blog/Pieces_of_the_roaming_laptop_puzzle_in_Debian.html

   1 <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
   2           "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
   3 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="ltr">
   4   <head>
   5     <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
   6     <title>Petter Reinholdtsen: Pieces of the roaming laptop puzzle in Debian</title>
   7     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/style.css" />
   8     <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="screen" href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/vim.css" />
   9   </head>
  10   <body>
  11     <div class="title">
  12  <h1>
  13      <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/">Petter Reinholdtsen</a>
  14
  15  </h1>
  16
  17 </div>
  18
  19
  20     <div class="entry">
  21       <div class="title">Pieces of the roaming laptop puzzle in Debian</div>
  22       <div class="date">19th May 2010</div>
  23       <div class="body"><p>Today, the last piece of the puzzle for roaming laptops in Debian
  24 Edu finally entered the Debian archive.  Today, the new
  25 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/libp/libpam-mklocaluser.html">libpam-mklocaluser</a>
  26 package was accepted.  Two days ago, two other pieces was accepted
  27 into unstable.  The
  28 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/p/pam-python.html">pam-python</a>
  29 package needed by libpam-mklocaluser, and the
  30 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/s/sssd.html">sssd</a> package
  31 passed NEW on Monday.  In addition, the
  32 <a href="http://packages.qa.debian.org/libp/libpam-ccreds.html">libpam-ccreds</a>
  33 package we need is in experimental (version 10-4) since Saturday, and
  34 hopefully will be moved to unstable soon.</p>
  35
  36 <p>This collection of packages allow for two different setups for
  37 roaming laptops.  The traditional setup would be using libpam-ccreds,
  38 nscd and libpam-mklocaluser with LDAP or Kerberos authentication,
  39 which should work out of the box if the configuration changes proposed
  40 for nscd in <a href="http://bugs.debian.org/485282">BTS report
  41 #485282</a> is implemented.  The alternative setup is to use sssd with
  42 libpam-mklocaluser to connect to LDAP or Kerberos and let sssd take
  43 care of the caching of passwords and group information.</p>
  44
  45 <p>I have so far been unable to get sssd to work with the LDAP server
  46 at the University, but suspect the issue is some SSL/GnuTLS related
  47 problem with the server certificate.  I plan to update the Debian
  48 package to version 1.2, which is scheduled for next week, and hope to
  49 find time to make sure the next release will include both the
  50 Debian/Ubuntu specific patches.  Upstream is friendly and responsive,
  51 and I am sure we will find a good solution.</p>
  52
  53 <p>The idea is to set up the roaming laptops to authenticate using
  54 LDAP or Kerberos and create a local user with home directory in /home/
  55 when a usre in LDAP logs in via KDM or GDM for the first time, and
  56 cache the password for offline checking, as well as caching group
  57 memberhips and other relevant LDAP information.  The
  58 libpam-mklocaluser package was created to make sure the local home
  59 directory is in /home/, instead of /site/server/directory/ which would
  60 be the home directory if pam_mkhomedir was used.  To avoid confusion
  61 with support requests and configuration, we do not want local laptops
  62 to have users in a path that is used for the same users home directory
  63 on the home directory servers.</p>
  64
  65 <p>One annoying problem with gdm is that it do not show the PAM
  66 message passed to the user from libpam-mklocaluser when the local user
  67 is created.  Instead gdm simply reject the login with some generic
  68 message.  The message is shown in kdm, ssh and login, so I guess it is
  69 a bug in gdm.  Have not investigated if there is some other message
  70 type that can be used instead to get gdm to also show the message.</p>
  71
  72 <p>If you want to help out with implementing this for Debian Edu,
  73 please contact us on debian-edu@lists.debian.org.</p>
  74 </div>
  75
  76       <div class="tags">Tags: <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english</a>, <a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug</a>.</div>
  77
  78
  79     </div>
  80
  81
  82
  83
  84     <div id="sidebar">
  85
  86
  87
  88 <h2>Archive</h2>
  89 <ul>
  90
  91 <li>2012
  92 <ul>
  93
  94 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/01/">January (7)</a></li>
  95
  96 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/02/">February (10)</a></li>
  97
  98 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/03/">March (17)</a></li>
  99
 100 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/04/">April (12)</a></li>
 101
 102 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/05/">May (12)</a></li>
 103
 104 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/06/">June (20)</a></li>
 105
 106 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/07/">July (17)</a></li>
 107
 108 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/08/">August (6)</a></li>
 109
 110 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/09/">September (9)</a></li>
 111
 112 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/10/">October (17)</a></li>
 113
 114 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/11/">November (10)</a></li>
 115
 116 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2012/12/">December (2)</a></li>
 117
 118 </ul></li>
 119
 120 <li>2011
 121 <ul>
 122
 123 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/01/">January (16)</a></li>
 124
 125 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/02/">February (6)</a></li>
 126
 127 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/03/">March (6)</a></li>
 128
 129 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/04/">April (7)</a></li>
 130
 131 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/05/">May (3)</a></li>
 132
 133 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/06/">June (2)</a></li>
 134
 135 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/07/">July (7)</a></li>
 136
 137 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/08/">August (6)</a></li>
 138
 139 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/09/">September (4)</a></li>
 140
 141 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/10/">October (2)</a></li>
 142
 143 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/11/">November (3)</a></li>
 144
 145 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2011/12/">December (1)</a></li>
 146
 147 </ul></li>
 148
 149 <li>2010
 150 <ul>
 151
 152 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/01/">January (2)</a></li>
 153
 154 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/02/">February (1)</a></li>
 155
 156 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/03/">March (3)</a></li>
 157
 158 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/04/">April (3)</a></li>
 159
 160 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/05/">May (9)</a></li>
 161
 162 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/06/">June (14)</a></li>
 163
 164 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/07/">July (12)</a></li>
 165
 166 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/08/">August (13)</a></li>
 167
 168 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/09/">September (7)</a></li>
 169
 170 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/10/">October (9)</a></li>
 171
 172 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/11/">November (13)</a></li>
 173
 174 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2010/12/">December (12)</a></li>
 175
 176 </ul></li>
 177
 178 <li>2009
 179 <ul>
 180
 181 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/01/">January (8)</a></li>
 182
 183 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/02/">February (8)</a></li>
 184
 185 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/03/">March (12)</a></li>
 186
 187 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/04/">April (10)</a></li>
 188
 189 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/05/">May (9)</a></li>
 190
 191 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/06/">June (3)</a></li>
 192
 193 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/07/">July (4)</a></li>
 194
 195 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/08/">August (3)</a></li>
 196
 197 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/09/">September (1)</a></li>
 198
 199 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/10/">October (2)</a></li>
 200
 201 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/11/">November (3)</a></li>
 202
 203 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2009/12/">December (3)</a></li>
 204
 205 </ul></li>
 206
 207 <li>2008
 208 <ul>
 209
 210 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/11/">November (5)</a></li>
 211
 212 <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/archive/2008/12/">December (7)</a></li>
 213
 214 </ul></li>
 215
 216 </ul>
 217
 218
 219
 220 <h2>Tags</h2>
 221 <ul>
 222
 223  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/3d-printer">3d-printer (13)</a></li>
 224
 225  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/amiga">amiga (1)</a></li>
 226
 227  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/aros">aros (1)</a></li>
 228
 229  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bankid">bankid (3)</a></li>
 230
 231  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bitcoin">bitcoin (3)</a></li>
 232
 233  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bootsystem">bootsystem (12)</a></li>
 234
 235  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/bsa">bsa (2)</a></li>
 236
 237  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian">debian (57)</a></li>
 238
 239  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/debian edu">debian edu (116)</a></li>
 240
 241  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/digistan">digistan (9)</a></li>
 242
 243  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/docbook">docbook (7)</a></li>
 244
 245  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/drivstoffpriser">drivstoffpriser (4)</a></li>
 246
 247  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/english">english (161)</a></li>
 248
 249  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fiksgatami">fiksgatami (21)</a></li>
 250
 251  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/fildeling">fildeling (12)</a></li>
 252
 253  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/freeculture">freeculture (9)</a></li>
 254
 255  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/frikanalen">frikanalen (9)</a></li>
 256
 257  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/intervju">intervju (32)</a></li>
 258
 259  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/kart">kart (17)</a></li>
 260
 261  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ldap">ldap (8)</a></li>
 262
 263  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/lenker">lenker (5)</a></li>
 264
 265  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ltsp">ltsp (1)</a></li>
 266
 267  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/multimedia">multimedia (25)</a></li>
 268
 269  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/norsk">norsk (217)</a></li>
 270
 271  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/nuug">nuug (147)</a></li>
 272
 273  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/offentlig innsyn">offentlig innsyn (6)</a></li>
 274
 275  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/open311">open311 (2)</a></li>
 276
 277  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/opphavsrett">opphavsrett (39)</a></li>
 278
 279  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/personvern">personvern (60)</a></li>
 280
 281  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/raid">raid (1)</a></li>
 282
 283  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/reprap">reprap (11)</a></li>
 284
 285  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rfid">rfid (2)</a></li>
 286
 287  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/robot">robot (4)</a></li>
 288
 289  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/rss">rss (1)</a></li>
 290
 291  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/ruter">ruter (4)</a></li>
 292
 293  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/scraperwiki">scraperwiki (2)</a></li>
 294
 295  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sikkerhet">sikkerhet (28)</a></li>
 296
 297  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sitesummary">sitesummary (4)</a></li>
 298
 299  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/skepsis">skepsis (4)</a></li>
 300
 301  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/standard">standard (39)</a></li>
 302
 303  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stavekontroll">stavekontroll (3)</a></li>
 304
 305  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/stortinget">stortinget (5)</a></li>
 306
 307  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/surveillance">surveillance (12)</a></li>
 308
 309  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/sysadmin">sysadmin (1)</a></li>
 310
 311  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/valg">valg (7)</a></li>
 312
 313  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/video">video (35)</a></li>
 314
 315  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/vitenskap">vitenskap (4)</a></li>
 316
 317  <li><a href="http://people.skolelinux.org/pere/blog/tags/web">web (26)</a></li>
 318
 319 </ul>
 320
 321
 322     </div>
 323     <p style="text-align: right">
 324  Created by <a href="http://steve.org.uk/Software/chronicle">Chronicle v4.4</a>
 325 </p>
 326
 327   </body>
 328 </html>