Configuring LDAP Integration for Nexus Repository 2

Figure 8.2, “A Simple LDAP Connection and Authentication Setup” shows a simplified LDAP configuration for the repository manager configured to connect to an LDAP server running on localhost port 10389 using the search base of ou=system. On a more standard installation, you would likely not want to use Simple Authentication as it sends the password in clear text over the network, and you would also use a search base that corresponds to your organization’s top-level domain components such as dc=sonatype,dc=com.

Figure 8.2. A Simple LDAP Connection and Authentication Setup

The following parameters can be configured in the Connection and Authentication sections of the LDAP Configuration panel.

Protocol

Valid values in this drop-down are ldap and ldaps that correspond to the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol and the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol over SSL

Hostname

The hostname or IP address of the LDAP

Port

The port on which the LDAP server is listening. Port 389 is the default port for the ldap protocol, and port 636 is the default port for the ldaps.

Search Base

The search base is the Distinguished Name (DN) to be appended to the LDAP query. The search base usually corresponds to the domain name of an organization. For example, the search base on the Sonatype LDAP server could be dc=sonatype,dc=com.

Authentication Method

The repository manager provides four distinct authentication methods to be used when connecting to the LDAP Server:

Simple Authentication

Simple authentication is not recommended for production deployments not using the secure ldaps protocol as it sends a clear-text password over the network

Anonymous Authentication

Used when the repository manager only needs read-only access to non protected entries and attributes when binding to the LDAP

Digest-MD5

This is an improvement on the CRAM-MD5 authentication method. For more information, see http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2831.txt

CRAM-MD5

The Challenge-Response Authentication Method (CRAM) is based on the HMAC-MD5 MAC algorithm. In this authentication method, the server sends a challenge string to the client. The client responds with a username followed by a Hex digest that the server compares to an expected value. For more information, see RFC 2195.

For a full discussion of LDAP authentication approaches, see http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2829.txt and http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2251.txt.

SASL Realm

The Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) realm used to connect. It is only available if the authentication method is Digest-MD5 or CRAM-MD5.

Username

Username of an LDAP user with which to connect (or bind). This is a Distinguished Name of a user who has read access to all users and groups.

Password

Password for an administrative LDAP user