hi duncan, it worked! it seems a more elegant form than a seemingly arbitrary string of order sensitive descriptors (i guess it's just a path though). after i clean up my script it'll look like i spent 30 minutes writing it :) thanks so much.
(thanks to all who responded, it was comforting to know others had been puzzled by this before, though i guesss they had reader accounts to do the advance scouting for their binds) -mark -----Original Message----- From: Duncan Brannen [mailto:d...@st-andrews.ac.uk] Sent: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 2:33 AM To: Mark Inaba Cc: 'perl-ldap@perl.org' Subject: Re: basic question about binding without knowing the DN Hi Mark, On 18/04/2011 22:15, Mark Inaba wrote: > > is there no way to say my DN is 'cn=minaba,DC=foo,DC=com' in the bind request > and have the ldap server itself know who i mean? what determines just how > many X=y pairs are needed to make a bindable DN? is that configured by the > administrator or is it every non-leaf/DC,CN,OU that i'm a part of? i'm still > perplexed how ldap.exe can > magically bind me with only the following info neither of which is my DN: > user: minaba > pass: ******* > domain: earth.foo.com > > user: marsinaba > pass: ******* > domain: mars.foo.com You can do $ad->bind( 'min...@earth.foo.com',password=>'MyPassword') or die "$@"; $ad->bind( 'marsin...@mars.foo.com',password=>'HisPassword') or die "$@"; Which might help you. Cheers, Duncan > (and they both work! how!? did he give me an app that already has the reader > account in the settings? i looked but didn't see anything..but gui's...i > never know if i've seen the entire confituration...grepping a .conf seems > much easier :) > > hmm LDAPS and SASL... i guess LDAPS would protect me from sniffers and SASL > would protect me from vi'ers (assuming i have to keep the script world > readable and i have to use a reader/test/bind account.) i hope i'll be able > to use both, but the dev ldap doesn't have encrpytion so i'll have to wait > till i can target our prod ldap server..wherever that is... > > thanks much for your help! i guess if i can't find what makes the ldap.exe > magical, i'll just sit on my current script version that uses a reader > account and cross the bridges as they appear... > > -mark > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Dan Cutler [mailto:dcut...@intelimedix.com] > Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 3:55 PM > To: Mark Inaba > Cc: 'perl-ldap@perl.org' > Subject: RE: basic question about binding without knowing the DN > > Mark, > > "AD" = Active Directory. This is Microsoft's version of an LDAP server. > > I've literally been where you are; don't give up, rewards are great ;-) > > The simple answer is unfortunately "not so simple". > > From my perspective, the "owner" of the directory should give you a > read-only system account so that you can determine the DN of users (ie do > searches). > > Since you need to provide a "base" to do a serach, you'll want to fetch the > root_dse to get the naming contexts. This value will be the base DN to start > your search from using the read only account. > > ie: > use Net::LDAP; > use Net::LDAP::RootDSE; > use Data::Dumper; > > my $user = "juser"; # a user's login > my $ldap = Net::LDAP->new(...) > my $mesg = $ldap->bind; #using your RO system account > > my $dse = $ldap->root_dse(); # root dse is like "system settings" > > # Try this > # perl Dumper $dse - to see all sorts of "settings". > > #the get your base for searches... > my $base_to_start_all_searches = $dse->get_value('namingContexts'); > > # do you search : > # my $result = $ldap->search( base => $base_to_start_all_searches, > scope => 'sub', > filter => "(sAMAccountName=$user)"); > > # * "sAMAccountName" is a MS field, your actual field will vary depending on > LDAP server... > > foreach my $entr ($search->entries) { > my $user_dn = $entr->dn(); > } > > As for the whole SASL issue... > > This is a little tricky. > Its difficult to set up (particularly if you are going from say Linux to > Windoze). > > I personally use LDAPS from Linux to AD (MS LDAP) to get to the good stuff > (like being able to set initial passwords from a script running on Linux). > > From a "security perspective", storing a login/pw is not the best solution > however its also not a horribly bad one either. As long as the "system > account" that you use to bind with can't do anything but bind and do > searches, this is preferable to convincing the owner of the directory to open > it for anonymous binds. So while not ideal, its better than other > alternatives. > > In either case, you should use LDAPS (ie wire encryption) so that > eavesdroppers, will not see anything useful. > > This is a whole other topic for another day... > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mark Inaba [mailto:min...@nyx.com] > Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 3:27 PM > To: Dan Cutler > Subject: RE: basic question about binding without knowing the DN > > hi dan, > > so i was wondering if a user can bind with a subset of the DN...like foo.com. > i'm wondering how in the world > ldap.exe does it. another poster mentioned something about AD, but i don't > know how AD fits into LDAP (except that it's the middle two letters > reversed..) > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Dan Cutler [mailto:dcut...@intelimedix.com] > Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 1:55 PM > To: Mark Inaba; 'perl-ldap@perl.org' > Subject: RE: basic question about binding without knowing the DN > > Mark, > > Wow. I remember having the EXACT same thoughts some years ago. > > As it turns out, the process that happens when a user logs in is somewhat > "shielded" from the average user. Once you find out what is really > happening, you'll gain some great insights into LDAP processes. > > It is quite typical to not allow anonymous searches. This usually a good > idea. > > Behind the scenes, "authenticating" requires three things: > > An LDAP server that houses you "account" > An identifier called a "DN" (aka Distinguished Name) that represents the > unique identifier of your account > A valid password. > > What can be quite puzzling is the DN. > > Nearly every LDAP authentication script I write follows a process like this: > > Collect the user's login name and passwd: > Bind to the directory using a known "system account" and "system" password. > Search the directory for this user (the login name is unique) and return its > "DN". > If the DN is found, use it as a parameter and bind again as the actual user > (you). > > Does this help? > > --Dan > > -----Original Message----- > From: Mark Inaba [mailto:min...@nyx.com] > Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011 1:23 PM > To: 'perl-ldap@perl.org' > Subject: basic question about binding without knowing the DN > > hello perl-ldap mailing list, > > i'm wondering if i'm trying to do the impossible, even though it seems like > this might be a common situation. > i'm trying to verify a user/password by having the user bind to an ldap > server. the problem is that just given a username, i can't guess the DN > because the DN's components have values that could be many things: > example: > CN=mark,OU=paris,OU=short,...,DC=partA,DC=foo,DC=com > CN=mike,OU=new york,OU=tall,...,DC=partB,DC=foo,DC=com > > it seems that all of this is necessary for me to bind (i can't just use > CN=mark,DC=foo,DC=com and try a password against all matches sigh) > so if i get another user, i don't know what sort of OU values his/her DN will > have. also, the DC's might be different too. > > here's the wrinkles that make it harder: > 1) anon bind is turned off, so i can't search around for promising matches > and use their DN > 2) they don't want a generic 'read' account to log in because they don't want > the password in a file. > but i might be ok if: > a) though if script is not called by user i might be able to convince > them to use o-r. > b) if the final server is sasl aware, i might be able to use an > encrypted string in the script > > but here's why i think it MIGHT be possible... using the windows program: > ldap.exe > i noticed that i'm able to bind filling in only the fields: > USER: mark > PASSWORD: mypassword > DOMAIN: parta.foo.com > > so unless the application knows some secret settings...how does it > authenticate me without my telling it my full DN? > if i new that i think i could write my perl script that checks every user > against > DOMAIN: parta.foo.com and partb.foo.com > > thanks for any help :) > -mark (not in paris...alas..) > Please consider the environment before printing this email. > > Visit our website at http://www.nyse.com > > **************************************************** > > Note: The information contained in this message and any attachment to it is > privileged, confidential and protected from disclosure. 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