389 Directory Server formerly the Fedora Directory Server is an enterprise-class open source LDAP server for Linux. This article will show you how to setup the 389 Directory Server.

ImportantMake sure that your host name is properly registered in your DNS or /etc/hosts file. Check if your hostname is registered properly by executing 
ping mail.acme.local
in a terminal window, replace mail.acme.local with your own host name. If it returns 127.0.0.1 or unknown host that means it is not registered properly.

Installing 389 Directory Server

Terminal
1. Type in the command below to update your Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 or CentOS 5 to version 5.3 or higher. 
yum update
Version 5.3 and above is required to run the 389 Directory Server.
Terminal
2. Install 389 Directory Server by typing in the commands below in a terminal window. This is the content of fedora-ds.repo. 
cd /etc/yum.repos.d
wget www.linuxmail.info/files/fedora-ds.repo
yum install 389-ds openldap-clients
Create New User3. Create a new user and group named fds. This account will be used to run the fds service. Learn how to create a new user.
Terminal4. Type in setup-ds-admin.pl in a terminal window to setup 389 Directory Server. Most of the time, the default is simply accepted indicated by the ↵ in the sample session below.
[root@mail ~]# setup-ds-admin.pl

==============================================================================
This program will set up the 389 Directory and Administration Servers.

It is recommended that you have "root" privilege to set up the software.
Tips for using this program:
  - Press "Enter" to choose the default and go to the next screen
  - Type "Control-B" then "Enter" to go back to the previous screen
  - Type "Control-C" to cancel the setup program

Would you like to continue with set up? [yes]: ↵

==============================================================================
BY SETTING UP AND USING THIS SOFTWARE YOU ARE CONSENTING TO BE BOUND BY
AND ARE BECOMING A PARTY TO THE AGREEMENT FOUND IN THE
LICENSE.TXT FILE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS
OF THIS AGREEMENT, PLEASE DO NOT SET UP OR USE THIS SOFTWARE.

Do you agree to the license terms? [no]: yes

==============================================================================
Your system has been scanned for potential problems, missing patches,
etc.  The following output is a report of the items found that need to
be addressed before running this software in a production
environment.

389 Directory Server system tuning analysis version 10-AUGUST-2007.



NOTICE : System is i686-unknown-linux2.6.18-53.el5 (1 processor).

WARNING: 376MB of physical memory is available on the system. 1024MB is recommended for best performance on large production system.

NOTICE : The net.ipv4.tcp_keepalive_time is set to 7200000 milliseconds
(120 minutes).  This may cause temporary server congestion from lost
client connections.

WARNING: There are only 1024 file descriptors (hard limit) available, which
limit the number of simultaneous connections.  

WARNING: There are only 1024 file descriptors (soft limit) available, which
limit the number of simultaneous connections.  

Would you like to continue? [no]: yes

==============================================================================
Choose a setup type:

   1. Express
       Allows you to quickly set up the servers using the most
       common options and pre-defined defaults. Useful for quick
       evaluation of the products.

   2. Typical
       Allows you to specify common defaults and options.

   3. Custom
       Allows you to specify more advanced options. This is 
       recommended for experienced server administrators only.

To accept the default shown in brackets, press the Enter key.

Choose a setup type [2]: ↵

==============================================================================
Enter the fully qualified domain name of the computer
on which you're setting up server software. Using the form
<hostname>.<domainname>
Example: eros.example.com.

To accept the default shown in brackets, press the Enter key.

Computer name [mail.acme.local]: ↵

==============================================================================
The servers must run as a specific user in a specific group.
It is strongly recommended that this user should have no privileges
on the computer (i.e. a non-root user).  The setup procedure
will give this user/group some permissions in specific paths/files
to perform server-specific operations.

If you have not yet created a user and group for the servers,
create this user and group using your native operating
system utilities.

System User [nobody]: fds
System Group [nobody]: fds

==============================================================================
Server information is stored in the configuration directory server.
This information is used by the console and administration server to
configure and manage your servers.  If you have already set up a
configuration directory server, you should register any servers you
set up or create with the configuration server.  To do so, the
following information about the configuration server is required: the
fully qualified host name of the form
<hostname>.<domainname>(e.g. hostname.example.com), the port number
(default 389), the suffix, the DN and password of a user having
permission to write the configuration information, usually the
configuration directory administrator, and if you are using security
(TLS/SSL).  If you are using TLS/SSL, specify the TLS/SSL (LDAPS) port
number (default 636) instead of the regular LDAP port number, and
provide the CA certificate (in PEM/ASCII format).

If you do not yet have a configuration directory server, enter 'No' to
be prompted to set up one.

Do you want to register this software with an existing
configuration directory server? [no]: ↵

==============================================================================
Please enter the administrator ID for the configuration directory
server.  This is the ID typically used to log in to the console.  You
will also be prompted for the password.

Configuration directory server
administrator ID [admin]: ↵
Password: 
Password (confirm): 

==============================================================================
The information stored in the configuration directory server can be
separated into different Administration Domains.  If you are managing
multiple software releases at the same time, or managing information
about multiple domains, you may use the Administration Domain to keep
them separate.

If you are not using administrative domains, press Enter to select the
default.  Otherwise, enter some descriptive, unique name for the
administration domain, such as the name of the organization
responsible for managing the domain.

Administration Domain [acme.local]: ↵

==============================================================================
The standard directory server network port number is 389.  However, if
you are not logged as the superuser, or port 389 is in use, the
default value will be a random unused port number greater than 1024.
If you want to use port 389, make sure that you are logged in as the
superuser, that port 389 is not in use.

Directory server network port [389]: ↵

==============================================================================
Each instance of a directory server requires a unique identifier.
This identifier is used to name the various
instance specific files and directories in the file system,
as well as for other uses as a server instance identifier.

Directory server identifier [mail]: ↵

==============================================================================
The suffix is the root of your directory tree.  The suffix must be a valid DN.
It is recommended that you use the dc=domaincomponent suffix convention.
For example, if your domain is example.com,
you should use dc=example,dc=com for your suffix.
Setup will create this initial suffix for you,
but you may have more than one suffix.
Use the directory server utilities to create additional suffixes.

Suffix [dc=acme, dc=local]: ↵

==============================================================================
Certain directory server operations require an administrative user.
This user is referred to as the Directory Manager and typically has a
bind Distinguished Name (DN) of cn=Directory Manager.
You will also be prompted for the password for this user.  The password must
be at least 8 characters long, and contain no spaces.

Directory Manager DN [cn=Directory Manager]: ↵
Password: 
Password (confirm): 

==============================================================================
The Administration Server is separate from any of your web or application
servers since it listens to a different port and access to it is
restricted.

Pick a port number between 1024 and 65535 to run your Administration
Server on. You should NOT use a port number which you plan to
run a web or application server on, rather, select a number which you
will remember and which will not be used for anything else.

Administration port [9830]: ↵

==============================================================================
The interactive phase is complete.  The script will now set up your
servers.  Enter No or go Back if you want to change something.

Are you ready to set up your servers? [yes]: ↵
Creating directory server . . .
Your new DS instance 'mail' was successfully created.
Creating the configuration directory server . . .
Beginning Admin Server creation . . .
Creating Admin Server files and directories . . .
Updating adm.conf . . .
Updating admpw . . .
Registering admin server with the configuration directory server . . .
Updating adm.conf with information from configuration directory server . . .
Updating the configuration for the httpd engine . . .
Starting admin server . . .
The admin server was successfully started.
Admin server was successfully created, configured, and started.
Exiting . . .
Log file is '/tmp/setupcT78dr.log'

[root@mail ~]#
Terminal5. Setup the 389 Directory Server SSL by executing the commands below in a terminal window
wget http://github.com/richm/scripts/blob/master%2Fsetupssl2.sh?raw=true -O setupssl2.sh
chmod +x setupssl2.sh
./setupssl2.sh /etc/dirsrv/slapd-mail
Replace mail with your own server instance. During setup, you will be asked for the password of directory manager.
CentOS 5 Service Configuration6. Start the dirsrv and dirsrv-admin service. Learn how to stop and start services here.

Administering 389 Directory Server

FDS Console Login1. From a terminal window, type in 389-console. This will launch the 389 Management Console Login window.
 
User ID
cn=directory manager
Password
the directory manager password
Administration URL
localhost:9830
 
The values above assumes you have used the default values.
389 Management Console 2. Success. Learn more about using the 389 Management Console.

Related Pages

JXplorer Active DirectoryActive Directory/LDAP virtual users in Postfix and Dovecot
Fedora Management ConsoleActive Directory and Fedora Directory Server Sychronization Howto

Visit the forum to ask for help or to give a comment.

***
Posted on 5/25/2008 and last updated on 8/2/2010
Filed under 389 Directory Server , CentOS 5 , LDAP , Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5