Managing administrator access via LDAP
You can configure the Pexip Infinity platform to authenticate and authorize administrator login accounts via a centrally managed LDAP-accessible server. Integration with LDAP provides increased security, better auditing of changes and more control and flexibility as you can assign different privileges to specific groups of users.
By default, Pexip Infinity only has a single local administrator account. Integration with an LDAP directory service allows multiple users to administer the platform. These users log in with their directory credentials, which is generally a Windows AD domain. When using LDAP:
- Instead of authenticating the supplied username and password credentials against its own internal database, Pexip Infinity contacts the LDAP server to authenticate the administrator's user account.
- It uses the account's LDAP group attributes in combination with role mappings defined in Pexip Infinity to determine which Pexip Infinity features the administrator is authorized to access.
You can also configure the Pexip Infinity platform for client certificate authentication. This means that instead of logging in to the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface via the standard login page, or providing an authorization header when accessing the management API, administrators present (via their browser) a client certificate containing their user identification details. The validation of the presented certificate acts as the authentication phase and the username attributes in the certificate are used to determine which features the administrator is authorized to access.
The configuration described here applies to all administrator accounts connecting to the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface or the Pexip Infinity API. It does not apply to SSH connections. When using LDAP authentication, Pexip Infinity is configured by default to work with a Windows Active Directory LDAP server, but it can also be configured to work with other LDAP-accessible databases.
All usernames and passwords are case sensitive.
The following sections describe:
- Configuration summary for LDAP authentication
- Configuring how administrators are authenticated
- Configuring administrator roles
- Configuring LDAP role mappings
- Examples: configuring permissions for an AD group
- Reinstating the local admin account
Configuration summary for LDAP authentication
To enable authentication and authorization via LDAP, you need to configure both the LDAP database (if it is not already configured with user details) and the Pexip Infinity platform.
The LDAP database must be configured with:
- administrators' user credentials
- groups that define the capabilities of the users.
The Pexip Infinity platform must be configured with:
- an authentication source setting that uses an LDAP database
- connection details for the LDAP server; if the server address is an FQDN, ensure that it is resolvable over the DNS server configured for the Management Node
- administrator roles to control the actions that administrators can perform
- LDAP role mappings that map LDAP groups to administrator roles.
If a secure TLS connection between the LDAP server and the Management Node is required, ensure that:
- The LDAP server address is specified as an FQDN (so that it matches the name on the certificate presented by the LDAP server, which is typically created for the host name rather than the IP address).
-
The Management Node trusts the certificate presented by the LDAP server; typically this means that the LDAP server certificate has to be uploaded to the Management Node as a trusted CA certificate (as the LDAP server's certificate is often generated by an internal authority which would not be included in Pexip's inbuilt list of trusted CA certificates).
Note that the Management Node's server certificate does not have to be trusted by the LDAP server (unless the LDAP server has been explicitly configured to demand a client certificate).
The Pexip Infinity platform configuration steps for specifying an LDAP authentication source, and configuring administrator and LDAP role mappings are described in more detail in the following sections, and there is an example that shows how to configure permissions for an AD group. For information about installing server and trusted CA certificates, see Managing TLS and trusted CA certificates.
Configuring how administrators are authenticated
To configure how administrators are authenticated when they log in to the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface or API, go to . The options are:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Authentication source |
The database to query for administrator authentication and authorization. Local database: uses the Pexip Infinity local on-box database. Administrators can only log in via the default account (typically admin) and will have full administrator privileges. LDAP database: administrators log in using an account configured on the LDAP database and obtain privileges according to the groups and roles associated with that account. Note that if this option is selected and the LDAP server is inaccessible for any reason, administrators will not be able to log in to the Pexip Infinity web-based Administrator interface or API. LDAP database and local database: administrators can log in using either the default local admin account or via an account configured on the LDAP database. When using an LDAP database, you must configure the items in the LDAP configuration section. By default, Pexip Infinity checks the entered username against the Active Directory sAMAccountName attribute (as configured in the LDAP user search filter advanced setting below). Default: Local database. |
| Require client certificate |
Controls whether administrators are authenticated via a client certificate. By default, administrators log in to the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface via the standard login page, and provide an authorization header when accessing the management API. Instead, users can be required to present (via their browser) a client certificate containing their user identification details. The options are: Not required: Client certificates are not required. Administrators log in via the standard login page and provide a password which is authenticated against the selected Authentication source. Management API requests require an authorization header. Required (user identity in subject CN): administrators identify themselves via the identity contained in the subject CN (common name) of the client certificate presented by their browser. Required (user identity in subjectAltName userPrincipalName): administrators identify themselves via the identity contained in the subjectAltName userPrincipalName attribute of the client certificate presented by their browser. Default: Not required. When a client certificate is required, the standard login page is no longer presented. Administrators will not be able to access the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface or the management API if their browser does not present a valid certificate that contains a user identity which exists in the selected Authentication source. |
| LDAP configuration | |
| LDAP server address |
You must also ensure that Pexip Infinity has trusted CA certificates for the authority that signed the LDAP server’s certificate (if a TLS connection is required). We strongly recommend that you do not use an IP address. If an IP address is used, and a TLS connection is required, this will only work if the IP address is specified as the common name in the LDAP server's certificate. See Troubleshooting LDAP server connections for more information about how the system establishes a connection to the LDAP server and how to troubleshoot connection issues. |
| Allow insecure transport |
By default the system will attempt to establish a secure TLS connection with the LDAP server. Select this option if you want to allow the system to fall back to a TCP connection (using SASL DIGEST-MD5). You cannot specify the LDAP server by IP address if this option is selected. |
| LDAP bind username and password |
The username |
| LDAP base DN |
The base DN (distinguished name) of the LDAP forest to query |
|
Advanced LDAP configuration By default the advanced LDAP configuration settings are preconfigured for Windows Active Directory, and may also be appropriate for other LDAP databases such as OpenLDAP. |
|
| Search global catalog |
Select this option to expand the scope of the search to the entire Active Directory Global Catalog instead of traditional LDAP. Note that this uses ports 3268 (TCP) and 3269 (TLS). |
| LDAP user search DN | The DN relative to the LDAP base DN to query for user records (e.g. ou=people). If blank, the LDAP base DN is used. In deployments with large user bases, you may want to configure this to optimize the LDAP user queries. |
| LDAP user filter |
The LDAP filter used to match user records in the directory. Default: (&(objectclass=person)(!(objectclass=computer))) |
| LDAP user search filter |
The LDAP filter used to find user records when given the user name. The filter may contain {username} to indicate locations into which the username is substituted. This filter is applied in conjunction with the LDAP user filter and must contain at least one substitution. If client certificate-based authentication is used, this filter usually must include 'userPrincipalName={username})' either in addition to, or instead of, the default value; for example '(|(uid={username})(sAMAccountName={username})(userPrincipalName={username}))'. To log in using an email address, you can use '(|(uid={username})(sAMAccountName={username})(mail={username}))' — note that this requires the use of LDAPS. Default: (|(uid={username})(sAMAccountName={username})) |
| LDAP group attributes |
A comma-separated list of attributes in the LDAP user record to examine for group membership information. The attribute value must contain the DN of each group the user is a member of. If no attributes are specified, or none of the specified attributes are present in the LDAP user record, an LDAP group search (using the remaining advanced configuration options below) is performed instead. Default: memberOf |
| LDAP group search DN | The DN relative to the LDAP base DN to query for group records (e.g. ou=groups) when no group attributes are present in the LDAP user record. If blank, the LDAP base DN is used. In deployments with large user bases, you may want to configure this to optimize the LDAP group queries. |
| LDAP group filter |
The LDAP filter used to match group records in the directory. Default: (|(objectclass=group)(objectclass=groupOfNames)(objectclass=groupOfUniqueNames)(objectclass=posixGroup)) |
| LDAP group membership filter |
The LDAP filter used to search for group membership of a user. The filter may contain {userdn} to indicate locations into which the user DN is substituted. The filter may contain {useruid} to indicate locations into which the user UID is substituted. This filter is applied in conjunction with the LDAP group filter and must contain at least one substitution. Default: (|(member={userdn})(uniquemember={userdn})(memberuid={useruid})) |
If authentication against an LDAP database is configured, you can save the settings only if Pexip Infinity can successfully contact the specified LDAP server.
Note that all LDAP distinguished names must be entered as per the LDAP standard (RFC 4514). LDAP configuration is case insensitive.
Supporting nested security groups in Windows Active Directory
The default LDAP configuration does not support nested security groups in Windows Active Directory. For example, if group A is allowed to log in via LDAP, and if group B is a member of group A, then any user who is only a member of group B will not be allowed to log in.
To allow members of a nested Active Directory security group to log in over LDAP:
- Go to and expand the Advanced LDAP configuration section.
- Ensure that LDAP group attributes is empty (i.e. remove the default "memberOf" content).
- Change LDAP group membership filter to "(member:1.2.840.113556.1.4.1941:={userdn})"
- Select .
(This configuration uses the LDAP_MATCHING_RULE_IN_CHAIN OID. More information on this can be found at https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa746475%28VS.85%29.aspx.)
Configuring administrator roles
Administrator roles control the actions that administrators can perform in the web-based Administrator interface or management API after they have been authenticated. For example, you can configure a role that allows an administrator to only view (and not modify) specific items of configuration data or status information via the Administrator interface.
When an administrator has restricted permissions, all navigation menu options are still displayed, but they are given an Access denied message if they try to select a menu option that they are not authorized to use. For read-only restrictions, the relevant options are not displayed.
Two roles are present by default:
- Read-only: allows read-only access to all configuration settings and status information when accessing the system via the web-based Administrator interface or the API. An administrator with this role can also take diagnostic snapshots and backups, view logs, and make packet captures. Note that this role has full read access to sensitive information — you can create more restricted roles if necessary.
- Read-write: allows full administrative access when accessing the system via the web-based Administrator interface or the API.
To add, edit or delete administrator roles, go to . When configuring roles, the options are:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | A descriptive name of the role, e.g. "auditor" or "management system". |
| Permissions |
Select from the list of Available permissions the set of permitted actions for the role and then use the right arrow to move the selected actions into the Chosen permissions list. For more information on each permission, see Descriptions of all available administrator permissions. All roles must include the Is an administrator permission for access to the system. In addition, the May use web interface and May use API permissions must be included for access via the web-based Administrator interface and API respectively. You must then also add all of the other permissions, such as May modify system configuration and so on, that you want to apply to the role — if a role has, for example, only the Is an administrator and May use web interface permissions, an administrator with that role will be able to log in via the web-based Administrator interface but will not be able to perform any actions. The permissions that are applied to the default Read-only role are shown below:
|
Descriptions of all available administrator permissions
The table below describes each of the permissions that can be applied to an administrator role:
| Permission | Description |
|---|---|
| Is an administrator | Required for any of the other permissions listed below |
| May use API | Required to access the API (via api/admin) |
| May use web interface | Required to access the Management Node Administrator interface |
| May add/remove themes | May add, change, delete and view themes |
| May view gateway configuration | May view Call Routing Rules |
| May modify gateway configuration | May change and view Call Routing Rules |
| May add/remove gateways | May add or delete Call Routing Rules (does not include view permission) |
| May modify VMR configuration |
May change and view:
|
| May view VMR configuration |
May view:
|
| May add/remove VMRs |
May add or delete (does not include view permission):
|
| May view system configuration |
May view:
|
| May modify system configuration |
May add, change, delete and view:
May change:
|
| May restore system backup |
May change (does not include view permission):
|
| May create/delete system backup |
May add or delete:
May change and view:
|
| May download system backup |
May view:
|
| May modify conference status |
May view and perform available actions on:
|
| May view conference status |
May view:
|
| May view logs |
May view:
|
| May configure logs |
May add, change, or delete:
|
| May download TLS private key | May download TLS private key |
| May create/delete packet capture |
May add or delete (does not include view permission):
|
| May download packet capture |
May view:
|
| May view authentication configuration |
May view:
|
| May modify authentication configuration |
May add, change, delete and view:
|
| May generate system snapshot |
May view:
|
| May view system status |
May view:
|
| May upload software bundle |
May upload (does not include view permission):
|
Configuring LDAP role mappings
LDAP role mappings are used to map the LDAP groups associated with LDAP user records to the Pexip Infinity administrator roles. You must configure a separate LDAP role mapping for each LDAP group for which you want to map one or more Pexip Infinity administrator roles.
To add, edit or delete LDAP role mappings, go to . When configuring LDAP role mappings, the options are:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | A descriptive name of the role mapping, e.g. "domain administrator with full privileges". |
| LDAP group DN |
Select the LDAP group against which you want to map one or more administrator roles. The list of LDAP groups is only populated when there is an active connection to an LDAP server (). Note that the LDAP groups used for role mappings cannot be the pre-defined AD groups such as Domain Users etc. but need to be explicitly configured custom groups. |
| Roles |
Select from the list of Available roles the administrator roles to associate with the LDAP group and then use the right arrow to move the selected roles into the Chosen Roles list. All of the underlying permissions within a role are "positive" permissions, i.e. they allow the administrator to do something. If more than one role is selected, all of the permissions associated with each role are combined and granted to the relevant administrator. Note that you can select |
which opens a new window from where you can configure a new administrator role. When you save the role it is automatically added to the set of Examples: configuring permissions for an AD group
These examples show how you can configure the specific actions (permissions) that all members of an AD group are allowed to perform when administering Pexip Infinity, and provide methods to filter the groups that are displayed.
The filtering options are not mandatory but they do make it easier to select the appropriate LDAP groups, and can optimize system performance.
Let's assume that you have the following set of groups already configured in Windows Active Directory:
In both of the examples below you need to ensure that you have configured an LDAP authentication source () that can access your AD server, for example:
Example: Filtering by specifying an LDAP group search DN
This example shows how to configure all AD users who are members of the "itadmins" group to be able to add, modify and delete VMR/conference related settings, but only be able to view other configuration aspects of Pexip Infinity (system settings, logs etc).
To make it easier to select the "itadmins" group we have specified an LDAP group search DN to limit the number of LDAP groups that are presented when configuring your LDAP roles:
- Go to where your LDAP configuration has been completed, as shown above, and open the section.
-
In this case, we want to define permissions based upon membership of specific AD groups, therefore we have configured the LDAP group search DN setting to ou=groups.
This means that when we configure the LDAP roles, the set of LDAP groups that is presented is filtered to include only those in the groups organizational unit (ou).
-
We now need to configure an administrator role () that defines the set of actions that can be performed by administrators who have been assigned that role.
Here, a "Manage Conferences" role has been created. The Chosen permissions allow an administrator to use the web interface to configure all service-related items such as VMRs, themes, gateway rules, but to only be able to view (and not modify) all other configuration.
-
The final step is to associate this administrator role with an LDAP role/group ().
Here, we have configured an "IT admins - manage conferences" role. The LDAP group DN drop-down presents a list of LDAP groups from AD. In our case this list is filtered to only show those groups in the ou=groups organizational unit (due to the LDAP group search DN configuration in step 2).
We have selected the itadmins group and associated it with the Manage Conferences role we created in step 3. (Note that you can associate the LDAP role with more than one administrator role if required.)
This means that AD users who are in the itadmins group can now sign in to the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface, using their AD credentials, and configure service-related settings only.
To set up different permissions for members of other AD groups, repeat steps 3 and 4 to create different administrator role and LDAP role associations.
Example: Limiting groups by specifying an LDAP group filter
This example is similar to the example above, but shows an alternative method of limiting the number of LDAP groups that are presented when configuring your LDAP roles.
In this case we show how to specify an LDAP group filter to limit the groups that are displayed.
- Go to where your LDAP configuration has been completed, as shown above, and open the section.
-
In this example, we are specifying a group filter so that when we configure the LDAP roles, the set of LDAP groups that is presented is filtered to only show those whose name starts with "vc".
We do this by configuring the LDAP group filter to (&(objectclass=group)(cn=vc*))
- As with the previous example, you need to ensure that you have configured an administrator role (), such as "Manage Conferences", that defines the set of actions that can be performed by administrators who have been assigned that role.
-
The final step is to associate this administrator role with an LDAP role/group ().
Here, we have configured a "vCenter Admins - Manage Conferences" role. The LDAP group DN drop-down presents a list of LDAP groups from AD. In our case this list is filtered to only show those groups whose name starts with "vc".
This means that AD users who are in the vCenterAdmins group can now sign in to the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface.
Reinstating the local admin account
If necessary you can reinstate access via the Pexip Infinity local on-box database, so that administrators can log in via the default account (typically admin) and will have full administrator privileges. You may need to do this if, for example, the Authentication source is configured as LDAP database and your connectivity to the LDAP server goes down or your credentials become invalid.
To reactivate your local admin account:
- Log in to the Management Node over SSH.
-
For local admin access only, run the command:
authset LDAP LOCAL
or, for LDAP and local admin access, run the command:
authset LDAP BOTH
You can also disable client certificate authentication so that you can log in to the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface via the standard login page.
To disable certificate-based authentication:
- Log in to the Management Node over SSH.
-
Run the command:
authset CBA OFF
If you forget the password for the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface, you can re-run the installation wizard, being sure to change only the Web administration password setting.