How to Synchronize Axigen to LDAP

Starting with Axigen 7.0, administrators have the option to synchronize the Axigen server domain information with a LDAP database. The supported options are:

2-Way synchronization

Axigen to LDAP synchronization

LDAP to Axigen synchronization

The synchronization will occur for:

• Account/Group creation/deletion
• Account configuration
• Group membership
  

The requirements for this integration are:

- Axigen 7.0 version or later
- OpenLDAP 2.4.x version or later
-  the following overlays must be active in the OpenLDAP installation:
       * syncprov
       * memberof
    These overlays should be present in the standard OpenLDAP distribution
    modules path as files suffixed with ".la".

WARNING: Please back up the existing LDAP installation before implementing the Axigen <-> LDAP synchronization. This step is very important because the Axigen to LDAP synchronization can lead to modifications of your LDAP database and as such you could find the respective database will not be usable in other integrations you might have previously configured.

OpenLDAP configuration

After meeting the above requirements you must download the Axigen OpenLDAP Schema from the corresponding download section on our website:

https://www.axigen.com/mail-server/download-axigen-openldap-schema.html

The above archive contains a schema file named axigen.schema. Place this file in the standard schema location for your LDAP server, usually /etc/openldap/schema/ or /etc/ldap/schema/.

Now you must make the following modifications to the OpenLDAP server configuration file slapd.conf.

1) The axigen.schema file must be included along with the other required
  schemas. To accomplish this add the following line to the required configuration file section.
Example:

        include                 /etc/openldap/schema/axigen.schema

2) Each OpenLDAP server used must be configured with a unique identifier, by using the 'serverID' directive.
Example:

        serverID 1

3) The "modulepath" attribute, if not specified, must point to the directory
  where all modules reside:
Example:

        modulepath              /usr/lib/openldap

4) Then, the required modules must be specified to be loaded at startup:
Example:

        moduleload    syncprov.la
        moduleload    memberof.la

5) The two modules specified above must be configured within your LDAP database specification section as per the following sample:
Example:

        # Replication support enabled (for cookies)
        overlay                 syncprov
        syncprov-checkpoint     100 30
        syncprov-sessionlog     100
        # Member-of support enabled
        overlay                 memberof
        memberof-refint         true

6) As definition for indexing attributes, you should consider adding entries for attributes such as entryCSN
Example:

        # Indexing options for database
        index           entryUUID,entryCSN                eq

7) For our example we will consider the following rootdn/rootpw definitions
Example:

rootdn          "cn=admin,dc=example,dc=test"
rootpw          pa$$w0rd

8) Restart the ldap service.

An example of the minimum requirements for the spald.conf is:

slapd.conf
=======
include         /etc/openldap/schema/core.schema
include         /etc/openldap/schema/cosine.schema
include         /etc/openldap/schema/inetorgperson.schema
include         /etc/openldap/schema/misc.schema
include         /etc/openldap/schema/axigen.schema
pidfile         /var/run/openldap/slapd.pid
argsfile        /var/run/openldap/slapd.args
serverID 1
database        bdb
suffix          "dc=example,dc=test"
rootdn          "cn=admin,dc=example,dc=test"
rootpw          pa$w0rd
directory       /var/lib/openldap-data
index   objectClass     eq
index ou,cn,mail,surname,givenname      eq,pres,sub
index entryUUID,entryCSN                eq
moduleload    memberof.la
moduleload    syncprov.la
overlay                syncprov
syncprov-checkpoint    100 30
syncprov-sessionlog    100
overlay                memberof
memberof-refint        true

After making the above configuration changes to your LDAP server, you should populate the directory with information on the different organizations, organizationalUnits and remainder of objects that need to exist here.

Below you can find an example LDIF for an imaginary organization and two branches (Users/Groups) used for the synchronization with the internal Axigen database.

# example.test
dn: dc=example,dc=test
objectClass: dcObject
objectClass: organization
dc: example
o: test

# Users, example.test
dn: ou=Users,dc=example,dc=test
objectClass: organizationalUnit
ou: Users

# Groups, example.test
dn: ou=Groups,dc=example,dc=test
objectClass: organizationalUnit
ou: Groups

Place the above entries in a .ldif file, modifying the domain name example.test to match your own, and then you can use the following command to add it to the LDAP database:

ldapadd -D "cn=admin,dc=example,dc=test" -W -x -f filename.ldif

You will be asked for the password you set up in the /etc/openldap/slapd.conf

An output similar to this will be returned:

adding new entry "dc=example,dc=test"

adding new entry "ou=Users,dc=example,dc=test"

adding new entry "ou=Groups,dc=example,dc=test"

To check that the above entries were added use:

ldapsearch -b "dc=example,dc=test" -D "cn=admin,dc=example,dc=test" -W -x



Axigen Mail Server configuration

1) Create a new LDAP Connector.

   - Go to Webadmin -> Clustering -> Clustering Setup -> LDAP Connectors tab -> Connector List section -> press the "Add Connector" button.

The connector options should be entered based on the settings of your LDAP server. Enter a name for the connector in the "LDAP Connector name" field.

In the "LDAP Server Parameters" enter:

- the IP/Hostname and Port on wich the LDAP server is listening.
- from the "Server type" drop-down box make sure you select
  "OpenLDAP"
- in this section you can also set the "Timeout", "Polling interval" and "Transient error retry interval" parameters, that relate to the timing details for the Axigen -> LDAP communication.
- select the required synchronization method from the drop-down box related to the "Synchronization direction" entry. For the configuration presented in this article choose "Axigen to LDAP".

For the "LDAP Search Parameters" use:

- choose the "Use Administrative DN" - This option instructs Axigen to authenticate, using the defined user, to the LDAP server before requesting information. This user is the admin user defined in the LDAP rootdn configuration.
- enter the proper "Admin DN" and "Admin DN Password". In our case these are:

Admin DN:

cn=admin,dc=example,dc=test

Admin DN Passord:

pa$w0rd

- in the "Account base DN" field enter:

ou=Users,dc=example,dc=test

- check the box related to the "Enable Group Synchronization" option and enter for the "Group base DN" field:

ou=Groups,dc=example,dc=test

- click the "Quick Add" button at the bottom of the wizard page.

Below you can find a screenshot detailing the required configuration parameters:




2) Enable LDAP synchronization for the required domain via Webadmin -> Domains & Accounts -> Manage Domains -> click the "Edit" button corresponding to the desired domain -> General tab -> LDAP Synchronization section -> check the box related to the "Enable LDAP synchronization" option and choose from the below drop-down box the LDAP connector you have specifically set-up and click the "Save Configuration" button at the bottom of the page.





To test the above configured Axigen to LDAP synchronization create a new account in your domain via Webadmin. After this check to see if it was automatically added in the LDAP database.

NOTE: In our case of Axigen to LDAP synchronization, accounts that already exist in the respective domain, before making the above Axigen configurations, will be added and synced with the LDAP database, when their parameters are first modified.