Configuring IPv6 Support for LDAP

Restrictions for Configuring IPv6 Support for LDAP

  • Only bind, search, and compare operations are supported.

  • The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) referrals are not supported.

  • Unsolicited messages or notifications from LDAP server are not handled.

Information About Configuring IPv6 Support for LDAP

IPv6 Support for LDAP

To support Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) over IPv6, changes are made to authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) transactions in terms of authentication and authorization while communicating over an IPv6 network. In order to support LDAP over an IPv6 network, transport calls have been modified to support both IPv4 and IPv6 based on the server configuration.

Transport Layer Security

Transport Layer Security (TLS) is an application-level protocol that enables secure transactions of data through privacy, authentication, and data integrity. It relies upon certificates, public keys, and private keys for clients to prove the identity. Certificates are issued by Certificate Authorities (CAs). Each certificate includes the name of the authority that issued it, the name of the entity to which the certificate was issued, the entity’s public key, and time stamps that indicate the certificate’s expiration date. TLS support for LDAP is mentioned in RFC 2830 as an extension to the LDAP protocol.

LDAP Operations

Bind

The bind operation is used to authenticate a user to the server. It is used to start a connection with the LDAP server. LDAP is a connection-oriented protocol. The client specifies the protocol version and the client authentication information. LDAP supports the following binds:

  • Authenticated bind

  • Anonymous bind

An authenticated bind is performed when a root distinguished name (DN) and password are available. In the absence of a root DN and password, an anonymous bind is performed. In LDAP deployments, the search operation is performed first and the bind operation later. This is because, if a password attribute is returned as part of the search operation, the password verification can be done locally on an LDAP client. Thus, there is no need to perform an extra bind operation. If a password attribute is not returned, the bind operation can be performed later. Another advantage of performing a search operation first and a bind operation later is that the DN received in the search result can be used as the user DN instead of forming a DN by prefixing the username (cn attribute) with the base DN. All entries stored in an LDAP server have a unique DN. The DN consists of two parts: the Relative Distinguished Name (RDN) and the location within the LDAP server where the record resides.

Most of the entries that you store in an LDAP server will have a name, and the name is frequently stored in the Common Name (cn) attribute. Because every object has a name, most objects you store in an LDAP will use their cn value as the basis for their RDN.

Compare

The compare operation is used to replace a bind request with a compare request for an authentication. The compare operation helps to maintain the initial bind parameters for the connection.

Search

A search operation is used to search the LDAP server. The client specifies the starting point (base DN) of the search, the search scope (either the object, its children, or the subtree rooted at the object), and a search filter.

For authorization requests, the search operation is directly performed without a bind operation. The LDAP server can be configured with certain privileges for the search operation to succeed. This privilege level is established with the bind operation.

An LDAP search operation can return multiple user entries for a specific user. In such cases, the LDAP client returns an appropriate error code to AAA. To avoid these errors, appropriate search filters that help to match a single entry must be configured.

How to Configure IPv6 Support for LDAP

Configuring Device-to-LDAP Server Communication

The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) host is a multiuser system running LDAP server software, such as Active Directory (Microsoft) and OpenLDAP. Configuring device-to-LDAP server communication can have several components:

  • Hostname or IP address

  • Port number

  • Timeout period

  • Base distinguished name (DN)

To configuring Device-to-LDAP server communication, perform this procedure:

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. enable
  2. configure terminal
  3. aaa new-model
  4. ldap server name
  5. ipv6 ipv6-address
  6. transport port port-number
  7. timeout retransmit seconds
  8. exit

DETAILED STEPS

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

enable

Example:


Device> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal

Example:


Device# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

aaa new-model

Example:


Device(config)# aaa new-model

Enables AAA.

Step 4

ldap server name

Example:


Device(config)# ldap server server1

Configures a device as an LDAP protocol and enters LDAP server configuration mode.

Step 5

ipv6 ipv6-address

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# ipv6 2001:DB8:0:0:8:800

Specifies an IPv6 address to the LDAP server.

Step 6

transport port port-number

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# transport port 200

Configures the transport protocol for connecting to the LDAP server.

Step 7

timeout retransmit seconds

Example:

Device(config-ldap-server)# timeout retransmit 20

Specifies the number of seconds a device waits for a reply to an LDAP request before retransmitting the request.

Step 8

exit

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# exit

Exits the LDAP server configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.

Configuring LDAP Protocol Parameters

To configure LDAP protocol parameters, perform this procedure:

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. enable
  2. configure terminal
  3. aaa
  4. ldap server name
  5. bind authenticate root-dn password [0 string | 7 string ] string
  6. search-filter user-object-type string
  7. base-dn string
  8. mode secure [no-negotiation ]
  9. secure cipher 3des-ede-cbc-sha
  10. exit

DETAILED STEPS

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

enable

Example:


Device> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal

Example:


Device# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

aaa

Example:


Device(config)# aaa new-model

Enables AAA.

Step 4

ldap server name

Example:


Device(config)# ldap server server1

Defines a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server and enters LDAP server configuration mode.

Step 5

bind authenticate root-dn password [0 string | 7 string ] string

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# bind authenticate root-dn “cn=administrator,cn=users,dc=nac-blr2,dc=example,dc=com password”

Specifies a shared secret text string used between the device and an LDAP server. Use the 0 line option to configure an unencrypted shared secret. Use the 7 line option to configure an encrypted shared secret.

Step 6

search-filter user-object-type string

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# search-filter user-object-type string1

Specifies the search filter to be used in the search requests.

Step 7

base-dn string

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# base-dn “dc=sns,dc=example,dc=com”

Specifies the base distinguished name (DN) of the search.

Step 8

mode secure [no-negotiation ]

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# mode secure no-negotiation

Configures LDAP to initiate the transport layer security (TLS) connection and specifies the secure mode.

Step 9

secure cipher 3des-ede-cbc-sha

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# secure cipher 3des-ede-cbc-sha

Specifies the ciphersuite in the case of a secure connection.

Step 10

exit

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# exit

Exits LDAP server configuration mode and enters global configuration mode.

Configuring Search and Bind Operations for an Authentication Request

To configure search and bind operations for an authentication request, perform this procedure:

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. enable
  2. configure terminal
  3. aaa new-model
  4. ldap server name
  5. authentication bind-first
  6. authentication compare
  7. exit

DETAILED STEPS

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

enable

Example:


Device> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal

Example:


Device# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

aaa new-model

Example:


Device(config)# aaa new-model

Enables AAA.

Step 4

ldap server name

Example:


Device(config)# ldap server server1

Defines a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server and enter LDAP server configuration mode.

Step 5

authentication bind-first

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# authentication bind-first

Configures the sequence of search and bind operations for an authentication request.

Step 6

authentication compare

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# authentication compare

Replaces the bind request with the compare request for authentication.

Step 7

exit

Example:


Device(config-ldap-server)# exit

Exits LDAP server configuration mode.

Monitoring and Maintaining LDAP Scalability Enhancements

The following show and debug commands can be entered in any order.

SUMMARY STEPS

  1. enable
  2. configure terminal
  3. clear ldap server
  4. debug ldap
  5. show ldap server
  6. show ldap attributes

DETAILED STEPS

Step 1

enable

Example:


> enable

Enables privileged EXEC mode.

Enter your password if prompted.

Step 2

configure terminal

Example:


# configure terminal

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 3

clear ldap server

Clears the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server of the TCP connection.

Example:


# clear ldap server

Step 4

debug ldap

Displays information associated with LDAP.

Example:

# debug ldap

Step 5

show ldap server

Displays the LDAP server state information and various other counters for the server.

Example:


# show ldap server

Step 6

show ldap attributes

Displays information about default LDAP attribute mapping.

Example:

Device# show ldap attributes
 
LDAP Attribute                   Format      AAA Attribute                 
==============                   ======      =============                 
airespaceBwDataBurstContract     Ulong       bsn-data-bandwidth-burst-contr
userPassword                     String      password                      
airespaceBwRealBurstContract     Ulong       bsn-realtime-bandwidth-burst-c
employeeType                     String      employee-type                 
airespaceServiceType             Ulong       service-type                  
airespaceACLName                 String      bsn-acl-name                  
priv-lvl                         Ulong       priv-lvl                      
memberOf                         String DN   supplicant-group              
cn                               String      username                      
airespaceDSCP                    Ulong       bsn-dscp                      
policyTag                        String      tag-name                      
airespaceQOSLevel                Ulong       bsn-qos-level                 
airespace8021PType               Ulong       bsn-8021p-type                
airespaceBwRealAveContract       Ulong       bsn-realtime-bandwidth-average
airespaceVlanInterfaceName       String      bsn-vlan-interface-name       
airespaceVapId                   Ulong       bsn-wlan-id                   
airespaceBwDataAveContract       Ulong       bsn-data-bandwidth-average-con
sAMAccountName                   String      sam-account-name              
meetingContactInfo               String      contact-info                  
telephoneNumber                  String      telephone-number              
Map: att_map_1
department                       String DN   element-req-qos

Configuration Examples of IPv6 Support for LDAP

Example: Device-to-LDAP Server Communication

The following example shows how to create server group server1 and specify the IP address, transport port 200, and retransmit values: 

Device> enable
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# aaa new-model
Device(config)# ldap server server1
Device(config-ldap-server)# ipv6 2001:DB8:0:0:8:800
Device(config-ldap-server)# transport port 200
Device(config-ldap-server)# timeout retransmit 20
Device(config-ldap-server)# exit

Example: LDAP Protocol Parameters

The following example shows how to configure Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) parameters:

Device> enable
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# aaa new-model
Device(config)# ldap server server1
Device(config-ldap-server)# bind authenticate root-dn “cn=administrator,cn=users,dc=nac-blr2,dc=example,dc=com password”
Device(config-ldap-server)# base-dn “dc=sns,dc=example,dc=com”
Device(config-ldap-server)# mode secure no-negotiation
Device(config-ldap-server)# secure cipher 3des-ede-cbc-sha
Device(config-ldap-server)# exit

Example: Search and Bind Operations for an Authentication Request

The following example shows how to configure the sequence of search and bind operations for an authentication request: 

Device> enable
Device# configure terminal
Device(config)# aaa new-model
Device(config)# ldap server server1
Device(config-ldap-server)# authentication bind-first
Device(config-ldap-server)# authentication compare
Device(config-ldap-server)# exit

Example: Server Information from an LDAP Server

The following is sample output from an LDAP server:

Device# show ldap server all
 
Server Information for server1
============================================
 Server name              :server1
 Server IP                :2001:DB8:0:0:8:800
 Server listening Port    :389
 Connection status        :DOWN
 Root Bind status         :No Bind
 Server mode              :Non-Secure
 Cipher Suite             :0x00
 Authentication Seq       :Search first. Then Bind/Compare      password next
 Authentication Procedure :Bind with user password
 Request timeout          :30
 -------------------------------------------
 * LDAP STATISTICS *
 Total messages  [Sent:0, Received:0]
 Response delay(ms) [Average:0, Maximum:0]
 Total search    [Request:0, ResultEntry:0, ResultDone:0]
 Total bind      [Request:0, Response:0]
 Total extended  [Request:0, Response:0]
 Total compare   [Request:0, Response:0]
 Search [Success:0, Failures:0]
 Bind   [Success:0, Failures:0]
 Missing attrs in Entry [0]
--------------------------------------------

Additional References

Related Documents

Related Topic Document Title

For complete syntax and usage information for the commands used in this chapter.

Command Reference (Catalyst 9600 Series Switches)

Standards and RFCs

Standard/RFC Title
RFC 4511

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
RFC 4513

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP): Authentication Methods and Security Mechanisms

Feature History for IPv6 Support for LDAP

This table provides release and related information for features explained in this module.

These features are available on all releases subsequent to the one they were introduced in, unless noted otherwise.

Release

Feature

Feature Information

Cisco IOS XE Gibraltar 16.11.1

IPv6 Support for LDAP

The IPv6 Support for LDAP feature describes IPv6 transport support for the LDAP protocol by introducing changes in authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) transactions.

Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform and software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to http://www.cisco.com/go/cfn.