Apache and LDAP Part II
Nov 11th, 2005 by Karen
So the Head of Network and Computing Services and I have been working to get LDAP authentication working on our test box and after two hours of work we able to get the Basic Authentication setup up and running. One of the hurdles we encountered was getting the right syntax for communications with Active Directory (which we are using for LDAP). One web site we found very helpful was http://thomas-howard.com/Reference/Articles/Apache+AD/. Another issues we are still dealing with is getting auth_ldap installed and working with SSL. We haven’t been successful with this we aren’t sure where exactly the OpenLDAP libraries and headers that the documentation discusses live or if we need to reinstall OpenSSL. The auth_ldap documentation says that it support LDAP over SSL but to do this you need to install it with either the Netscape Directory SDK, or the OpenLDAP SDK. Something the neither the auth_ldap web site nor the linked to sites describe how to do. When we figure it out I’ll be sure to post it that way others might be able to find the solution more easily than I have.
All of this has taught me that Open Source Software can be a very time consuming proposition, particularly when you are installing it for the first time and if you have to install from source. In the past, my dealings with OSS have been via binarys, or RPMs which have made the task much easier. I’ve successful installed several OSS things on my Mac, but never from source. The whole installing from source experience makes me extremely grateful for and thankful to the people out there that are creating binaries/RPMs which I typically use. I know that there are distinct advantages installing from source, but gosh I liked it when it was slightly simpler and worked in a shorter amount of time!
*all* software can be a very time consuming proposition. :)
I’m not sure I understand the full context of what you’re trying to do… it might be that using LDAP to protect access to your weblogs is lke using a sledgehammer when you just need to break up a few ice cubes. Or, maybe it’s the right choice… anyway, to get particular combinations of apache1 mods running together properly I’ve always had good luck with Apache Toolbox. It takes a few runs through to get a feel for how to get the most from it but once you try it a few times it’s a snap. It’s fairly well up to date, too (see the changelog).
Also you could hop on to #code4lib and ask there too, lots of folks in there who’ve dealt with stuff like this. We’re very irc-newbie-friendly if that’s a new thing for you.
Good luck, -dchud