lmauth {
  internal;
  include /etc/nginx/fastcgi_params;
  fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/llng-fastcgi-server/llng-fastcgi.sock;
  fastcgi_pass_request_body  off;
  fastcgi_param CONTENT_LENGTH "";
  fastcgi_param HOST $http_host;
  fastcgi_param X_ORIGINAL_URI  $original_uri;
}

# Client requests
location / {
  auth_request /lmauth;
  set $original_uri $uri$is_args$args;
  auth_request_set $lmremote_user $upstream_http_lm_remote_user;
  auth_request_set $lmlocation $upstream_http_location;
  error_page 401 $lmlocation;
  try_files $uri $uri/ =404;

  # Set REMOTE_USER (for FastCGI apps only)
  #fastcgi_param REMOTE_USER $lmremote_user

  ##################################
  # PASSING HEADERS TO APPLICATION #
  ##################################

  # IF LUA IS SUPPORTED
  #include /path/to/nginx-lua-headers.conf

  # ELSE
  # Set manually your headers
  #auth_request_set $authuser $upstream_http_auth_user;
  #proxy_set_header Auth-User $authuser;
  # OR
  #fastcgi_param HTTP_AUTH_USER $authuser;

  # Then (if LUA not supported), change cookie header to hide LLNG cookie
  #auth_request_set $lmcookie $upstream_http_cookie;
  #proxy_set_header Cookie: $lmcookie;
  # OR
  #fastcgi_param HTTP_COOKIE $lmcookie;

  # Insert then your configuration (fastcgi_* or proxy_*)

Configuration reload

Note

As Handlers keep configuration in cache, when configuration change, it should be updated in Handlers. An Apache restart will work, but LemonLDAP::NG offers the mean to reload them through an HTTP request. Configuration reload will then be effective in less than 10 minutes. If you want to change this timeout, set checkTime = 240 in your lemonldap-ng.ini file (values in seconds)

After configuration is saved by Manager, LemonLDAP::NG will try to reload configuration on distant Handlers by sending an HTTP request to the servers. The servers and URLs can be configured in Manager, General Parameters > reload configuration URLs: keys are server names or IP the requests will be sent to, and values are the requested URLs.

You also have a parameter to adjust the timeout used to request reload URLs, it is be default set to 5 seconds.

Attention

If “Compact configuration file” option is enabled, all useless parameters are removed to limit file size. Typically, if SAMLv2 service is disabled, all relative parameters will be erased. To avoid useless parameters to be purged, you can disable this option.

These parameters can be overwritten in LemonLDAP::NG ini file, in the section apply.

Tip

You only need a reload URL per physical servers, as Handlers share the same configuration cache on each physical server.

The reload target is managed in Apache or Nginx configuration, inside a virtual host protected by LemonLDAP::NG Handler (see below examples in Apache->handler or Nginx->Handler).

Attention

You must allow access to declared URLs to your Manager IP.

Attention

If reload URL is served in HTTPS, to avoid “Error 500 (certificate verify failed)”, Go to :

General Parameters > Advanced Parameters > Security > SSL options for server requests

and set :

verify_hostname => 0

SSL_verify_mode => 0

Attention

If you want to use reload mechanism on a portal only host, you must install a handler in Portal host to be able to refresh local cache. Include handler-nginx.conf or handler-apache2.conf for example

Practical use case: configure reload in a LL::NG cluster. In this case you will have two servers (with IP 1.1.1.1 and 1.1.1.2), but you can keep only one reload URL (reload.example.com):

/usr/share/lemonldap-ng/bin/lemonldap-ng-cli -yes 1 addKey \
reloadUrls '1.1.1.1' 'http://reload.example.com/reload' \
reloadUrls '1.1.1.2' 'http://reload.example.com/reload'

You also need to adjust the protection of the reload vhost, for example:

<Location /reload>
    Require ip 127 ::1 1.1.1.1 1.1.1.2
    SetHandler perl-script
    PerlResponseHandler Lemonldap::NG::Handler::ApacheMP2->reload
</Location>

Local file

LemonLDAP::NG configuration can be managed in a local file with INI format. This file is called lemonldap-ng.ini and has the following sections:

  • all: parameters for all modules

  • configuration: where configuration is stored

  • apply: reload URL for distant Hanlders

  • portal: parameters only for Portal

  • manager: parameters only for Manager

  • handler: parameters only for Handler

When you set a parameter in lemonldap-ng.ini, it will override the parameter from the global configuration.

For example, to override configured skin for portal:

[portal]
portalSkin = dark

Tip

You need to know the technical name of configuration parameter to do this. You can refer to parameter list to find it.