Learn how to – Install and Configure FreeIPA Server on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04|16.04.
Welcome to our guide on how to install FreeIPA Server on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04|16.04 Linux system. FreeIPA is a free and open source identity management system for centrally managing users and computers in your network. In this article, we’ll cover both the installation and configuration of FreeIPA Server on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04|16.04 Linux.
There are few pre-requisites to the installation of FreeIPA Server on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04|16.04 Linux server.
Setup Pre-requisites
Before you can install FreeIPA server, ensure that the following minimum requirements are met;
- A fully-qualified domain name – e.g ipa.ownyourlife.com.ng.
- The hostname must be resolvable. If you don’t a DNS server, you can define your hostname in the hosts file.
- 4GB of RAM
- 10GB disk space
- 2 vCPUs
If you’re on Ubuntu 20.04 use Run FreeIPA Server in Docker / Podman Containers
Install FreeIPA Server on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04|16.04
Well, before we start the installation of FreeIPA Server on Ubuntu 20.04|18.04|16.04, let’s do a little bit of in-house preparation.
For Ubuntu 20.04 users we recommend you run FreeIPA Server in Docker or Podman as covered in the guide below:
Step 1: Set Proper hostname and FQDN
Set proper hostname for your server
$ hostname -f
ipaThis doesn’t look good. Let us make it fully qualified.
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname ipa.example.comConfirm your new hostname.
$ hostname -f
ipa.example.com
Add your FQDN in the /etc/hosts file to make it resolvable from anywhere:
$ sudo vim /etc/hosts
192.168.58.121 ipa.example.com ipaStep 2: Update your Ubuntu server
Ensure your system us updated.
sudo apt -y update
sudo apt -y upgradeIt is always recommended to do a reboot after the server is upgraded.
sudo rebootStep 3: Install rng-tools
FreeIPA server performs a lot of cryptographic operations while running and thus your VM must have enough entropy to ensure FreeIPA cryptographic operations doesn’t stall. To achieve high entropy, install and configure rng-tools.
sudo apt -y install rng-toolsOnce the installation is done, edit the file, /etc/default/rng-tools and set the input source for random data as /dev/urandom by adding the line, HRNGDEVICE=/dev/urandom as shown;
$ sudo vim /etc/default/rng-tools
# This is a POSIX shell fragment
# Set to the input source for random data, leave undefined
# for the initscript to attempt auto-detection. Set to /dev/null
# for the viapadlock and tpm drivers.
#HRNGDEVICE=/dev/hwrng
#HRNGDEVICE=/dev/null
HRNGDEVICE=/dev/urandom
Enable and start the rng-tools:
sudo systemctl enable rng-tools
sudo systemctl start rng-tools
Now that our server is prerequisite compliant, let us get the actual installation of FreeIPA Server on Ubuntu 18.04/16.04 Linux.
Step 4: Install FreeIPA Server on Ubuntu 18.04/16.04
Run the following command to install FreeIPA packages on your Ubuntu server.
sudo apt -y install freeipa-serverIn the mid of installation, you will be prompted to enter the Kerberos realm, the hostnames of Kerberos servers and the hostname of the administrative server for the Kerberos realm.
Example:
- Kerberos realm: COMPUTINGFORGEEKS.COM
- Kerberos Server hostname: ipa.ownyourlife.com.ng
- Administrative server hostname: ipa.ownyourlife.com.ng
If you encounter errors relating to Kerberos and tomcat, you can safely ignore them.
After the installation is complete, run the FreeIPA installation command.
sudo ipa-server-installThis will prompt you for a number of configuration options and install FreeIPA. The first prompt will be about FreeIPA’s integrated DNS and since we do not need this service in this setup, then we can’t configure it.
To accept the default options shown in square brackets, just press Enter key.…
Do you want to configure integrated DNS (BIND)? [no]: Enter
Enter the fully qualified domain name of the computer
on which you're setting up server software. Using the form
<hostname>.<domainname>
Example: master.example.com.
Server host name [ipa.ownyourlife.com.ng]: Enter
The domain name has been determined based on the host name.
Please confirm the domain name [ownyourlife.com.ng]: Enter
The kerberos protocol requires a Realm name to be defined.
This is typically the domain name converted to uppercase.
Please provide a realm name [COMPUTINGFORGEEKS.COM]: Enter
Certain directory server operations require an administrative user.
This user is referred to as the Directory Manager and has full access
to the Directory for system management tasks and will be added to the
instance of directory server created for IPA.
The password must be at least 8 characters long
Directory Manager password: <secure password>
Password (confirm): <secure password>
The IPA server requires an administrative user, named 'admin'.
This user is a regular system account used for IPA server administration.
IPA admin password: <secure password>
Password (confirm): <secure password>
The IPA Master Server will be configured with:
Hostname: ipa.ownyourlife.com.ng
IP address(es): 192.168.58.121
Domain name: ownyourlife.com.ng
Realm name: COMPUTINGFORGEEKS.COM
The CA will be configured with:
Subject DN: CN=Certificate Authority,O=COMPUTINGFORGEEKS.COM
Subject base: O=COMPUTINGFORGEEKS.COM
Chaining: self-signed
Continue to configure the system with these values? [no]: yes
...output cut…
Client configuration complete.
The ipa-client-install command was successful
==============================================================================
Setup complete
Next steps:
1.You must make sure these network ports are open: TCP Ports: * 80, 443: HTTP/HTTPS * 389, 636: LDAP/LDAPS * 88, 464: kerberos UDP Ports: * 88, 464: kerberos * 123: ntp 2 You can now obtain a kerberos ticket using the command: 'kinit admin' This ticket will allow you to use the IPA tools (e.g., ipa user-add) and the web user interface.Now that the FreeIPA server setup is complete, open the ports required for various FreeIPA server services through the firewall.
If you ufw is not running, you can enable it and allow all incoming connections to the above ports.
Step 5: Configure Firewall for FreeIPA
Enable ufw if you have it installed.
sudo ufw enableOpen all required TCP ports
for i in 80 443 389 636 88 464; do sudo ufw allow proto tcp from any to any port $i; doneDo the same for UDP ports.
for i in 88 464 123; do sudo ufw allow proto udp from any to any port $i; doneReload ufw after making the changes.
sudo ufw reloadNow that the ports have been opened through the firewall, let us verify our FreeIPA server by initializing a Kerberos token for the admin user.
For the normal administrative activity, an administrative account admin has been created. When prompted for the password, use the one you specified during the configuration step for the admin user.
$ sudo kinit admin
Password for admin@COMPUTINGFORGEEKS.COM:Check Kerberos tickets:
$ sudo klist
Ticket cache: KEYRING:persistent:0:0
Default principal: admin@COMPUTINGFORGEEKS.COM
Valid starting Expires Service principal
06/29/18 22:52:40 06/30/18 22:52:36 krbtgt/COMPUTINGFORGEEKS.COM@COMPUTINGFORGEEKS.COMIf that is successful, try to find if the user admin, exists on the FreeIPA server.
$ sudo ipa user-find admin
--------------
1 user matched
--------------
User login: admin
Last name: Administrator
Home directory: /home/admin
Login shell: /bin/bash
Principal alias: admin@COMPUTINGFORGEEKS.COM
UID: 1506000000
GID: 1506000000
Account disabled: False
----------------------------
Number of entries returned 1
----------------------------Well, seems like all is well. You can now perform any IPA tasks from web dashboard as well as from command line. To login to web dashboard, use the address https://ipa.example.com
The web login username is admin and the password is the one supplied during the configuration step for the admin user.
The next view will look similar to below.
IPA Server information:
You were successful in installing FreeIPA Server on Ubuntu 20.04/18.04/16.04, next configuration is FreeIPA Client.
Also read:
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