SysTutorials

OpenLDAP and NFS for Centralized User Authentication

· Eric Ma · updated April 11, 2026

This guide sets up OpenLDAP for centralized authentication and NFS with automount to provide unified home directories across a cluster. The setup uses modern OpenLDAP backends and current NFS4 best practices.

System Environment

Server:

Clients:

LDAP Server Setup

Package Installation

sudo dnf install openldap-servers openldap-clients
sudo systemctl enable slapd
sudo systemctl start slapd

Configure slapd

Use dynamic configuration (cn=config) instead of static slapd.conf. This method allows configuration changes without restarting the daemon.

First, generate a password hash for the LDAP admin account:

slappasswd -s your_password

Save the output (starts with {SSHA}). Create /tmp/ldap-config.ldif:

sudo tee /tmp/ldap-config.ldif > /dev/null <<'EOF'
dn: olcDatabase={2}mdb,cn=config
changetype: modify
replace: olcSuffix
olcSuffix: dc=lgcpu1
-
replace: olcRootDN
olcRootDN: cn=manager,dc=lgcpu1
-
add: olcRootPW
olcRootPW: {SSHA}your_hashed_password_here
EOF

Apply the configuration:

sudo ldapmodify -Y EXTERNAL -H ldapi:/// -f /tmp/ldap-config.ldif

Note: The mdb backend is the modern default — it’s faster and more reliable than the older bdb backend.

Create Directory Structure

Create the LDAP tree structure with top.ldif:

cat > top.ldif <<'EOF'
dn: dc=lgcpu1
objectClass: dcObject
objectClass: organization
o: lgcpu1
dc: lgcpu1

dn: cn=manager,dc=lgcpu1
objectClass: organizationalRole
cn: manager

dn: ou=people,dc=lgcpu1
objectClass: organizationalUnit
ou: people

dn: ou=group,dc=lgcpu1
objectClass: organizationalUnit
ou: group

dn: ou=auto.master,dc=lgcpu1
objectClass: automountMap
ou: auto.master

dn: cn=/home,ou=auto.master,dc=lgcpu1
objectClass: automount
automountInformation: ldap:ou=auto.home,dc=lgcpu1
cn: /home

dn: ou=auto.home,dc=lgcpu1
objectClass: automountMap
ou: auto.home
EOF

Load the LDIF:

ldapadd -x -D 'cn=manager,dc=lgcpu1' -W -f top.ldif

Verify the structure loaded correctly:

ldapsearch -x -D 'cn=manager,dc=lgcpu1' -W -b dc=lgcpu1

Migrate Existing Users

If migrating from local /etc/passwd and /etc/group files, install the migration tools:

sudo dnf install openldap-migration

Export only regular users (UID ≥ 1000):

grep -E ':[0-9]{4,}:' /etc/passwd > /tmp/passwd.export
grep -E ':[0-9]{4,}:' /etc/group > /tmp/group.export

Edit migration script variables in /usr/share/openldap/migration/migrate_common.ph:

$DEFAULT_MAIL_DOMAIN = "example.com";
$DEFAULT_BASE = "dc=lgcpu1";

Generate LDIF files from the exports:

/usr/share/openldap/migration/migrate_passwd.pl /tmp/passwd.export > people.ldif
/usr/share/openldap/migration/migrate_group.pl /tmp/group.export > groups.ldif

Load them into LDAP:

ldapadd -x -D 'cn=manager,dc=lgcpu1' -W -f people.ldif
ldapadd -x -D 'cn=manager,dc=lgcpu1' -W -f groups.ldif

NFS Server Setup

Export Configuration

Edit /etc/exports:

/home 10.0.0.1/24(rw,sync,no_root_squash)

Option reference:

For tighter security in production, use root_squash and add anonuid=1000,anongid=1000 to map root requests to a regular unprivileged user instead.

Enable NFS Services

sudo systemctl enable nfs-server
sudo systemctl start nfs-server
sudo exportfs -a

Verify the exports are available:

showmount -e 10.0.0.2

Client Configuration

Package Installation

sudo dnf install nss-pam-ldapd autofs nfs-utils

On RHEL 9, the package is called libnslcd instead of nss-pam-ldapd (the naming changed between distributions).

LDAP Authentication

Create /etc/nslcd.conf:

sudo tee /etc/nslcd.conf > /dev/null <<'EOF'
uid nslcd
gid ldap
uri ldap://10.0.0.2/
base dc=lgcpu1
EOF

Set appropriate permissions:

sudo chmod 600 /etc/nslcd.conf

Enable and start the nslcd service:

sudo systemctl enable nslcd
sudo systemctl start nslcd

Update /etc/nsswitch.conf to query LDAP for user and group information:

passwd:     files ldap
group:      files ldap
shadow:     files ldap

Test that NSS can resolve LDAP users:

getent passwd sample
getent group sample

If these commands return user/group information, LDAP resolution is working.

Automount Configuration

Edit /etc/auto.master to add the home directory mount point:

/home ldap:ou=auto.home,dc=lgcpu1 --timeout=300

The --timeout=300 unmounts idle mounts after 5 minutes, freeing system resources.

Enable and start autofs:

sudo systemctl enable autofs
sudo systemctl start autofs

Test automounting by accessing a user’s home directory — it should mount on demand:

ls /home/sample

Monitor automount activity:

sudo journalctl -u autofs -f

Adding Individual Users

Each new user requires three LDAP entries: a user account, a group, and an automount entry.

User Account Entry

Create user-sample.ldif:

cat > user-sample.ldif <<'EOF'
dn: uid=sample,ou=people,dc=lgcpu1
uid: sample
cn: sample
sn: sample
mail: sample@example.com
objectClass: inetOrgPerson
objectClass: posixAccount
objectClass: top
userPassword: {SSHA}hashed_password_here
loginShell: /bin/bash
uidNumber: 1001
gidNumber: 1001
homeDirectory: /home/sample
EOF

Generate the password hash:

slappasswd -s your_password

Paste the output into the userPassword field. Assign unique uidNumber and gidNumber for each user, starting at 1001 and incrementing.

Group Entry

Create group-sample.ldif:

cat > group-sample.ldif <<'EOF'
dn: cn=sample,ou=group,dc=lgcpu1
objectClass: posixGroup
objectClass: top
cn: sample
gidNumber: 1001
memberUid: sample
EOF

The gidNumber must match the user’s gidNumber.

Automount Entry

Create auto.home-sample.ldif:

cat > auto.home-sample.ldif <<'EOF'
dn: cn=sample,ou=auto.home,dc=lgcpu1
objectClass: automount
automountInformation: -fstype=nfs4,rw,soft,intr 10.0.0.2:/home/sample
cn: sample
EOF

The soft,intr options allow automount to timeout gracefully if the NFS server is unreachable, rather than hanging indefinitely. NFS4 is preferred over NFSv3 for better security and performance.

Load All Entries

ldapadd -x -D 'cn=manager,dc=lgcpu1' -W -f user-sample.ldif
ldapadd -x -D 'cn=manager,dc=lgcpu1' -W -f group-sample.ldif
ldapadd -x -D 'cn=manager,dc=lgcpu1' -W -f auto.home-sample.ldif

Prepare Home Directory on NFS Server

sudo mkdir -p /home/sample
sudo cp -r /etc/skel/. /home/sample/
sudo chown -R 1001:1001 /home/sample
sudo chmod 700 /home/sample

Verification and Troubleshooting

Test Client Login

ssh sample@10.0.0.1

If login fails, verify LDAP connectivity:

ldapsearch -x -b dc=lgcpu1 uid=sample

This confirms the user exists in LDAP.

Check Service Status

sudo systemctl status nslcd
sudo systemctl status autofs
sudo systemctl status nfs-client.target

NFS Mounting Issues

Ensure firewall rules allow NFS traffic (ports 111 for rpcbind, 2049 for NFS):

sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=nfs
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=rpc-bind
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Check active NFS mounts on the client:

mount | grep nfs

If a mount hangs, verify the server is running:

sudo systemctl status nfs-server
sudo exportfs -v

LDAP Connection Debugging

Test LDAP connectivity directly from a client:

ldapwhoami -x -D 'cn=manager,dc=lgcpu1' -W -H ldap://10.0.0.2/

Check nslcd logs for authentication issues:

sudo journalctl -u nslcd -f

Automount Debugging

Monitor automount in real time:

sudo journalctl -u autofs -f

Verify the automount map is loaded correctly:

ldapsearch -x -b 'ou=auto.home,dc=lgcpu1'

If automount times out, adjust the timeout in /etc/auto.master or increase it for slower networks. Common values are 300 seconds for local networks, 600+ for WAN connections.

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