389 Directory Server Howto for RHEL/CentOS 5

389 Directory Server, formerly called the Fedora Directory Server, is an enterprise-class open source LDAP server for Linux. 389 Directory Server is very mature and very powerful, below are some of its features.

• Has graphical tools to manage users, groups, and server configurations
• Supports Active Directory synchronization
• Supports multi-master replication
• Supports secure authentication and communication
• Supports LDAP version 3
• LDAP based update of schema, configurations, and access control information

This article describes how to install and use the 389 Directory Server.

How to install Linux

You can use either Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 or CentOS 5. RHEL 5 can be purchased from Red Hat and comes with support. CentOS 5 on the other hand can be downloaded here.

1. How to install CentOS 5.

2. How to setup CentOS 5.

To simplify our administration tasks, log in as the user root and specify your root password. This is not the recommended way of administering a Linux box, but for the tasks at hand it is the most efficient way.

3. How to configure host name lookup.

How to install and configure the 389 Directory Server

This section is about installing 389 Directory Server and using its graphical management tool.

1. How to setup the 389 Directory Server.

2. How to use the 389 Management Console.

3. How to configure 389 Directory Server plug-ins.

Synchronizing with Active Directory

This section describes how to synchronize with Active Directory. With this feature, you can reduce your Windows Server license requirements for your LDAP applications.

1. How to synchronize with Active Directory.

2. How to synchronize via SSL with Active Directory. This is needed to replicate password changes in 389 DS to Active Directory.

3. How to replicate Active Directory password changes to 389 Directory Server.

Active Directory synchronization is not yet perfect. Here are some issues you need to be aware of when synchronizing with 389 Directory Server with Active Directory.

Centralizing Information

The 389 Directory Server can be used to centralize your users, groups, hosts, services, etc.

How to use LDAP as a centralized users and authentication system

How to use LDAP as a Network Information System (NIS) replacement

How to install and configure the 389 Directory Server

This section is about installing 389 Directory Server and using its graphical management tool.

1. How to setup the 389 Directory Server.

2. How to use the 389 Management Console.

3. How to configure 389 Directory Server plug-ins.

Synchronizing with Active Directory

This section describes how to synchronize with Active Directory. With this feature, you can reduce your Windows Server license requirements for your LDAP applications.

1. How to synchronize with Active Directory.

2. How to synchronize via SSL with Active Directory. This is needed to replicate password changes in 389 DS to Active Directory.

3. How to replicate Active Directory password changes to 389 Directory Server.

Active Directory synchronization is not yet perfect. Here are some issues you need to be aware of when synchronizing with 389 Directory Server with Active Directory.

Centralizing Information

The 389 Directory Server can be used to centralize your users, groups, hosts, services, etc.

How to use LDAP as a centralized users and authentication system

How to use LDAP as a Network Information System (NIS) replacement