LDAP User Access

The is an authentication mechanism which authenticates users against an openLDAP server

This user access mechansim is implemented by the I2CE_UserAccess_LDAP class.

Configuration

To use the default user authentication, you need to enable the module and set an initialization string.

Enabling the Module

To enable, just make sure you have: <source lang='xml'>

<requirement name='UserAccess_LDAP'>
  <atLeast version='4.0'/>
  <lessThan version='4.1'/>
</requirement>

</source>

Initialization String

The initialization string is sent to I2CE::initialize() in the index.php as the fourth argument, $user_access_init. This string must be prefixed with the 'LDAP://. What follows take any of the following formats:

• null: The is the default value and means that we use the default DN (distinguished name) for querying and authenticating users
• a JSON encoded string: The data to is a JSON enocode string of optional configuration value for the user access. The JSON encoded data has the following keys:
  • dn: The DN used to query users against.
  • application: The application name used to check for user roles in. If not set, it will use the site module's name
  • People: The qualifier to query people against. Defaults to 'ou=People'.
  • Roles: The qualifier to query user roles against. Defaults to 'ou=Application'.

For example:

LDAP://{'dn':'dc=moh,dc=example,dc=gov'}

would be a minimal initialization string needed to authenticate against.

LDAP Directory Structure

Example Entries

A user could be represented as:

   dn: uid=litlfred, ou=People, dc=moh,dc=example,dc=gov
   sn: Leitner
   givenName: Carl
   cn: Carl Leitner
   userPassword: blahblah
   email: cleitner@intrahealth.org
   locale: en_US

User roles be unique on the pair (username, software-component) and there may be software component specific information to share,

   dn: uid=litlfred, app=ihris-manage, ou=Application, dc=moh,dc=example,dc=gov
   role: hr_staff
   id: 25
   
   dn: uid=litlfred, app=ihris-qualify, ou=Application, dc=moh,dc=example,dc=gov
   role: admin
   id: 25
 
   dn: uid=litlfred, app=dhis2, ou=Application, dc=moh,dc=example,dc=gov
   role: guest
   id: 42
   phone: 919-555-1212

Passwords

We will use SSHA, salted SHA. For a php implementation see this

openLDAP Server Configuration

This describes how to set up openLDAP for use with openMRS, DHIS and iHRIS on an ubuntu machine. First, see this tutorial.