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LDAP Authentication with Django -Part 1

LDAP Authentication with Django -Part 1

Peter Rusznak's photo
Peter Rusznak
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4 min read

The sole purpose of this blog post is to consolidate my hard-earned knowledge about LDAP- and Django configuration.

I have been struggling recently because I have to to configure LDAP with Django. Let this post solidify what I have learned so far during this process.

My goal is to log in to django with and without having a 'django' password. If I have a django password, the login is a no brainer. But if I don't have 'django' password I obviously need an LDAP password to login. How to do that? That's today's topic.

Installing LDAP server and phpLDAPadmin

First thing first:

sudo apt-get update

and then:

sudo apt-get install slapd ldap-utils

During the installation, I believe it'll ask for a root password:

enter_the_root_pw_adn_confirm_it.PNG

Provide one, confirm it. Once the procedure is done we edit /etc/ldap/ldap.conf. Remove everything what's there, and replace it with the snippet below. The only thing that should change is the URI.

#
# LDAP Defaults
#

# See ldap.conf(5) for details
# This file should be world readable but not world writable.

BASE    dc=example,dc=com
URI    ldap://localhost:389

#SIZELIMIT    12
#TIMELIMIT    15
#DEREF        never

# TLS certificates (needed for GnuTLS)
TLS_CACERT    /etc/ssl/certs/ca-certificates.crt

Now it's time to reconfigure:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure slapd

"Omit OpenLDAP Server Configuration?" The answer should be a clear "No":

click_no.PNG

Make it 'example' if it is not already there: write_example.PNG

Pick an Organization name:

cchoose_ORG_name.PNG

Then it will ask for the root password we created during installion. Type it, confirm it and here comes the next question:

"Do you want the database to be removed"? Again, no:

do_you_want_theDB_removed_when_slapd_purged.PNG

Move old database? YES:

Move_OLD_DB_yes.PNG

The proof that everything went well is in ldapsearch -x

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

# example.com
dn: dc=example,dc=com
objectClass: top
objectClass: dcObject
objectClass: organization
o: ORI
dc: example

# admin, example.com
dn: cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com
objectClass: simpleSecurityObject
objectClass: organizationalRole
cn: admin
description: LDAP administrator

# search result
search: 2
result: 0 Success

# numResponses: 3
# numEntries: 2

Now, it's time to install phpLDAPadmin

sudo apt-get install phpldapadmin

and then let's change the configuration:

sudo gedit /etc/phpldapadmin/config.php

Find the line that sets the host, and assign the url to it. In my case I pick localhost:

$servers->setValue('server','host','127.0.0.1');

Find the line with 'base' and adjust the value to 'example'

$servers->setValue('server','base',array('dc=example,dc=com'));

The same goes for 'bind_id':

$servers->setValue('login','bind_id','cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com');

Finally, uncomment and set 'true' the line below:

$config->custom->appearance['hide_template_warning'] = true;

If everything properly configured, just visit http://127.0.0.1/phpldapadmin/ to see something like this: LDAP_ServerGUI.PNG

Installing Django

First thing, let's create and activate a virtual environment:

python3 -m venv .env

source  .env/bin/activate

Then install django:

pip install django

and also django-auth-ldap:

pip install django-auth-ldap

Chances are, that this installation fails on ubuntu, due to a missing wheel. To remedy this problem, just run the following:

sudo apt-get install build-essential python3-dev python2.7-dev     libldap2-dev libsasl2-dev slapd ldap-utils tox     lcov valgrind

I don't understand this magic formula, I just took it from the docs, and it seems to be working, that's enough for me:-)

If the installation is successful, time to create a project:

django-admin startproject ldap_example

Now extend settings.py with the following. , 'Attention, 'YourLDAPPassword' is to be replaced with the ldap password you configured earlier.

import ldap
from django_auth_ldap.config import LDAPSearch, LDAPGroupQuery,GroupOfNamesType,PosixGroupType

AUTH_LDAP_SERVER_URI = 'ldap://localhost'
AUTH_LDAP_BIND_DN = 'cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com'
AUTH_LDAP_BIND_PASSWORD = 'YourLDAPPassword'
AUTH_LDAP_USER_SEARCH = LDAPSearch('dc=example,dc=com',ldap.SCOPE_SUBTREE, '(uid=%(user)s)')
AUTH_LDAP_GROUP_SEARCH = LDAPSearch('dc=example,dc=com',ldap.SCOPE_SUBTREE, '(objectClass=top)')
AUTH_LDAP_GROUP_TYPE = PosixGroupType(name_attr="cn")
AUTH_LDAP_MIRROR_GROUPS = True

    # Populate the Django user from the LDAP directory.
AUTH_LDAP_REQUIRE_GROUP = "cn=enabled,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=com"

AUTH_LDAP_USER_ATTR_MAP = {
        "first_name": "givenName",
        "last_name": "sn",
        "email": "mail",
        "username": "uid",
        "password": "userPassword",
}
AUTH_LDAP_PROFILE_ATTR_MAP = {
        "home_directory": "homeDirectory"
}
AUTH_LDAP_USER_FLAGS_BY_GROUP = {
        "is_active": "cn=active,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=com",
        "is_staff": "cn=staff,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=com",
        "is_superuser": "cn=superuser,ou=groups,dc=example,dc=com"
}

AUTH_LDAP_ALWAYS_UPDATE_USER = True
AUTH_LDAP_FIND_GROUP_PERMS = True
AUTH_LDAP_CACHE_TIMEOUT = 3600

AUTH_LDAP_FIND_GROUP_PERMS = True

    # Keep ModelBackend around for per-user permissions and maybe a local
    # superuser.
AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = (
        'django_auth_ldap.backend.LDAPBackend',
        'django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend',
)

Now if you migrate the database:

python3  manage.py migrate

and start django-server:

python3  manage.py runserver

then django should be running on http://localhost:8000/admin/ But we have no users to log in. Let's create one.

Creating LDAP user

Let's start with creating Organizational Units. Log in to 127.0.0.1/phpldapadmin and click 'Create new entry' and pick 'Generic:Organizational Unit'. Name it 'groups'.

Create_org_unit_groups.PNG

and another one called 'users'. Make sure, 'groups' and 'users' are on the same level.

Create_org_unit_users.PNG

Under 'groups' create another one, call it 'active':

under_groups_create_active.PNG

Under 'users' create 'Generic: User Account'. create_user_under_users.PNG

Make sure you select 'active' under GID Number.

Click again on the created user, and add two Objectclasses , 'person' and 'organizationalPerson' add_two_object_classes.PNG

On the same level as 'active' add three more ''Generic:Posix Groups' and call them 'enabled', 'staff' and 'superuser'. enabled_staff-superuser_added.PNG

Don't forget to add the recently created user to each and every of them.

If Django is still running, you should be able to log in with UserID and password: login_jdoe.PNG

Success! Congratulations!

inside_finally.PNG

fin.png

Based on the fabulous work of: youtube.com/watch?v=k0b1-foc28Y&t=922s and youtube.com/watch?v=jXOeOusdG60&t=502s

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