Are you looking for steps to install OpenLDAP on Ubuntu? We can help you with it.

OpenLDAP is an open-source implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol(LDAP) which is very flexible, and, of course, is free.

It is useful in managing OpenVPN infrastructure, Kubernetes and Docker implementations, backend Jenkins, and thousands of other applications. Also, it is used by organizations that want to connect users to more technical IT resources, such as Linux-based applications, servers, and storage.

Here at Bobcares, we have seen several such OpenLDAP related queries as part of our Server Management Services for web hosts and online service providers.

Today we’ll take a look at how to install OpenLDAP on Ubuntu.

How to install and configure LDAP on Ubuntu

Now let’s take a look at how our Support Engineers install OpenLDAP.

Before we begin the installation process, we must install the necessary software. Luckily, the packages are all available in Ubuntu’s default repositories.

First, we run the below command in the terminal window to take care of the update/upgrade.

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get upgrade

Once that finishes, we’re now ready to install OpenLDAP. For that, we run the below command.

$ sudo apt-get install slapd ldap-utils

During the installation, we need to select and confirm an administrator password for LDAP.

After the installation completes, we modify the default Directory Information Tree (DIT) suffix. We’ll change our DIT to dc=bobcares, dc=com. For that, we run the below command.

$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure slapd

For the first question, we answer No(omitting an initial configuration). Next, need to configure the DNS domain name, Organization name, and then enter/verify the admin password we created during the installation.

After doing that, we select MDB as the database backend and then select No for removing the database when slapd purges.

Finally, we select Yes to move the old database, and No to Allow LDAPv2 protocol.

That’s it. This completes the installation and configuration.

Populating the LDAP database

Now let’s add initial data to the LDAP database. We’ll do this from a file and create a single entry. For that, we run the below command.

$ nano ldap_data.ldif

In this new file, we add the below contents.

dn: ou=People,dc=bobcares,dc=com
objectClass: organizationalUnit
ou: People

dn: ou=Groups,dc=bobcares,dc=com
objectClass: organizationalUnit
ou: Groups

dn: cn=DEPARTMENT,ou=Groups,dc=bobcares,dc=com
objectClass: posixGroup
cn: SUBGROUP
gidNumber: 5000

dn: uid=USER,ou=People,dc=bobcares,dc=com
objectClass: inetOrgPerson
objectClass: posixAccount
objectClass: shadowAccount
uid: USER
sn: LASTNAME
givenName: FIRSTNAME
cn: FULLNAME
displayName: DISPLAYNAME
uidNumber: 10000
gidNumber: 5000
userPassword: USER
gecos: FULLNAME
loginShell: /bin/bash
homeDirectory: USERDIRECTORY

We save and close this file. We add the content of the file to LDAP by running the below command.

$ ldapadd -x -D cn=admin,dc=bobcares,dc=com -W -f ldap_data.ldif

After successfully authenticating with the LDAP admin password, the data will be added. We then search the database with the command:

$ ldapsearch -x -LLL -b dc=bobcares,dc=com 'uid=USER' cn gidNumber

Where USER is the name of the user we added. As a result, of the above command, we must see a list of users.

Finally, now we have our first entry in the LDAP database.

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Conclusion

Today, we saw how our Support Engineers install OpenLDAP on Ubuntu