Connecting to an Internal Directory with LDAP Authentication
You can connect your Confluence application to an LDAP directory for delegated authentication. This means that Confluence will have an internal directory that uses LDAP for authentication only. There is an option to create users in the internal directory automatically when they attempt to log in, as described in the settings section.
Overview
An internal directory with LDAP authentication offers the features of an internal directory while allowing you to store and check users' passwords in LDAP only. Note that the 'internal directory with LDAP authentication' is separate from the default 'internal directory'. On LDAP, all that the application does is to check the password. The LDAP connection is read only. Every user in the internal directory with LDAP authentication must map to a user on LDAP, otherwise they cannot log in.
When to use this option: Choose this option if you want to set up a user and group configuration within your application that suits your needs, while checking your users' passwords against the corporate LDAP directory. This option also helps to avoid the performance issues that may result from downloading large numbers of groups from LDAP.
Connecting Confluence to an Internal Directory with LDAP Authentication
To connect to an internal directory but check logins via LDAP:
- Choose the cog icon
, then choose General Configuration - Click 'User Directories' in the left-hand panel.
- Add a directory and select type 'Internal with LDAP Authentication'.
- Enter the values for the settings, as described below.
- Save the directory settings.
- If you want LDAP users to be used in place of existing internal users, move the 'Internal with LDAP Authentication' directory to the top of the list. You can define the directory order by clicking the blue up- and down-arrows next to each directory on the 'User Directories' screen. Here is a summary of how the directory order affects the processing:
- Changes to users and groups will be made only in the first directory where the application has permission to make changes.
- The order of the directories is the order in which they will be searched for users and groups (by default Confluence aggregates group membership from all directories, so the order does not impact membership itself).
- Add your users and groups in Confluence. See Add and Invite Users and Managing Site-Wide Permissions and Groups .
Server Settings
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Name | A descriptive name that will help you to identify the directory. Examples:
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Directory Type | Select the type of LDAP directory that you will connect to. If you are adding a new LDAP connection, the value you select here will determine the default values for some of the options on the rest of screen. Examples:
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Hostname | The host name of your directory server. Examples:
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Port | The port on which your directory server is listening. Examples:
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Use SSL | Check this box if the connection to the directory server is an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) connection. Note that you will need to configure an SSL certificate in order to use this setting. |
Username | The distinguished name of the user that the application will use when connecting to the directory server. Examples:
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Password | The password of the user specified above. |
Copying Users on Login
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Copy User on Login | This option affects what will happen when a user attempts to log in. If this box is checked, the user will be created automatically in the internal directory that is using LDAP for authentication when the user first logs in and their details will be synchronized on each subsequent log in. If this box is not checked, the user's login will fail if the user wasn't already manually created in the directory.
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Update User attributes on Login | Whenever your users authenticate to the application, their attributes will be automatically updated from the LDAP server into the application. After you select this option, you won't be able to modify or delete your users directly in the application.
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Default Group Memberships | This field appears if you check the Copy User on Login box. If you would like users to be automatically added to a group or groups, enter the group name(s) here. To specify more than one group, separate the group names with commas. Each time a user logs in, their group memberships will be checked. If the user does not belong to the specified group(s), their username will be added to the group(s). If a group does not yet exist, it will be added to the internal directory that is using LDAP for authentication.
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Synchronize Group Memberships | This field appears if you select the Copy User on Login checkbox. If this box is checked, group memberships specified on your LDAP server will be synchronized with the internal directory each time the user logs in.
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Note: 'Copy Users on Login' must be enabled if you want to be able to change usernames.
Schema Settings
Setting |
Description |
|---|---|
Base DN |
The root distinguished name (DN) to use when running queries against the directory server. Examples:
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User Name Attribute |
The attribute field to use when loading the username. Examples:
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Advanced Settings
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable Nested Groups | Enable or disable support for nested groups. Some directory servers allow you to define a group as a member of another group. Groups in such a structure are called nested groups. Nested groups simplify permissions by allowing sub-groups to inherit permissions from a parent group. |
Use Paged Results | Enable or disable the use of the LDAP control extension for simple paging of search results. If paging is enabled, the search will retrieve sets of data rather than all of the search results at once. Enter the desired page size – that is, the maximum number of search results to be returned per page when paged results are enabled. The default is 1000 results. |
Follow Referrals | Choose whether to allow the directory server to redirect requests to other servers. This option uses the node referral (JNDI lookup |
User Schema Settings
Note: this section is only visible when Copy User on Login is enabled.
Setting |
Description |
|---|---|
Additional User DN |
This value is used in addition to the base DN when searching and loading users. If no value is supplied, the subtree search will start from the base DN. Example:
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User Object Class |
This is the name of the class used for the LDAP user object. Example:
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User Object Filter |
The filter to use when searching user objects. Example:
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User Name RDN Attribute |
The RDN (relative distinguished name) to use when loading the username. The DN for each LDAP entry is composed of two parts: the RDN and the location within the LDAP directory where the record resides. The RDN is the portion of your DN that is not related to the directory tree structure. Example:
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User First Name Attribute |
The attribute field to use when loading the user's first name. Example:
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User Last Name Attribute |
The attribute field to use when loading the user's last name. Example:
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User Display Name Attribute |
The attribute field to use when loading the user's full name. Example:
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User Email Attribute |
The attribute field to use when loading the user's email address. Example:
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Group Schema Settings
Note: this section is only visible when both Copy User on Login and Synchronize Group Memberships are enabled.
Setting |
Description |
|---|---|
Additional Group DN |
This value is used in addition to the base DN when searching and loading groups. If no value is supplied, the subtree search will start from the base DN. Example:
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Group Object Class |
This is the name of the class used for the LDAP group object. Examples:
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Group Object Filter |
The filter to use when searching group objects. Example:
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Group Name Attribute |
The attribute field to use when loading the group's name. Example:
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Group Description Attribute |
The attribute field to use when loading the group's description. Example:
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Membership Schema Settings
Note: this section is only visible when both Copy User on Login and Synchronize Group Memberships are enabled.
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Group Members Attribute | The attribute field to use when loading the group's members. Example:
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User Membership Attribute | The attribute field to use when loading the user's groups. Example:
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Use the User Membership Attribute, when finding the user's group membership | Check this box if your directory server supports the group membership attribute on the user. (By default, this is the 'memberOf' attribute.)
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Diagrams of Possible Configurations
Diagram above: Confluence connecting to an LDAP directory for authentication only.
Diagram above: Confluence connecting to an LDAP directory for authentication only, with each user synchronized with the internal directory that is using LDAP authentication when they log in to Confluence.