Deploying the IAM Suite and OUD with the Deployment Wizard

By Sylvain Duloutre on Mar 24, 2014

Identity & Access Management suite R2 PS2 (11.1.2.2.0) ships with a new deployment tool to automate the installation and configuration of products related to the IAM suite. This tool is named Oracle Identity and Access Management Deployment Wizard.

This tools automates the installation, configuration and integration of WebLogic Server, SOA Suite, Oracle Identity Manager, Oracle Access Management, Oracle Unified Directory, Oracle HTTP Server and Webgates. The tool allows you to select one of three deployment topologies: OIM, OAM or OIM integrated with OAM and OUD.

More details about this wizard on Idm.guru at http://idm.guru/access-governance/deploying-the-iam-suite-with-the-deployment-wizard/

Migrating DSEE database indexes to OUD

By Sylvain Duloutre on Jan 22, 2014

Many DSEE customers declare database indexes by writting directly to the DSEE server configuration. For instance, the following LDIF sniplet creates a presence & equality index for attribute employeeNumber in the userRoot database

dn: cn=employeenumber,cn=index,cn=userRoot,cn=ldbm database,cn=plugins,cn=config
objectClass: top
objectClass: nsIndex
cn: employeenumber
nsSystemIndex: false
nsIndexType: pres
nsIndexType: eq

It is not recommended to update the OUD configuration directly as this is not a public interface and internal configuration representation may be subject to change. It is recommended to use the dsconfig command line tool. Here is the command equivalent to the index creation above:

dsconfig -h localhost -p <admin port> -D "cn=directory manager" -j <password_file> -X -n \
  create-local-db-index \
  --backend-name userRoot \
  --index-name employeenumber\
  --set index-type:presence\
  --set index-type:equality

More about OUD index creation and management is available at http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E37116_01/admin.111210/e22648/indexing.htm#solINDEX-DATABASES  and http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E37116_01/admin.111210/e22648/managing_data.htm#solTO-CREATE-A-NEW-LOCAL-DB-INDEX

OUD&EUS Take 2: DB Accounts Proxy-ed by OUD into existing Directories

By Sylvain Duloutre on Aug 27, 2013

This post is the second one of a serie focusing on Enterprise User Security (EUS) and Oracle Unified DIrectory (OUD).

Enterprise User Security (EUS), an Oracle Database Enterprise Edition feature, leverages the Oracle Directory Services and gives you the ability to centrally manage database users and role memberships in an LDAP directory. EUS reduces administration costs and increases security.

DB Accounts Proxy-ed by OUD into existing Directories

Most enterprises already have existing corporate directories in place, and prefer the EUS implementation. An EUS implementation leverages the existing directory infrastructure and user information base without putting in place synchronization between directories. In this way, OUD acts as a real-time interpreter for Oracle database information requests to user data.

Using OUD enables the database to interact with third-party directories. OUD leverages existing user and group information in the existing third-party directory infrastructure by forwarding LDAP requests and responses back and forth to the third-party directory holding user data. User data, database meta-data such as DB registration information, user/role Mappings, and other EUS specific meta-data are stored locally in OUD, without requiring any schema changes to store EUS configuration in the existing third-party directory.

As of release 11gR2PS1, OUD is certified with EUS to support Active Directory, Oracle Directory Server Enterprise Edition, and Novell eDirectory. Working with these products, OUD eliminates user data duplication and synchronization and consequently lowers total cost of ownership (TCO).

1. Centralizing Accounts into Microsoft Active Directory

You can integrate Active Directory for password-based authentication or integrate Active Directory with Kerberos authentication.

Active Directory Integration for Password-based authentication

Such a scenario requires deployment of an additional component: the OUD Password Change Notification plug-in (oidpwdcn.dll). Microsoft uses a proprietary implementation to hash passwords in Active Directory that is incompatible with the Oracle DB requirements. The OUD Password Change Notification plug-in isnotified when a password change occurs, and stores hashes in Active Directory. The oidpwdcn dll must be installed on every Active Directory domain controller.

Active Directory Schema extension is required to store the hashed passwords.

The database establishes a connection to OUD. OUD retrieves user data (users and groups) from Active Directory. User passwords are retrieved from the hashed password stored by the OUD Password Change Notification plug-in. EUS metadata are stored and retrieved from OUD.

The database version must be 10.1 or later as earlier versions use a different and incompatible password format.

Figure 2: EUS Account management with Active Directory

Active Directory Integration with Kerberos Authentication

In this scenario, Kerberos is used for DB authentication. EUS with DB Kerberos authentication does not require any changes to the database beyond standard EUS configuration. The database establishes a connection to OUD. OUD looks up the requested DB information in Active Directory. All database clients must be Kerberos-enabled to use this option. This capability is only supported with DB version 10.1 or higher.

The database establishes a connection to OUD. OUD retrieves user data (users and groups) from Active Directory. EUS metadata are stored and retrieved from OUD. Access to the hashed user password is not required, so no schema extensions and no Password Change Notification dll have to be deployed on Active Directory.

Figure 3: EUS Account management with Kerberos and Active Directory

2. Centralizing Accounts into ODSEE

The database establishes a connection to OUD. OUD retrieves user data (users and groups) from Oracle Directory Server Enterprise Edition (ODSEE) . EUS metadata are stored and retrieved from OUD.

This integration does not require any changes in the database (beyond what is usually required for EUS, nor for database clients that use username/password authentication.

Figure 4: EUS Account management with DSEE

3. Centralizing Accounts into Novell eDirectory

The database establishes a connection to OUD. OUD retrieves user data (users and groups) from Novell eDirectory. EUS metadata are retrieved from OUD.

This integration does not require any changes in the database beyond what is usually required for EUS, nor for database clients that use username/password authentication.

Using Novell eDirectory doesn’t require an Oracle password filter. You have to enable Universal Password in eDirectory, and allow the administrator to retrieve the user password. Refer to Novell’s eDirectory documentation on Password Management for more information.

This configuration can only be used with DB versions 10.1 or higher due to incompatible password formats in earlier DB versions.

Figure 5: EUS Account management with DSEE

Oracle Unified Directory 11g R2 PS1 released

By Sylvain Duloutre on Apr 11, 2013

Oracle Identity and Access Management 11g R2 (11.1.2.1.0) is now generally available. Media is available for download on the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud (OSDC). This includes the following products:

• Oracle Identity and Access Management
• Oracle Entitlements Server Security Module
• Oracle Access Manager OHS 11g WebGates
• Oracle Access Manager IHS 7.0 WebGates
• Oracle Access Manager Access SDK
• Oracle Access Manager JBoss 5 Agent
• Oracle Unified Directory
• Oracle Enterprise Single Sign-On
• Oracle Access Management Mobile and Social SDK

To download OUD,go to https://edelivery.oracle.com/ , select “Oracle Fusion MiddleWare” and the target platform, select  “Oracle Fusion Middleware Identity Management 11gR2 Media Pack”  then “Oracle Unified DIrectory 11g (11.1.2.1.0)”

Documentation is avilable at http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E37116_01/index.htm

Certification Matric is available at http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/id-mgmt/identity-accessmgmt-11gr2certmatrix-1714221.xls