Before connecting EmpowerID to an external directory, please review the Getting Started with Directory Systems topic. The topic walks you through the prerequisites you need to complete before connecting to an external directory for the first time. These prerequisites include: Configuring the appropriate server roles for your EmpowerID servers Reviewing the Join and Provision Rules for your environment Reviewing the Join and Provision Filters for your environment If you have already connected EmpowerID to another external directory, you can skip the above prerequisites. EmpowerID provides connectors for a wide range of user directories and resource systems. As an administrator, you can use these connectors to quickly connect EmpowerID to your organization's identity-aware systems and applications. When you do so, you create an account store for that application in the EmpowerID Identity Warehouse and use that account store to configure how you want EmpowerID to manage the identity information in that system.
This topic demonstrates how to add an LDAP Directory domain to the EmpowerID Identity Warehouse as a managed Account Store. EmpowerID provides connectors out of the box for the following LDAP directories. The process for connecting to each is the same.
IBM – IBM Tivoli Directory Server
NOVELL – Novell eDirectory
OpenDS – Open Directory Service (OpenDS)
OpenLDAP – Open LDAP
ORACLE – Oracle Internet Directory
Radiant Logic – Radiant Logic
SUN – Oracle Directory Server Enterprise Edition (SUN)
To connect EmpowerID to LDAP, the Proxy User or connection account must be an admin user account that has read access to the partition that holds the objects in the directory.
Step 1 – Create an LDAP account store in EmpowerID
On the navbar, expand Admin > Applications and Directories and then click Account Stores and Systems.
On the Account Stores page, select the Actions tab and click Create Account Store.
Search for an LDAP system, such as Open LDAP.
Click the record for chosen LDAP system to select the type and then click Submit.
This opens the LDAP Settings form, which is where you enter settings to connect EmpowerID to your LDAP directory.
Enter the following information in the LDAP Settings form:
Name – Enter a name for the account store.
Display Name – Enter the name for the account store that appears in the user interfaces of EmpowerID.
LDAP server: (Add Port Number if other than 389): – Enter the name of the server on which the directory is installed and include the port number if it is other than 389.
e.g. dc-exch:636Partition Suffix – Enter the partition suffix for the directory.
e.g. dc=eiddoc,dc=comProxy User – Enter the admin user account that has read access to the partition that holds the objects in the directory.
Password – Enter the password for the proxy account.
Is Remote (Required Cloud Gateway) – This setting appears for account stores with local directories, such as Active Directory, LDAP, SAP, etc. When enabled, this tells EmpowerID to use the Cloud Gateway Connection for that account store. The Cloud Gateway Connection must be installed on an on-premise machine. For installation information, please see Installing the EmpowerID Cloud Gateway Client.
Click Submit.
EmpowerID creates the account store and the associated resource system. The next step is to configure the attribute flow between the account store and EmpowerID.
Step 2 – Configure attribute flow
EmpowerID supports the configuration of attribute synchronization rules for flowing attribute changes between directories and the EmpowerID Identity Warehouse. Attribute Flow rules are visually configured and are always relative to the relationship between an attribute in a directory and the corresponding attribute in the EmpowerID Identity Warehouse. Attribute Flow rules define the specific fields and attributes that are synchronized between the EmpowerID Identity Warehouse person objects and the external user accounts to which they are linked. Additionally, Attribute Flow rules can be weighted by account store. For example, if you have connected EmpowerID to an HR system as well as Active Directory, and you want any changes made to an attribute in the HR system to take priority over changes made in Active Directory or EmpowerID (while allowing changes to be made in any system), you would give a higher score for each CRUD operation originating from the HR account store and correspondingly lower scores for the Active Directory account store. The following flow rules are available: No Sync 🔴 – When this option is selected, no information flows between EmpowerID and the native system. Bidirectional Flow Account Store Changes Only EmpowerID Changes Only The following CRUD operations are available: Create – This operation is used to create an attribute value for an existing attribute when the value of that attribute is null. Update – This operation is used to update the value of an attribute. Delete – This operation is used to delete the value of an attribute. From the Account Stores tab of the Account Stores and Systems page, search for the account store you just created and click the Account Store link for it. Click the Attribute Flow Rules tab to view the current rules for the account store. Please note that the attributes available depend on the account store. To change the flow for an attribute, click the Attribute Flow drop-down located between the Person Attribute column and the External Directory Attribute column, and select the desired flow direction from the context menu. To change the score for any of the available CRUD operations (Create, Update and Delete), enter the new score in the appropriate field. By default, scores are weighted evenly, which means that a change to an attribute originating in one connected external directory has the same authority as a change to an attribute occurring in another connected external directory. EmpowerID only considers scores for attribute CRUD operations when multiple account stores with the same user records are connected to EmpowerID, such as would be the case if an HR System and this account store were being inventoried by EmpowerID.
– When this option is selected, changes made within EmpowerID update the native system and vice-versa. For most attributes, this is the default setting. – When this option is selected, changes can only be made in the native system and are then passed to EmpowerID. – When this option is selected, changes can only be made in EmpowerID and are then passed to the native system.
Now that the attribute flow has been set, the next steps include configuring the account store and enabling EmpowerID to inventory it.
Step 3 – Configure account store settings
Account Store Settings | |
|---|---|
Setting | Description |
General Settings | |
IT Environment Type | Allows you to specify the type of environment in which you are creating the account store. |
Account Store Type | Allows you to specify the type of account store you are creating. |
Option 1 Specify an Account Proxy | Allows you to change the credentials for the account that EmpowerID uses to connect to and manage the account store. |
Option 2 Select a Vaulted Credential as Account Proxy | Allows you to use a credential that you have vaulted in EmpowerID as the account that EmpowerID uses to connect to and manage the account store. |
Use Secure LDAPS Binding | Specifies whether you are using Secure LDAP to encrypt LDAP data when establishing a directory bind. |
Inventoried Directory Server | Allows you to select a connected server as the directory server for the account store. |
Is Remote (Cloud Gateway Connection Required) | This setting appears for account stores with local directories, such as Active Directory, LDAP, SAP, etc. When enabled, this tells EmpowerID to use the Cloud Gateway Connection for that account store. The Cloud Gateway Connection must be installed on an on-premise machine. For installation information, please see Installing the EmpowerID Cloud Gateway Client. |
Is Visible in IAM Shop | Specifies whether the account store can be used to filter objects relative to the account store, such as groups, to users searching for resources in the IAM Shop. |
Authentication and Password Settings | |
Use for Authentication | Specifies whether user credentials in the external system can be used to authenticate to EmpowerID. |
Allow Search for User Name in Authentication | This setting works in conjunction with pass-through authentication to allow users to log in without specifying a domain name. When this is enabled, EmpowerID first checks to see if the user name entered exists within its Identity Warehouse and if so attempts to authenticate as that user. If a matching logon name exists but the login fails, EmpowerID then searches through all Accounts Stores where simple username search is enabled to find the correct user name and password combination. |
Allow Password Sync | Enables or disables the synchronization of password changes to user accounts in the domain based on password changes for the owning person object or another account owned by the person. This setting does not prevent password changes by users running the reset user account password workflows. |
Queue Password Changes | Specifies whether EmpowerID sends password changes to the Account Password Reset Inbox for batch processing. |
Password Manager Policy for Accounts without Person | Specifies the Password Manager Policy to be used for user accounts not joined to an EmpowerID Person. |
Provisioning Settings | |
Allow Person Provisioning (Joiner Source) | Specifies whether EmpowerID Persons can be provisioned from user accounts in the account store. |
Allow Attribute Flow | Specifies whether attribute changes should flow between EmpowerID and the account store. |
Allow Provisioning (By RET) | Allows or disallows the Resource Entitlement (RET) Inbox process to auto-provision accounts for this domain for users who receive RET policy-assigned user accounts, but have not yet had them provisioned. |
Allow Deprovisioning (By RET) | Allows or disallows the Resource Entitlement Inbox process to auto de-provision accounts for this domain for users who still have RET policy-assigned user accounts, but no longer receive a policy that grants them a user account in the domain. De-provisioning only occurs if the de-provision action on the Resource Entitlement policy is set to De-Provision. |
Default User Creation Path | This specifies the default path in which to create user accounts if no location is selected when creating new users in EmpowerID. |
Max Accounts per Person | This specifies the maximum number of user accounts from this domain that an EmpowerID Person can have linked to them. This prevents the possibility of a runaway error caused by a wrongly configured Join rule. It is recommended that this value be set to 1 unless users will have more than 1 account and you wish them to be joined to the same person. |
Business Role Settings | |
Allow Business Role and Location Re-Evaluation | Specifies whether Business Role and Location re-evaluation should occur for the account store |
Business Role and Location Re-Evaluation Order | Specifies the order of the account store for re-evaluating Business Roles and locations |
Inventory Auto Provision OUs as IT System Locations | Specifies whether EmpowerID should automatically provision external OUs as IT System locations |
Inventory Auto Provision External Roles as Business Roles | Specifies whether EmpowerID should provision Business roles for external account store roles |
Default Person Business Role | Specifies the default EmpowerID Business Role to be assigned to each EmpowerID Person provisioned from the user accounts in the account store. |
Default Person Location (leave blank to use account container) | Specifies the default EmpowerID Location to be assigned to each EmpowerID Person provisioned from the user accounts in the account store. |
Group Settings | |
Allow Account Creation on Membership Request | Specifies whether EmpowerID creates user accounts in the account store when an EmpowerID Person without one requests membership within a group belonging to the account store. |
Recertify External Group Changes as Detected | Specifies whether detected group changes should trigger recertification. |
SetGroup of Groups to Monitor for Real-Time Recertification | Specifies the SetGroup or Query-Based Collection with groups that need to be recertified when changes to the membership of one or more of those groups occurs. The setting must be set to the GUID of the target SetGroup. If the GUID for a specific SetGroup is not set and Recertify External Group Changes as Detected is enabled for the account store, EmpowerID processes all security group memberships for recertification. Group recertification is processed by the Continuous Group Membership Recertification permanent workflow. This workflow must be enabled for recertification to occur. |
Default Group Creation Path | Specifies the default OU in which groups should be created if one is not specified. |
EmpowerID Group Creation Path | Specifies the OU in which to create EmpowerID Resource Role groups |
Directory Clean Up Enabled | |
Directory Clean Up Enabled | Specifies whether the SubmitAccountTermination permanent workflow should claim the account store for processing account terminations. When enabled, accounts in the account store that meet the qualifications to be marked for deletion are moved into a special OU within the external directory, disabled and finally deleted after going through an automated approval process. This process involves setting a number of system settings in EmpowerID and requires multiple approvals by designated personnel before an account is finally removed from the account store. |
Report Only Mode (No Changes) | When enabled, a report of what the Directory Clean Up process would do is written to the log. The process itself is ignored and all accounts are set to Termination Pending, |
OU to Move Stale Accounts | Specifies the external directory in which to move accounts marked for termination. |
Special Use Settings | |
RBAC Assign Group Members On First Inventory | Converts each user account in an group to a Access Level assignment for the EmpowerID Person who owns the user account. Enabling this function is not recommended in most cases as it removes the ability to manage groups in the account store. A consequence of this is that if a user account is removed from a native system, EmpowerID puts the account back in the group. |
Automatically Join Account to a Person on Inventory (Skip Account Inbox) | Specifies whether EmpowerID should attempt to join user accounts in the account store to an existing EmpowerID Person during the inventory process. When enabled, the Account Inbox is bypassed. |
Automatically Create a Person on Inventory (Skip Account Inbox) | Specifies whether EmpowerID should create new EmpowerID Persons from the user accounts discovered in the account store during the inventory process. When enabled, the Account Inbox is bypassed. |
Show in Location Tree | Specifies whether the account store shows in the Location Tree within the EmpowerID UI. |
Queue Password Changes on Failure | Specifies whether EmpowerID should send password changes to the Account Password Reset Inbox only when the change fails. |
Inventory Settings | |
Inventory Schedule Interval | Specifies the time span that occurs before EmpowerID performs a complete inventory of the account store. The default value is 10 minutes. |
Inventory Enabled | Allows EmpowerID to inventory the user information in the account store. |
Membership Settings | |
Membership Schedule Interval | Specifies the time span in minutes that occurs before EmpowerID runs the Group Membership Reconciliation job. The default value is 10 minutes. |
Enable Group Membership Reconciliation | Allows EmpowerID to manage the membership of the account store’s groups, adding and removing user to and from groups based on policy-based assignment rules. |
Deleted Object Detection Settings | |
Enabled | Specifies whether EmpowerID inventories the deleted objects container of the external system. |
Interval Minutes | Specifies the time span in minutes that occurs before EmpowerID inventories the deleted objects container of the external system. |
Threshold Max % of Deleted Objects | Specifies the maximum number of deleted objects |
Threshold in Minutes Since Last Successful Inventory | Specifies the acceptable threshold in minutes since the last successful inventory; |
Next, enable the Account Inbox permanent workflow to allow the Account Inbox to provision or join the user accounts in the LDAP system to EmpowerID Persons as demonstrated below.
EmpowerID recommends using the Account Inbox for provisioning and joining.
On the navbar, expand System Logs > Policy Inbox Logs and click Account Inbox. Dashboard — This tab provides a quick summary of account inbox activity. Not Processed — This tab displays a grid view of all inventoried user accounts not yet used to provision a new EmpowerID Person or joined to an existing Person. Any accounts that fail to meet the Join and Provision rules are displayed here as well. Failed — This tab displays a grid view of any account joining or provisioning failures. Ignored — This tab displays a grid view of all accounts ignored by the account inbox. Accounts are ignored if they do not qualify as user accounts. Joined — This tab displays a grid view of all accounts joined to an EmpowerID Person. Joins occur based on the Join rules applied to the account store. Processed — This tab displays a grid view of all accounts that have been used to either provision a new EmpowerID Person or joined to an existing EmpowerID Person. Provisioned — This tab displays a grid view of all accounts that have been used to provision an EmpowerID Person. Provisioning occurs based on the Provision rules applied to the account store. Orphans — This tab displays a grid view of all user accounts without an EmpowerID Person. All — This tab displays a grid view of all user accounts and the status of those accounts in relation to the Account Inbox.Monitor inventory
The Account Inbox page appears. This page provides tabbed views of all information related to processing new user accounts discovered in a connected account store during inventory. An explanation of these tabs follows.
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