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Configuring a LDAP Data Connector

The LDAP connector allows you to pull attributes from data stores that can be access through a Java JNDI interface (which is most LDAP, version 3, compliant servers). This connector pools connections in order to enhance performance. See the advanced configuration section in order to disable this.

Data Connector Basics

All data connectors are configured in the IdP's resolver.xml configuration file.

Each connector is defined with an XML element that requires an id attribute. This attribute is used to reference the connector from other connectors and attribute definitions. To make future maintenance easier we encourage you to use an meaningful name for id attribute.

Configuring the Connector

  1. Create a JNDIDirectoryDataConnector with its id attribute.
  2. Create a Search element, as a child of JNDIDirectoryDataConnector, with an attribute, filter, whose value it the LDAP search filter to use. The macro %PRINCIPAL% may be used to insert the current principal's name into the search filter.
  3. Optionally, a Controls element with any of the following attributes:

    Attribute Name

    Attribute Value

    Usage

    searchScope

    OBJECT_SCOPE, ONELEVEL_SCOPE, SUBTREE_SCOPE

    Scope of the search; particular objeclasses, LDAP URL specified level only, or LDAP URL and its descendants, respectively

    returningAttributes

    comma seperated list of attribute names

    The attributes to be returned from a search. Limiting the number of attribute to only those you need can greatly increase performance

    timeLimit

    0 - 2^31^-1

    number of milliseconds to wait for a search to return, 0 indicates wait forever

    countLimit

    0 - 2^63^-1

    maximum number of results to return in a query

    returningObjects

    true or false

    whether to return only objectclass definitions

    linkDereferencing

    true or false

    whether to dereference LDAP links, not the same thing as LDAP referrals

    • Create Property elements, children of the JNIDDirectoryDataConnector element, with attributes name and value containing the following values as appropriate

      Name Attribute

      Value Attribute

      Usage

      java.naming.factory.initial

      com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory

      The factory used to produce LDAP connections

      java.naming.provider.url

      ldap://ldap.example.edu/dc=example,dc=edu (example)

      The URL of the LDAP server to connect too

      java.naming.referral

      ignore, follow, throw

      Whether to ignore, follow, or throw an exception when an LDAP referral is received

      java.naming.security.principal

      cn=admin,dc=example,dc=edu (example) I The DN of the user to bind to the directory

      java.naming.security.credentials

      examplepw

      The password for the user binding to the directory

      java.naming.security.protocol

      ssl

      To connect to the LDAP over SSL

      com.sun.jndi.ldap.connect.pool

      true or false

      Whether to pool connections or not. This option is specific to the Sun LDAP connection factory.

      com.sun.jndi.ldap.connect.pool.initsize

       

      Number of connections to create when the pool is created. This option is specific to the Sun LDAP connection factory.

      com.sun.jndi.ldap.connect.pool.prefsize

       

      Number of connections that should be kept around in the pool. This option is specific to the Sun LDAP connection factory.

      com.sun.jndi.ldap.connect.pool.authentication

      none simple

      The methods used to authentication users. This option is specific to the Sun LDAP connection factory.

      com.sun.jndi.ldap.connect.pool.protocol

      plain ssl

      The protocols available to communicate to the server. This option is specific to the Sun LDAP connection factory.

A more exhaustive list of these properties can be found on the Sun JNDI site.

Active Directory users

Active Directory has a number of deployment configurations that may prevent LDAP referrals from working properly. If you are using LDAP directories it is strongly suggested that you set the java.naming.referral property to ignore.

Example Configuration

This example demonstrates a basic configuration without pooling or SSL

<JNDIDirectoryDataConnector id="directory">
	 <Search filter="cn=%PRINCIPAL%">
		  <Controls searchScope="SUBTREE_SCOPE" returningObjects="false" />
	 </Search>
	 <Property name="java.naming.factory.initial" value="com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory" />
	 <Property name="java.naming.provider.url" value="ldap://ldap.example.edu/dc=example,dc=edu" />
	 <Property name="java.naming.security.principal" value="cn=admin,dc=example,dc=edu" />
	 <Property name="java.naming.security.credentials" value="examplepw" />
</JNDIDirectoryDataConnector>

This example demonstrates a configuration that uses LDAP over SSL to communicate with the directory. This assumes that the LDAP certificate has been imported the JVMs trust store.

<JNDIDirectoryDataConnector id="directorySecure">
	 <Search filter="cn=%PRINCIPAL%">
		  <Controls searchScope="SUBTREE_SCOPE" returningObjects="false" />
	 </Search>
	 <Property name="java.naming.factory.initial" value="com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory" />
	 <Property name="java.naming.provider.url" value="ldap://ldap.example.edu:636/dc=example,dc=edu" />
	 <Property name="java.naming.security.protocol" value="ssl" />
	 <Property name="java.naming.security.principal" value="cn=admin,dc=example,dc=edu" />
	 <Property name="java.naming.security.credentials" value="examplepw" />
</JNDIDirectoryDataConnector>

This example demonstrats a configuration that pools LDAP connections.

<JNDIDirectoryDataConnector id="directoryPooled">
	 <Search filter="cn=%PRINCIPAL%">
		  <Controls searchScope="SUBTREE_SCOPE" returningObjects="false" />
	 </Search>
	 <Property name="java.naming.factory.initial" value="com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory" />
	 <Property name="java.naming.provider.url" value="ldap://ldap.example.edu/dc=example,dc=edu" />
	 <Property name="com.sun.jndi.ldap.connect.pool" value="true" />
	 <Property name="com.sun.jndi.ldap.connect.pool.initsize" value="5" />
	 <Property name="com.sun.jndi.ldap.connect.pool.prefsize" value="5" />
	 <Property name="com.sun.jndi.ldap.connect.pool.authentication" value="none simple DIGEST-MD5" />
	 <Property name="com.sun.jndi.ldap.connect.pool.protocol" value="plain ssl" />
</JNDIDirectoryDataConnector>

Data Connector Dependencies

In order to use attributes from other connectors or attribute definitions you need to make sure those dependencies are resolved before this connector is called.

If your connector depends on another connector create a child element, of main connector element, called DataConnectorDependency and give it an attribute of requires whose value is the id of the connector this connector depends on.

If your connector depends on an attribute definition create a child element, of the main connector element, called AttributeDependency and give it an attribute of requires whose value is the id of the definition this connector depends on.

Failover Dependency

A connector can specify a special type of dependency, called a failover dependency. If the data connector is unable to fetch any attributes the connector specified in the failover dependency will be invoked.

To specifiy a failover dependency create a child element, of main connector element, called FailoverDependency and give it an attribute of requires whose value is the id of the connector this connector depends on.

Error Propagation

Not every data connector may, or need, work for every user in the system. However, the connector may emmit an error if it is unable to find any entries for the user or if it depends on another connector or attribute definition that didn't apply to the current user.

To suppress these errors, so that they don't stop the attribute lookup process, add the follow attribute and value to the main connector element:

  • propagateErrors - with a value of false

Data Caching

Data connectors cache its information for the length of one attribute request; until all connectors and attribute definitions have been evaluated and their information retrieved. You may optionally have the connectors cache their data for a fixed period of time. This can increase performance but will result in a lead time for frequently changing data.

To enable this longer-lived cache add the following attribute to the main connector element:

  • cacheTime - the length of time, in seconds, to cache the attributes fetched by this connector
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