Cool Solution - Install Moodle / LDAP authentication

We will now connect Moodle with our LDAP Server(s). Moodle will be able to create and map all it’s users based on the ones inside our LDAP given context(s).

This article is based on a successful installation of Moodle accomplished by following our
Cool Solution “Install Moodle”.

Prerequisites

After the Moodle basic configuration is done, the option Email-based self-registration should be deactivated and LDAP server (pre installed Plugin) should be activated inside the web configuration site Site AdministrationPluginsAuthenticationManage authentication. Please confirm that the SAML2 Plugin is disabled, if installed. We don’t recommend having both authentication services enabled.

Next, a simple authentication account should be created using the UDM. This account can then be used for an authenticated bind. Follow the LDAP search user Cool Solution to create one.
To find the needed DN of the account, issue the following command on the command line after your successful creation:

udm users/ldap list --filter username=<NAME_OF_THE_ACCOUNT> | grep DN

Now the LDAP connection can be configured. You can either use the webbrowser or use the command line as described below.

LDAP configuration from the Command Line

Use the following script to automatically configure the LDAP authentication plugin through the command line. You can optionally use your web browser further down:
(Note: Don’t forget to set the variables on the script top first)

# Please set the data of an simple authentication account here.
Instructions how one is created can be found here: 
https://help.univention.com/t/cool-solution-ldap-search-user-simple-authentication-account/11818

ldap_search_user="uid=<LDAP user>,cn=users,<YOUR_LDAP_BASE>"
ldap_search_password="<YOUR_LDAP_SEARCH_PASSWORD>"
ldap_contexts="cn=users,ou=<school>,<YOUR_LDAP_BASE>" # Multiple separated with semicolons (';')
ldap_manager_contexts="cn=admins,cn=users,ou=<school>,<YOUR_LDAP_BASE>" # Multiple separated with semicolons (';')
ldap_course_creator_contexts="cn=mitarbeiter,cn=users,ou=<school>,<YOUR_LDAP_BASE>" # Multiple separated with semicolons (';')

# Obtain global domain configuration data
eval "$(ucr --shell search domainname \
ldap/base \
ldap/server/name \
ldap/server/addition
)"

ldap_server_name=$(echo "$ldap_server_name" | sed "s/'\|\"//g")
ldap_server_addition=$(echo "$ldap_server_addition" | sed "s/'\|\"//g")
ldap_hosts=$(echo "ldaps://$ldap_server_name:7636")
if [ -n "$ldap_server_addition" ]; then 
    for host in $ldap_server_addition; do
        ldap_hosts="$ldap_hosts;ldaps://$host:7636"
    done
fi

# Configure the LDAP Plugin
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="host_url" --set="$ldap_hosts"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="ldap_version" --set="3"

php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="bind_dn" --set="$ldap_search_user"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="bind_pw" --set="$ldap_search_password"

php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="contexts" --set="$ldap_contexts"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="managercontext" --set="$ldap_manager_contexts"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="coursecreatorcontext" --set="$ldap_course_creator_contexts"

php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="search_sub" --set="1"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="removeuser" --set="2"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="user_attribute" --set="uid"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="memberattribute" --set="memberof"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="memberattribute_isdn" --set="1"

php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_address" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_city" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_country" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_department" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_description" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_email" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_firstname" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_idnumber" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_institution" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_lastname" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_phone1" --set="locked"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_lock_phone2" --set="locked"

php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_address" --set="street"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_city" --set="l"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_country" --set="c"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_department" --set="departmentNumber"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_description" --set="description"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_email" --set="mailPrimaryAddress"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_firstname" --set="givenName"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_idnumber" --set="uidNumber"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_institution" --set="o"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_lastname" --set="sn"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_phone1" --set="telephoneNumber"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_map_phone2" --set="mobile"

php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_address" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_city" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_country" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_department" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_descriptiont" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_email" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_firstname" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_idnumber" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_institution" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_lastname" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_phone1" --set="onlogin"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updatelocal_phone2" --set="onlogin"

php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_address" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_city" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_country" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_department" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_description" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_email" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_firstname" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_idnumber" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_institution" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_lastname" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_phone1" --set="0"
php /var/www/moodle/admin/cli/cfg.php --component="auth_ldap" --name="field_updateremote_phone2" --set="0"

You should now be able to login as any user below your set ldap_contexts containers. Note that some attributes like Email address are mandatory for moodle. Users without valid email addresses inside UCS won’t be able to leave their profile settings page, so you should make sure that all moodle users own a valid email.

Alternative: LDAP configuration using the web browser

Change the following values under the web page Site AdministrationPluginsAuthenticationManage authenticationLDAP ServerSettings to successfully configure the LDAP plugin.

Hint: To obtain the LDAP Host URLs, execute the following code on your school server:

ldap_hosts="ldaps://$(ucr get ldap/server/name):7636"
if [ -n "$(ucr get ldap/server/addition)" ]; then 
    for host in $(ucr get ldap/server/addition); do
        ldap_hosts="$ldap_hosts;ldaps://$host:7636"
    done
fi
echo $ldap_hosts

Hint: To obtain the LDAP base, execute the following command on any UCS server:

ucr get ldap/base

After obtaining the needed data, use the following settings to configure the plugin:
LDAP server settings:
Moodle_ldap_server_settings
Bind settings:
Moodle_ldap_bind_settings
User lookup settings:
Moodle_ldap_user_lookup_settings
System role mapping:
Moodle_ldap_system_role_mapping
Data mapping:
Moodle_ldap_data_mapping

You should now be able to login as any user below your set Contexts containers. Note that some attributes like Email address are mandatory for moodle. Users without valid email addresses inside UCS won’t be able to leave their profile settings page, so you should make sure that all moodle users own a valid email.

Restrictions

  • Class mapping: These articles do not handle mappings between UCS@School classes and Moodle groups at this moment. If you need assistance to create the respective mapping or would like to have the setup packaged, feel free to contact Univention for an offer to create either.

References

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