Configuring the ARDBC LDAP plug-in

Before you create the vendor form that is used to access user information in your LDAP server, you must configure the ARDBC LDAP plug-in.

For individual servers and on a local level, you can use the ARDBC LDAP Configuration form in the AR System Administration Console. If a local value does not exist, the form displays the global-level configuration. If you modify the value on this form, the local-level configuration value is modified.

For example: If a configuration shows a global-level value and you modify the value by using this form, the local-level value is created for the configuration.

In a server group environment, you must configure ARDBC LDAP plug-in settings on each server.

Related topic

Encrypting-AR-System

 

Best practice
We recommend that you use the Server Group Configuration screen to configure the ARDBC LDAP plug-in at a global level. This screen provides a single location to manage configuration settings across the server group. To access the Server Group Configuration screen:

  1. In a browser, enter the following URL address:
    http://ARSystemServerName:port/arsys/forms/serverName
  2. Log in.
  3. Select AR System Management Console > AR System Server Group Console > Server Group Configuration.

For more information about setting global and local level configurations, see Managing AR Server Group components by using global and local level configurations.

To add a new ARDBC LDAP source

  1. Create a new ARDBC LDAP configuration.
  2. Create a plug-in corresponding to the newly created configuration.

To create a new ARDBC LDAP configuration

  1. Log in to Mid Tier.
  2. Select AR System Administration > AR System Administration Console
  3. Select System > LDAP > ARDBC Configuration.
    The ARDBC LDAP Configuration form is displayed:

    ardbc_ldap_configuration.png
  4. Click Create New Configuration .
  5. Follow the steps in To configure the ARDBC LDAP plug-in below.
  6. Click Save Current Configuration.
    The Create New ARDBC LDAP Component dialog box is displayed.
    create_new_component.png
  7. In the Configuration Names list, select the configuration name corresponding to the server in the server group, for which you want to add the ARDBC LDAP configuration.
  8. In the Component Name box, type some text, which will be used as a part of the new component name.
    The component name that you provided gets appended to the selected configuration name to form a complete component name with which the new configuration is created.
  9. Click OK.
    The new configuration is saved. This configuration is listed in the Configuration column on the ARDBC LDAP Configuration form.
    new_configuration.png

To create a plug-in corresponding to the newly created configuration

  1. On AR System Administration Console, select System > General > Plugin Server Configuration.
    The Plugin Server Configuration screen is displayed:
    plugin_server_configuration.png
  2. In the Plugin Server Instance list, select the plug-in server instance for the AR System server for which the new ARDBC LDAP configuration is created.
    Refer to step 6 to know the server you selected, and then select the plug-in server instance that hosts the AR System plug-ins. From the port number, you will know the plug-ins that this instance is hosting. The default port is 9999.
  3. Click the Plugin Configuration tab.
  4. Click Create.
    The Create New Plugin dialog box is displayed:
    create_new_plugin.png
  1. In the Plugin Name box, type a name for the new plug-in.
    For the fields listed in steps 6 through 12, you can enter the same values as that of an existing plug-in.
  2. In the Plugin File Name box, type the name of the plug-in file along with the location where it is saved.
  3. In the Plugin Class Name box, type the class name of the plug-in.

  4. In the Path Elements section, click plus_button.png.
    The following setting name is displayed in the Setting Name column:
    <plugInName>.pathelement.type.location
    Replace the location with path.

  5. In the Setting Value column, type the value for the corresponding setting.

  6. In the User Defined Elements section, click plus_button.png.
    A setting name is displayed in the  Setting Name column.

  7. Append configComponentName to the setting name.

  8. In the Setting Value column, type the value for the corresponding setting.
    The value for this setting is the name of the newly created configuration in step 8.

  9. Click OK.
    The new ARDBC LDAP source is added on the same plug-in server.

To configure the ARDBC LDAP plug-in

Important

These are server-specific settings.

  1. On the AR System Administration Console, select System > LDAP > ARDBC Configuration.
    The ARDBC LDAP Configuration form is displayed.
  2. In the Host Name box, enter one or more host names of the directory service from which you want information for the vendor form.
    You can specify a space-separated list of host names up to 255 characters long. Starting with the first host name in the list, AR System tries to connect to each server until it is successful.
    If you use Secure Socket Layer (SSL), this host name should match the name for which the server's certificate was issued.
  3. In the Port Number box, enter a port number for this directory service. The default port number is 389. For an SSL connection, the default is 636.
  4. In the Bind User box, enter the distinguished name of the user account that the ARDBC LDAP plug-in uses to log in to the directory service. The administrator who set up the LDAP service designated this name.
    With the vendor form, some LDAP servers allow you to make an anonymous connection. If you plan to use an anonymous connection, leave the Bind User and Bind Password boxes blank. Else, use a standard distinguished name such as cn=manager, dc=remedy, dc=com.
  5. In the Bind Password box, enter the password for the user account.
    If you leave the Bind Name and Bind Password boxes blank, you are connected anonymously.
  6. To use a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection, select Yes in the Using Secure Socket Layer box; else, accept the default value No.
    If you select Yes, the Certificate Database box becomes active, and you can enter a certificate database.
    Because SSL requires additional setup in this form and outside AR System, you might first want to experiment without SSL and then add this option later.

  7.  In the Certificate Database box, enter the file path to the certificate database file. Do not include the file name in the path.

  8. In the LDAP Date-Time Format box, select the format to use to represent date and time to LDAP servers.

     

  9. In the Failover Timeout box, specify the number of seconds in which the directory service must respond to the plug-in server before an error is returned.
    The minimum value is 0, which means the connection must be made immediately.
    The failover timeout cannot be set higher than the value of the Server-Plugin-Default-Timeout parameter.

  10. In the Directory Page Size box, enter the number of entries to be returned on a single page to the client from the external directory server when a search request is processed.

    Best practice

    The default Directory Page Size is 10000. However, setting Directory Page Size to a lower value (such as 1000) might help to improve your system's performance while you design and create vendor forms.

    Directory Page Size value should be less than or equal to the maximum page size setting on the LDAP server. For more information on ARDBC-LDAP-Page-Size, see Configuration-settings-A-B.

  11. In the Base DN For Discovery box, enter a base distinguished name instead of the root distinguished name as the basis for obtaining the list of vendor tables.

    Best practice

    Specifying a value in the Base DN For Discovery box can help improve your system's performance while you design and create vendor forms.

  12. In the ARDBC Plugin Cache box, specify this ARDBC plug-in caching information:
    1. From the Enable list, select Yes to enable ARDBC plug-in caching.
    2. In the Time To Live box, specify how long data should be kept in the ARDBC plug-in cache.

    3. In the Maximum Size box, specify the maximum size of the cache.

      Best practice

      Enabling the ARDBC plug-in cache can help improve your system's performance at runtime.

  13. Click Save.
    The system updates the AR System configuration settings with the parameters you specified in this form.

 

 

 

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