The major security issues to consider are authentication, encryption, and use of the Remote Loader. If you have Windows 2003 or Windows 2000 SP3 or later, consider a security option called signing. See “Use Signing” in Security Parameters.
A simple prescription for managing security is not possible because the security profile available from Windows varies with service pack, DNS server infrastructure, domain policy, and local policy settings on the server. The following sections explain your security choices and provide suggested configurations. When implementing your driver and when upgrading components, pay close attention to security.
Authentication identifies the driver shim to Active Directory and, potentially, the local machine. To authenticate to Active Directory, you can use either the Negotiate method or the Simple (simple bind) method.
Table 2-1 Authentication Methods
SSL encrypts data. Depending on your configuration, SSL can be used in two places:
Password synchronization occurs between Active Directory and the Identity Vault (eDirectory). You need to make sure that you use SSL with any communication that goes across the network.
If the Metadirectory engine, Identity Vault, the Active Directory driver, and Active Directory are on the same machine, you don’t need SSL. Communication isn’t going across the network.
However, if you are accessing Active Directory remotely by using an Active Directory driver shim on a member server, you need to set up SSL between the Active Directory driver shim and Active Directory. You do this by setting the SSL parameter to Yes on the driver configuration. See Step 5, in Section 2.3.3, SSL Connection Between the Remote Loader and Identity Manager.
If you are using the Remote Loader on the Domain Controller,
you can set up SSL between the Metadirectory engine and the Remote
Loader. For additional information on SSL and Remote Loaders, see Setting
Up a Connected System
in the Novell
Identity Manager 3.0.1 Administration Guide.
The following table outlines where SSL connections can be used for each of the scenarios discussed in Section 2.2, Planning Your Installation:
Table 2-2 SSL Connects
To make SSL connections to an Active Directory domain controller, you must be set up to use SSL. This involves setting up a certificate authority, then creating, exporting, and importing the necessary certificates.
Most organizations already have a certificate authority. In this case, you need to export a valid certificate, then import it to the certificate store on your domain controller. The server hosting the driver shim must trust the root certificate authority that the issuing certificate authority of this certificate chains to.
If you do not have a certificate authority in your organization, you must establish one. Novell, Microsoft, and several other third parties provide the tools necessary to do this. Establishing a certificate authority is beyond the scope of this guide. For more information, see
After you have a certificate authority, for LDAP SSL to operate successfully, the LDAP server must have the appropriate server authentication certificate installed. Also, the server hosting the driver shim must trust the authority that issued those certificates. Both the server and the client must support 128-bit encryption.
Generate a certificate that meets the following Active Directory LDAP service requirements:
The private key must not have strong private-key protection enabled.
Trust is established by configuring the clients and the server to trust the root CA that the issuing CA chains to.
This certificate permits the LDAP service on the domain controller to listen for and automatically accept SSL connections for both LDAP and global catalog traffic.
NOTE:This information appears in the Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 321051, How to Enable LDAP over SSL with a Third-Party Certificate Authority. Consult this document for the latest requirements and additional information.
Export this certificate in one of the following standard certificate file formats supported by Windows 2000:
Install this certificate on the domain controller.
The following links contain instructions for each supported platform:
Follow the instructions listed under Import the Certificate into the Local Computer Store.
Ensure that a trust relationship is established between the server hosting the driver shim and the root certificate authority that issued the certificate.
The server hosting the driver shim must trust the root certificate authority that the issuing certificate authority chains to.
For more information on establishing a trust for certificates, see the Policies to establish trust of root certification authorities topic in Windows 2000 Server Help.
In iManager, edit the driver properties and change the
option to yes.Restart the driver.
When the driver restarts, an SSL connection is negotiated between the domain controller and the server running the Active Directory driver shim.
To verify the certificate, authenticate to AD via SSL. Use the ldifde command line utility found on Windows servers. To use the ldifde command:
Open a command line prompt
Enter ldifde -f output/input file -t 636 -b administrator domain password -s computerFullName
Here is an example of what you would enter if your server is configured for port 636.
ldife -f out.txt -t 636 -b administrator dxad.novell.com novell -s parent1.dxad3.lab.novell
The output is sent to the out.txt file. If you open the file and see the objects in Active Directory listed, you made a successful SSL connection to Active Directory and the certificate is valid.
If you are using the Remote Loader, you need to set up SSL between the Metadirectory engine and the Remote Loader, and configure the settings between the driver and Active Directory.
For information on establishing an SSL connection between
the Remote Loader and Identity Manager, see Setting
Up Remote Loaders
in the Novell
Identity Manager 3.0.1 Administration Guide.