You can set up access to PhixFlow either through PhixFlow Users, by integrating with your Active Directory infrastructure, or both. If you integrate with Active Directory, Access Control is maintained by mapping Active Directory Groups to PhixFlow User Groups, as described below. By using the Active Directory integration users will login to PhixFlow using the same username and password as their Microsoft Windows domain login.
This page describes how to integrate PhixFlow with Active Directory:
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|---|---|---|
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Configure phixflow-
domainslogin.xml
Connection details to the domain servers are configured in the file phixflow-domainslogin.xml, under [tomcat root]/webapps/phixflow/WEB-INF/classes. When you first install PhixFlow, you probably created a copy of this file by simply copying the example file phixflow-domainslogin.xml.example (see Install PhixFlow Webapp).
Create domain reference
To create a reference to a domain, update the section in the example file:
| Code Block | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
<!-- Template of a authentication-provider -->
<!--
<security:authentication-provider ref="exampleActiveDirectoryAuthProvider" />
--> |
For example, if this domain will be referred to as corporate, update this to (remembering to remove the surrounding comment):
| Code Block | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
<!-- Template of a authentication-provider -->
<security:authentication-provider ref="corporate" /> |
Add connection details
Simple connection
The simplest type of connection is illustrated below, referencing a single AD server.
Update the section in the example file:
| Code Block | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
<!-- Template of a bean providing domain and url to authentication-provider -->
<!--
<bean id="exampleActiveDirectoryAuthProvider" parent="activeDirectoryAuthProvider">
<constructor-arg index="0" value="narnia.local" />
<constructor-arg index="1" value="ldap://192.168.150.81" />
</bean>
--> |
to include connection details to the domain. For example, if the domain is called corporate.local and this is manged by the domain controller at 10.23.109.45, update this to (remembering to remove the surrounding comment):
| Code Block | ||
|---|---|---|
| ||
<!-- Template of a bean providing domain and url to authentication-provider -->
<bean id="corporate" parent="activeDirectoryAuthProvider">
<constructor-arg index="0" value="corporate.local" />
<constructor-arg index="1" value="ldap://10.23.109.45" />
</bean> |
Advanced options
For the connection you can also specify:
| Option | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple servers | Some domains are served by multiple servers, to provide resilience and load balancing. These can be specified in a list. PhixFlow will try each of these in turn. | <constructor-arg index="1" value="ldap://ad1.example.com ldap://ad2.example.com" /> |
| Root DN | If you have a large AD tree, searches may take some time, and this could lead to slow authentication for users. Therefore it is possible to specify a root DN (Distinguished name) at which PhixFlow will begin searching for the user. The Distinguished Name format is standard and further details can be found on the web. | <constructor-arg index="2" value="ou=User Accounts,ou=Operations,dc=emea,dc=example,dc=com" /> |
| Timeout | You can specify a timeout. For each server specified, if the server does not respond within the limit specified by the timeout, it will try the next server. If the last server in the list times out, then the authentication will fail. The timeout is specified in milliseconds. | <property name="timeout" value="5000"/> |
The following example, in phixflow-domainslogin.xml.example, illustrates the application of all advanced options:
| Code Block |
|---|
<!-- Template of a bean providing domain, multiple servers, connection timeout and separate rootDn -->
<!--
<bean id="exampleActiveDirectoryAuthProvider" parent="activeDirectoryAuthProvider">
<constructor-arg index="0" value="example.com" />
<constructor-arg index="1" value="ldap://ad1.example.com ldap://ad2.example.com" />
<constructor-arg index="2" value="ou=User Accounts,ou=Operations,dc=emea,dc=example,dc=com" />
<property name="timeout" value="5000"/>
</bean>
--> |
PhixFlow Active Directory Setup
System Configuration
Go to the Active Directory tab in the System Configuration window.
...
- PHIXFLOW_ADMINS
- PHIXFLOW_USERS_LIVE
User Groups
When Active Directory users log into PhixFlow, their Active Directory groups are mapped to PhixFlow User Groups. You can set up this mapping by specifying an Active Directory Group in a PhixFlow User Group. When an AD user in that Active Directory group logs into PhixFlow, they will be put into that PhixFlow User Group. You do not need to map all of a user's Active Directory Groups to PhixFlow User Groups. For each user, any Active Directory groups that are not mapped are simply ignored.
...
Active Directory users appear on the Group Members list. There is a new column which indicates if the user is a local user or a Active Directory user. Only local users can be added or removed from the list.
User Details
While editing an Active Directory user some fields are invisible. Login name cannot be changed. The domain of the User is shown in the header of the editor.
Logging in as a Active Directory user
There is a new Domain field on the PhixFlow login screen. The value this will have by default is set in System Configuration (see above).
...
If the user is in an Active Directory Group authorised to use PhixFlow, but none of their Active Directory groups are mapped to PhixFlow user groups, they will be able to successfully log in, but will have no access.
Use the encrypted connection
To use the encrypted connection, the protocol of the connection specified in phixflow-domainslogin.xml must be set to ldaps://instead of ldap://.
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keytool is provided as part of the standard Java installation.
Troubleshooting
Enhanced diagnostics can be generated by adding the lines
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