LDAP Authentication with OSUser

Overview

To configure Confluence to connect to LDAP for user management only, you have two options:

1. Use LDAP for users and authentication, not groups. That's described in Add LDAP integration, and includes an optional step to remove group management. This method is supported in Confluence versions after version 2.7.
   
   or
   
   
2. Create and manage users and groups in Confluence, and use LDAP for authentication only. This is the deprecated OSUser management approach, as described in this document. If a username exists in both Confluence and LDAP, the user uses their LDAP password to log in. This method has been deprecated after Confluence version 2.7

Important Points about Option 2 Above

• Only the password lookup is done against LDAP and only if the Confluence username is the same as the LDAP username. Users and user profiles are still managed in Confluence. See technical explanation below.
• A Confluence account must be created for each LDAP user, as users do not automatically have access. For an LDAP user to access Confluence, a site administrator will still need to create an account for them. The password in this Confluence account will be ignored as the LDAP password will override it.

Instructions

Step 1: Modify atlassian-user.xml to use OSUser Management

For Confluence 2.7 and above, the default user repository is the hibernate repository (Atlassian User). To revert to OSUser, you will need to put the OSUser repository tag in the top position so it's the primary user management option. Modify /confluence/WEB-INF/classes/atlassian-user.xml to contain this:

<atlassian-user>
<repositories>
<osuser key="osuserRepository" name="OSUser Repository"/>
<hibernate name="Hibernate Repository" key="hibernateRepository" description="Hibernate Repository" cache="true"/>
</repositories>
</atlassian-user>

Note: For Confluence version prior to 2.7, if you have delegated your user management to JIRA, LDAP or any other external user management system, copy the following files from your old Confluence installation to your new Confluence installation:

• <Installation-Directory>/confluence/WEB-INF/classes/osuser.xml.
• <Installation-Directory>/confluence/WEB-INF/classes/atlassian-user.xml (if you are upgrading from Confluence 2.2 or later).

Step 2: Open the osuser.xml file located in your home directory under WEB-INF/classes

In the osuser.xml file, the CredentialsProviders are responsible for authenticating passwords. The default CachingCredentialsProvider looks in the Confluence database. To enable LDAP aunthentication, you will need to add a LDAPCredentialsProvider, so that LDAP users can also be authenticated:

Here's what the default osuser.xml contains:

<provider class="bucket.user.providers.CachingCredentialsProvider">
<property name="chain.classname">com.opensymphony.user.provider.hibernate.HibernateCredentialsProvider</property>
<property name="chain.configuration.provider.class">bucket.user.BucketHibernateConfigProvider</property>
</provider>
<provider class="bucket.user.providers.CachingAccessProvider">
<property name="chain.classname">com.opensymphony.user.provider.hibernate.HibernateAccessProvider</property>
<property name="chain.configuration.provider.class">bucket.user.BucketHibernateConfigProvider</property>
</provider>
<provider class="bucket.user.providers.CachingProfileProvider">
<property name="chain.classname">com.opensymphony.user.provider.hibernate.HibernateProfileProvider</property>
<property name="chain.configuration.provider.class">bucket.user.BucketHibernateConfigProvider</property>
</provider>

Step 3: Edit the osuser.xml file as shown below

For Confluence version 2.1 and later:

<provider class="com.atlassian.confluence.user.ConfluenceLDAPCredentialsProvider">
<property name="java.naming.factory.initial">com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory</property>
<property name="java.naming.provider.url">ldap://localhost:389</property>
<property name="searchBase">dc=atlassian,dc=com</property>
<property name="uidSearchName">cn</property>
<!--
<property name="java.naming.security.principal">cn=Manager,dc=atlassian,dc=com</property>
<property name="java.naming.security.credentials">secret</property>
<property name="exclusive-access">true</property>
-->
</provider>

<provider class="bucket.user.providers.CachingCredentialsProvider">
<property name="chain.classname">com.opensymphony.user.provider.hibernate.HibernateCredentialsProvider</property>
<property name="chain.configuration.provider.class">bucket.user.BucketHibernateConfigProvider</property>
</provider>
<provider class="bucket.user.providers.CachingAccessProvider">
<property name="chain.classname">com.opensymphony.user.provider.hibernate.HibernateAccessProvider</property>
<property name="chain.configuration.provider.class">bucket.user.BucketHibernateConfigProvider</property>
</provider>
<provider class="bucket.user.providers.CachingProfileProvider">
<property name="chain.classname">com.opensymphony.user.provider.hibernate.HibernateProfileProvider</property>
<property name="chain.configuration.provider.class">bucket.user.BucketHibernateConfigProvider</property>
</provider>

For older verisons of Confluence

<provider class="com.opensymphony.user.provider.ldap.LDAPCredentialsProvider">
<property name="java.naming.factory.initial">com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory</property>
<property name="java.naming.provider.url">ldap://localhost:389</property>
<property name="searchBase">dc=atlassian,dc=com</property>
<property name="uidSearchName">cn</property>
<!--
<property name="java.naming.security.principal">cn=Manager,dc=atlassian,dc=com</property>
<property name="java.naming.security.credentials">secret</property>
<property name="exclusive-access">true</property>
-->
</provider>

<provider class="bucket.user.providers.CachingCredentialsProvider">
<property name="chain.classname">com.opensymphony.user.provider.hibernate.HibernateCredentialsProvider</property>
<property name="chain.configuration.provider.class">bucket.user.BucketHibernateConfigProvider</property>
</provider>
<provider class="bucket.user.providers.CachingAccessProvider">
<property name="chain.classname">com.opensymphony.user.provider.hibernate.HibernateAccessProvider</property>
<property name="chain.configuration.provider.class">bucket.user.BucketHibernateConfigProvider</property>
</provider>
<provider class="bucket.user.providers.CachingProfileProvider">
<property name="chain.classname">com.opensymphony.user.provider.hibernate.HibernateProfileProvider</property>
<property name="chain.configuration.provider.class">bucket.user.BucketHibernateConfigProvider</property>
</provider>

• Update the following properties to suit your LDAP server:
  
  
  • url (currently set to ldap://localhost:389)
    
  • searchBase (currently set to dc=atlassian,dc=com)
    
  • uidSearchName (currently set to cn)
    
    
• If your LDAP server is not configured to allow anonymous lookups, you need to:
  
  
  • remove comment tags
    
  • enter the username; including searchBase (currently set to cn=Manager,dc=atlassian,dc=com)
    
  • enter password (currently set to secret)

The Credentials (password) checking is a separate operation from user-profile lookups. The profile can be loaded from the Confluence database, but the password is looked up from LDAP. Furthermore, multiple credentials providers can be specified (here, LDAP and OSUser), and if one fails, the other will be used. This allows non-LDAP users to log in with their Confluence password.

How this works

It is useful to have a general idea of how this setup works. This section outlines some consequences of this OSUser implementation and provides some help for people experiencing LDAP connection problems.

Only password-checking for LDAP users is done in Confluence

User profiles are still managed in Confluence (by the CachingProfileProvider in osuser.xml). Only the password lookup is performed against LDAP and only if the Confluence username coincides with a LDAP username. This is because Credentials (password) checking is a separate operation to user-profile lookups. The profile can be loaded from the Confluence database, but the password is looked up from LDAP.

Not all LDAP users have Confluence access

Another effect of this implementation is that LDAP users do not automatically have access to Confluence. A Confluence account must be created for each user wishing to use Confluence.

This is because each Confluence user has a set of groups (for example, 'confluence-users') stored in their profile. Without an associated group, that user can do nothing; not even browse Confluence (that is, they lack the 'use' permission).

Thus, for an LDAP user to use Confluence, a Confluence admin must create an account for them and assign them to a group (typically 'confluence-user'). The password in this Confluence account will be ignored, as the LDAP password will override it.

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