This sample shows how you can use a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server to configure and control access to resources on your Geronimo server.
There are two routes to running this sample. You can either use the Apache Geronimo plugin (version 1.0) for the Apache Directory Service 1.5.1 or you can use an external LDAP server.
One way to install the Apache Geronimo-Apache Directory Server Plugin is by navigating in the Geronimo Administration Console to Applications -> Plugins. Once in the view, updating the repository list (which should add a repository for your installed Geronimo version if not already included), selecting the referenced repository, and then select Show Plugins in selected repository to display the list of all possible plugins in this directory. Locate the Apache Geronimo-Apache Directory Server Plugin and then install it. Source for this plugin can be found at Geromino Directory Plugin Source.
NOTE: The Apache Geronimo-Apache Directory plugin can not be installed in Geronimo 2.1.2. If you are using Geronimo 2.1.2 with this sample you must use an external LDAP server. However, the Apache Geronimo-Apache Directory plugin can be installed in Geronimo 2.1.3 and this sample works equally well with the Geronimo 2.1.3.
Geronimo uses the Apache Directory Server for its directory service, this is part of the Apache Directory Project. Geronimo implements the following two projects from the ApacheDS project.
- ApacheDS Core
Server's core contains all backend subsystems. It depends on protocol and uses it with seda to service Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) requests. The core contains the JNDI provider, interceptor framework, interceptor services, the schema subsystem and the database subsystem. Hence the core is the heart of the server.
- ApacheDS Shared
Created to eliminate cyclic project dependencies between the core and the maven plug-in. Any code shared across modules in general can go here so long as it does not depend on other modules.
More information about these two projects can be found at the ApacheDS project URL:
http://directory.apache.org/subprojects/apacheds/projects/index.html
At this point in time, the Geronimo plugin only provides LDAP viewing capabilities, editing is not there yet but adding this feature is in plan for the next releases of Geronimo. You will have to use an external LDAP client such as ldapbrowser/editor, jxplorer or gq for editing the configurations of the Directory Server in Geronimo.
The other alternative is to use Geronimo with an external LDAP server. For example, you may download Apache Directory Service binary, start the ldap server and load it up with the ldap-sample.ldif givenand follow the rest of the sample instructions.
This article is organized in the following sections:
Starting the LDAP server
If you installed the Apache Geronimo-Apache Directory Plugin it should have been started as part of the installation. You can verify that it is started from command line using the deployer tool or via the Geronimo Administration Console.
Using the Administration Console click on System Modules on the navigation menu from the left and look for the component name org.apache.geronimo.plugins/directory in the Installed System Modules portlet. You will see the current status and available commands for this particular component.
Alternatively, if you are using an external LDAP server, start that server in the normal manner and follow the remaining instructions here.
Source Code for Sample
Please reference Samples General Information for information on obtaining and building the source for this and other samples.
At this point you can choose to install an LDAP client and import/export an .ldif
file to a directory server. However, this is not required. Directions are provided if you choose to not install an LDAP client.
Add LDAP entries
Ensure that Geronimo is up and running and the Directory service is started.
To add entries manually
When you installed the Apache Geronimo-Apache Directory plugin you may have noticed a message on the console similar to the following:
This is because the directory server does not yet have any content. You can manually add the content necessary for the sample by including the ldap-sample.ldif from the sample source in the location specified in the message (<geronimo-home>/var/ldif/) and restarting the Geronimo server or optionally just the directory configuration in the server.
To add entries using an LDAP client
Start your LDAP client and create a new connection profile with the following values:
Host: |
<localhost> |
Port: |
10389 |
Base DN: |
ou=system |
User DN: |
uid=admin,ou=system |
Password: |
secret |
Once you connect to the Geronimo Directory server you will see the initial configuration, this configuration can be exported as a backup in a ldif file. Depending the LDAP client you are using the export/import steps will be different. For example, to export the initial configuration using the ldapsearch tool execute the following command:
ldapsearch -h localhost -p 10389 -b "ou=system" -D "uid=admin,ou=system" -w secret -x "(objectclass=*)"
When you export the initial configuration you get an ldif file with a content similar as the one shown in the following example.
Now you need to import the entries needed to run the sample application. Packaged with the sample application is a sample .ldif
file with all the entries necessary to run the LDAP sample application, this file is located in <ldap_home>/ldap-sample.ldif. To import the data with ldapmodify tool execute the following command:
ldapmodify -h localhost -p 10389 -D "uid=admin,ou=system" -w secret -x -a -f <ldap_home>/ldap-sample.ldif
The following example shows the content of the ldap-sample.ldif
file.
Once the file is imported you should get a confirmation that five entries were successfully imported.
Deploy the LDAP realm
One way to install the LDAP realm for the sample is by installing a Geronimo plugin created for this purpose. You can do this by navigating in the Geronimo Administration Console to Applications -> Plugins. Once in the view, updating the repository list (which should add http://geronimo.apache.org/plugins/geronimo-2.1/ if not already included), selecting the referenced repository, and then select Show Plugins in selected repository to display the list of all possible plugins in this directory. Locate the Geronimo Samples :: ldap-sample-app :: security realm and then install it. However, this process hides many of the details of creating and installing the realm. For those details refer to the next section.
LDAP realm deployment details
The LDAP sample application provides a security realm that needs to be deployed before the deployment of the application itself. This realm is located in <ldap_home>/ldap-realm.xml and the content is illustrated in the following example.
This deployment plan tell Geronimo all the connection and search parameters against the LDAP database. This plan also specifies to record each login attempt into the login-attempts.log
log file.
To deploy the ldap-realm.xml run the following command from the <geronimo_home>/bin directory:
java -jar deployer.jar --user system --password manager deploy <ldap_home>/ldap-realm.xml
Once deployed you should see a confirmation message similar to the following example:
Back to Top
For further details refer to the LDAP Realm section.
Creating and Installing the LDAP Sample Application
One way to install the LDAP sample application is by installing a Geronimo plugin created for this purpose. You can do this by navigating in the Geronimo Administration Console to Applications -> Plugins. Once in the view, updating the repository list (which should add http://geronimo.apache.org/plugins/geronimo-2.1.2/ if not already included), selecting the referenced repository, and then select Show Plugins in selected repository to display the list of all possible plugins in this directory. Locate the Geronimo Configs :: LDAP Sample for Tomcat or Geronimo Configs :: LDAP Sample for Jetty (depending upon you Geronimo service choice) and then install it. However, this process hides many of the details of creating and installing the sample. For those details refer to the next section.
Deployment plans
There is a common deployment plan that is used for the sample. The unprocessed version of this plan is at ldap-sample-app/ldap-sample-app-jetty/src/main/plan/plan.xml. The processed version shown here with plugin name and all dependencies filled in can be found at ldap-sample-app/ldap-sample-app-jetty/target/resources/META-INF/plan.xml after building the project.
Most of the deployment plan is straight forward. However, the security configuration is tricky. The <security-realm-name> is described in the <security> element through a sequence of declarations in each <realm> element.
While the web.xml specifies the security roles, the plan.xml maps to which specific users or groups in the Geronimo security realms they belong to. If there is a user that is not logged in, it defaults to what is defined in the <default-principal> element.
There are two roles that are issued in this project: content-administrator and guest. And they each hold two principals: a GeronimoGroupPrincipal and a GeronimoUserPrincipal. Since the 'designated-run-as' flag is turned on for some principals, they will be the ones used if the deployable has a run-as role set in the web.xml.
Note that these role mappings will be overridden by the actual roles (what users pertaining to what groups) defined in the LDAP server. Ultimately it is the realm defined in the application deployment plan who determines the validation method. Nevertheless, for this particular example, you still need to define principals and role mappings as determined in the XML schemas
The web.xml deployment descriptor shown in the following example (also located in the <ldap_home>/WEB-INF diretory) adds security constraints based on the location of the files.
Package the sample application
You can build the war alone from within the ldap-sample-app-war directory and issuing the following command:
mvn clean install
This command will package all the existing files and directories inside <ldap_home>. Although not needed inside the .war file, the ldap-realm.xml and ldap-sample.ldif files will also be included.
Deploy the sample application
It's easiest to deploy the appropriate Geronimo plugin for your specific server image (either tomcat or jetty). This will deploy the sample application with the Geronimo deployment plan specified earier. However, you can optionally choose to deploy the war with the appropriate deployment plan. To deploy the LDAP sample application in this fashion, make sure the Geronimo server is up and running. Open a command line window, change directory to <geronimo_home>/bin and run the following command:
java -jar deployer.jar --user system --password manager deploy <ldap_home>/ldap-demo.war <deployment_plan_home>/plan.xml
Testing the sample application
Once the Web application is successfully deployed you should see a confirmation message similar as the one shown in the following example:
To test the LDAP application open a Web browser and access the following URL:
http://localhost:8080/LDAP_Sample
The following figure shows the welcome page for the LDAP sample application.
Click on Protect to validate against the LDAP Directory Server.
Enter system as the username and manager as the password and click Login. The username and password you provide here is the same you use to access the Geronimo Web console and it is stored in the Directory Server database. Once you are logged in you should see the following screen.
At this point you have an application that is validating username and passwords against an LDAP Directory Server database based on the security configuration you provided earlier in the LDAP realm. Now, if you go back to the welcome page and click on Forbidden you should receive a 403 - Forbidden HTTP error similar to the one shown in the following figure.
Depending on the web container you are using (that is Jetty or Tomcat) the presentation of that screen may be slightly different.
To further test this example you could now try the different users provided in the ldap-sample.ldif
, use your LDAP client and add/remove users from the different groups. You will notice the changes immediatly (you may need to close your web browser).