Authentication and Sync - Alf 4.2 with Mountain Lion 10.8.2

[peterglock]

This is a followup to a post I made with a working Alf 4.0 to Lion Server configuration. This config did not work when I upgraded to Alf 4.2 on Mountain Lion so I thought I'd post my updated configs here to help anyone else who may be bashing their head against the wall.

Here are the basic steps (paths on your installation may vary):

1. Create the authentication subsystem folder

mkdir -p /Applications/alfresco-4.2.b/tomcat/webapps/alfresco/WEB-INF/classes/alfresco/subsystems/Authentication/ldap/ldap1‍

2. Create the LDAP authentication and sync file

nano /Applications/alfresco-4.2.b/tomcat/webapps/alfresco/WEB-INF/classes/alfresco/subsystems/Authentication/ldap/ldap1/ldap-authentication.properties‍

3. Insert into ldap-authentication.properties file (and modify dc=company,dc=com to your own requirements):

# This flag enables use of this LDAP subsystem for authentication. It may be
# that this subsytem should only be used for synchronization, in which case
# this flag should be set to false.
ldap.authentication.active=true

#
# This properties file brings together the common options for LDAP authentication rather than editing the bean definitions
#
ldap.authentication.allowGuestLogin=true
# How to map the user id entered by the user to that passed through to LDAP
# - simple 
#    - this must be a DN and would be something like
#      uid=%s,ou=People,dc=company,dc=com
# - digest
#    - usually pass through what is entered
#      %s
# If not set, an LDAP query involving ldap.synchronization.personQuery and ldap.synchronization.userIdAttributeName will 
# be performed to resolve the DN dynamically. This allows directories to be structured and doesn't require the user ID to
# appear in the DN.
ldap.authentication.userNameFormat=uid=%s,cn=users,dc=company,dc=com
#ldap.authentication.userNameFormat=%s

# The read timeout in milliseconds
ldap.authentication.java.naming.read.timeout=500

# The LDAP context factory to use
ldap.authentication.java.naming.factory.initial=com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory

# The URL to connect to the LDAP server 
ldap.authentication.java.naming.provider.url=ldap://127.0.0.1:389

# The authentication mechanism to use for password validation
ldap.authentication.java.naming.security.authentication=SIMPLE

# Escape commas entered by the user at bind time
# Useful when using simple authentication and the CN is part of the DN and contains commas
ldap.authentication.escapeCommasInBind=false

# Escape commas entered by the user when setting the authenticated user
# Useful when using simple authentication and the CN is part of the DN and contains commas, and the escaped \, is 
# pulled in as part of an LDAP sync
# If this option is set to true it will break the default home folder provider as space names can not contain \
ldap.authentication.escapeCommasInUid=false

# Comma separated list of user names who should be considered administrators by default
ldap.authentication.defaultAdministratorUserNames=diradmin

# This flag enables use of this LDAP subsystem for user and group
# synchronization. It may be that this subsytem should only be used for 
# authentication, in which case this flag should be set to false.
ldap.synchronization.active=true

# The authentication mechanism to use for synchronization
ldap.synchronization.java.naming.security.authentication=none

# The default principal to use (only used for LDAP sync)
ldap.synchronization.java.naming.security.principal=

# The password for the default principal (only used for LDAP sync)
ldap.synchronization.java.naming.security.credentials=

# If positive, this property indicates that RFC 2696 paged results should be
# used to split query results into batches of the specified size. This
# overcomes any size limits imposed by the LDAP server.
ldap.synchronization.queryBatchSize=0

# If positive, this property indicates that range retrieval should be used to fetch
# multi-valued attributes (such as member) in batches of the specified size.
# Overcomes any size limits imposed by Active Directory.        
ldap.synchronization.attributeBatchSize=0

# The query to select all objects that represent the groups to import.
ldap.synchronization.groupQuery=(objectclass\=apple-group)

# The query to select objects that represent the groups to import that have changed since a certain time.
ldap.synchronization.groupDifferentialQuery=(&(objectclass\=apple-group)(!(modifyTimestamp<\={0})))

# The query to select all objects that represent the users to import.
ldap.synchronization.personQuery=(objectclass\=inetOrgPerson)

# The query to select objects that represent the users to import that have changed since a certain time.
ldap.synchronization.personDifferentialQuery=(&(objectclass\=inetOrgPerson)(!(modifyTimestamp<\={0})))

# The group search base restricts the LDAP group query to a sub section of tree on the LDAP server.
ldap.synchronization.groupSearchBase=cn\=groups,dc\=company,dc\=com

# The user search base restricts the LDAP user query to a sub section of tree on the LDAP server.
ldap.synchronization.userSearchBase=cn\=users,dc\=company,dc\=com

# The name of the operational attribute recording the last update time for a group or user.
ldap.synchronization.modifyTimestampAttributeName=modifyTimestamp

# The timestamp format. Unfortunately, this varies between directory servers.
ldap.synchronization.timestampFormat=yyyyMMddHHmmss'Z'

# The attribute name on people objects found in LDAP to use as the uid in Alfresco
ldap.synchronization.userIdAttributeName=uid

# The attribute on person objects in LDAP to map to the first name property in Alfresco
ldap.synchronization.userFirstNameAttributeName=givenName

# The attribute on person objects in LDAP to map to the last name property in Alfresco
ldap.synchronization.userLastNameAttributeName=sn

# The attribute on person objects in LDAP to map to the email property in Alfresco
ldap.synchronization.userEmailAttributeName=mail

# The attribute on person objects in LDAP to map to the organizational id  property in Alfresco
ldap.synchronization.userOrganizationalIdAttributeName=apple-company

# The default home folder provider to use for people created via LDAP import
ldap.synchronization.defaultHomeFolderProvider=largeHomeFolderProvider

# The attribute on LDAP group objects to map to the authority name property in Alfresco
ldap.synchronization.groupIdAttributeName=cn

# The attribute on LDAP group objects to map to the authority display name property in Alfresco
ldap.synchronization.groupDisplayNameAttributeName=apple-group-realname

# The group type in LDAP
ldap.synchronization.groupType=groups

# The person type in LDAP
ldap.synchronization.personType=inetOrgPerson

# The attribute in LDAP on group objects that defines the DN for its members
ldap.synchronization.groupMemberAttributeName=memberUid

# If true progress estimation is enabled. When enabled, the user query has to be run twice in order to count entries.
ldap.synchronization.enableProgressEstimation=true
‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

4. Set up authentication chain

nano /Applications/alfresco-4.2.b/tomcat/shared/classes/alfresco-global.properties‍

then add 

### Authentication Chain ###
authentication.chain=ldap1:ldap,alfrescoNtlm1:alfrescoNtlm

#Sync Settings
synchronization.synchronizeChangesOnly=false
synchronization.syncOnStartup=true
synchronization.syncWhenMissingPeopleLogIn=true
synchronization.import.cron=0 0 * * * ?‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

5. Restart alfresco and try to login as diradmin (or any other user)

Some things to note:

1. Timeouts for ldap lookups were killing authentication, I had to set

ldap.authentication.java.naming.read.timeout=500‍

to get queries to complete

2. My alf implementation is on the same server as one of my OD replicas so I'm ok with using simple authentication and anonymous bind and ldap not ldaps. Setting

 ldap.authentication.java.naming.security.authentication=DIGEST-MD5‍

doesn't work for me

3. Turn on debugging in tomcat/webapps/alfresco/WEB-INF/classes/log4j.properties made life a lot easier:

# LDAP
log4j.logger.org.alfresco.repo.importer.ImporterJob=debug
log4j.logger.org.alfresco.repo.importer.ExportSourceImporter=debug
log4j.logger.org.alfresco.repo.security.authentication.ldap=debug‍‍‍‍

Let me know if this works for you.

[peterglock]

I'm finding this forum a useful place to keep my implementation notes. Some other things to help those using OSX server 10.8 to host alfresco.

1. Disable the native webdav web app on the server: sudo webappctl stop com.apple.webapp.webdavsharing
2. TODO - setup a launchctl task to start tomcat/alfresco on reboot
3. SSL Proxy using apache:

sudo nano /Library/Server/Web/Config/apache2/webapps/com.example.alfresco.plist ‍

insert

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
 
 
<!-- See man pages for webapp.plist(5) and webappctl(8) for information about this example webapp.plist -->
 
 
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>includeFiles</key>
<array> <!-- Include files are activated in virtual host when webapp is started -->
<string>/Library/Server/Web/Config/apache2/httpd_alfresco.conf</string>
</array>
<key>launchKeys</key>
<array> <!-- Launchd plists in /System/Library/LaunchDaemons are loaded when webapp is started -->
<!-- <string>com.example.mywebapp</string> -->
</array>
<key>name</key>
<string>com.example.alfresco</string>
 
<key>sslPolicy</key> <!-- Determines webapp SSL behavior -->
<integer>0</integer> <!-- 0: default, UseSSLWhenEnabled -->
<!-- 1: UseSSLAlways -->
<!-- 2: UseSSLOnlyWhenCertificateIsTrustable -->
<!-- 3: UseSSLNever -->
<!-- 4: UseSSLAndNonSSL -->
</dict>
</plist>‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

save it!

sudo nano /Library/Server/Web/Config/apache2/httpd_alfresco.conf‍

insert

RewriteEngine On
# This will enable the Rewrite capabilities
 
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
# This checks to make sure the connection is not already HTTPS
 
RewriteRule ^/?(.*) https://%{SERVER_NAME}/$1 [R,L]
 
 
<IfModule mod_proxy_ajp.c>
     ProxyPass /alfresco ajp://localhost:8009/alfresco
     ProxyPassReverse /alfresco ajp://127.0.0.1:8009/alfresco
     ProxyPass /share ajp://localhost:8009/share
        ProxyPassReverse /share ajp://127.0.0.1:8009/share
</IfModule>‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

save it!

then start your web app: sudo webappctl start com.example.alfresco

If you want to setup a dedicated virtual host for alfresco (e.g. alfresco.example.com) you can limit the proxy to one virtual host by using sudo webappctl start com.example.alfresco alfresco.example.com

4. TODO - setup vti module to work through same ssl proxy

5. Install tomcat native

I used macports to install APR:

sudo port selfupdate
sudo port upgrade outdated
sudo port install apr‍‍‍

then used the tomcat-native in Alfresco/tomcat/bin/

# Unpack the native library source code

tar -xvzf tomcat-native.tar.gz

 

# Change into the native source directory

cd tomcat-native-1.1.24-src/jni/native

 

# Build the make file

./configure --with-apr=/usr/local/apr --with-ssl=/usr --with-java-home=/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/ # you may need to adjust this if using a different java to the Apple version

 

# Make

make

 

# Copy the native library to /usr/lib/java

sudo cp .libs/libtcnative-1.0.1.24.dylib /usr/lib/java

 

# Create a symbolic link in /usr/lib/java to the native library

cd /usr/lib/java

sudo ln -sfhv libtcnative-1.0.1.24.dylib libtcnative-1.dylib

sudo ln -sfhv libtcnative-1.dylib libtcnative-1.jnilib

 

# Restart Tomcat

shutdown.sh

startup.sh

 

# Check the log to make sure APR is loaded

You should see the following message in your log:

INFO: Loaded APR based Apache Tomcat Native library 1.1.24‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

—

too dumb to think of an original sign off...

[peterglock]

One of the challenges with Tomcat in general, and Alfresco's scripted startup in particular, is that the startup scripts get everything going and then exit. I found setup notes for Confluence <a>https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/CONF33/Start+Confluence+automatically+on+OS+X+using+launchd</a> which give some clues as to how to get things running smoothly. You'll have to adjust paths for your own setup, and modify for which user you run Alfresco under (root is not recommended!)

1 - create launchd_wrapper.sh in /Applications/alfresco-4.2d/bin

# A script to automatically start up Alfresco on system bootup
# for Mac OS X. This is actually just a wrapper script around
# the standard startup.sh script, which is included in
# the distribution.
#

# Suppress the annoying "$1: unbound variable" error when no option
# was given
if [ -z $1 ] ; then
        echo "Usage: $0 [start|stop|restart] "
        exit 1
fi

# Source the common setup functions for startup scripts
test -r /etc/rc.common || exit 1
. /etc/rc.common

# The path to the startup script. 
# The currently used version is in /Applications
SCRIPT="/Applications/alfresco-4.2.d/alfresco.sh"

# file to hold the process ID on start so it can be killed by stop.
export CATALINA_PID="/Applications/alfresco-4.2.d/tomcat/temp/catalina.pid"

StartService ()
{
        ConsoleMessage "Starting Alfresco server"
        $SCRIPT start > /dev/null 2>&1
}

StopService ()
{
        ConsoleMessage "Stopping Alfresco server"
        $SCRIPT stop > /dev/null 2>&1
}

RestartService ()
{
        ConsoleMessage "Restarting Alfresco server"
        $SCRIPT restart > /dev/null 2>&1
}

if test -x $SCRIPT ; then
        RunService "$1"

# Allow any signal which would kill a process to stop Alfresco
   trap StopService HUP INT QUIT ABRT KILL ALRM TERM TSTP
   
   while pgrep -F $CATALINA_PID > /dev/null; do sleep 1; done
else
        ConsoleMessage "Could not find Alfresco control script!"
fi
‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

2.  make it executable

sudo chmod a+x /Applications/alfresco-4.2d/bin/launchd_wrapper.sh ‍

3.  try it

sudo /Applications/alfresco-4.2d/bin/launchd_wrapper.sh start‍

You should be stuck in a loop until sending ^C to exit gracefully
4.  create plist file for launchd

 sudo nano /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.yourname.alfresco.plist‍

5.  paste the following

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
   <key>Disabled</key>
   <false/>
   <key>Label</key>
   <string>com.yourname.alfresco</string>
   <key>ProgramArguments</key>
   <array>
      <string>/Applications/alfresco-4.2.d/bin/launchd_alfresco.sh</string>
      <string>start</string>
   </array>
   <key>RunAtLoad</key>
   <true/>
   <key>UserName</key>
   <string>root</string>
   <key>WorkingDirectory</key>
   <string>/Users/localadmin</string>
</dict>
</plist>
‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍‍

6.  try it

sudo launchctl load -wF /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.yourname.alfresco.plist‍

Not the most elegant of coding, but it survives a reboot!