Copyright 2015-2018 Red Hat, Inc.

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Unit 1: Installing the FreeIPA server#

In this unit you will install a FreeIPA server. All tasks in subsequent units require the services and data provided by the server.

First, in the directory containing the Vagrantfile (the clone of this repository), execute vagrant up to bring up the Vagrant environment. (If you are using the VirtualBox provider on a platform where that is not the default, e.g. Fedora, you will also need the --provider virtualbox option).

$ vagrant up --provider virtualbox

The Vagrant environment contains three hosts:

  • server.ipademo.local

  • replica.ipademo.local

  • client.ipademo.local

From the directory containing the Vagrantfile, SSH into the server machine:

$ vagrant ssh server

On server, start the FreeIPA server installation program:

[server]$ sudo ipa-server-install --no-host-dns --mkhomedir

The --no-host-dns argument is needed because there are no reverse DNS records for the Vagrant environment. For production deployment, this important sanity check should not be skipped. The --mkhomedir flag configures PAM to create missing home directories when users log into the host for the first time. FreeIPA supports automount so consider using that for production deployments.

You will be asked a series of questions. Accept the defaults for most of the questions, except as outlined below.

Configure FreeIPA’s DNS server:

Do you want to configure integrated DNS (BIND)? [no]: yes

Accept default values for the server hostname, domain name and realm:

Enter the fully qualified domain name of the computer
on which you're setting up server software. Using the form
<hostname>.<domainname>
Example: master.example.com.


Server host name [server.ipademo.local]:

Warning: skipping DNS resolution of host server.ipademo.local
The domain name has been determined based on the host name.

Please confirm the domain name [ipademo.local]:

The kerberos protocol requires a Realm name to be defined.
This is typically the domain name converted to uppercase.

Please provide a realm name [IPADEMO.LOCAL]:

Enter passwords for Directory Manager (used to manage the directory server) and admin (the main account used for FreeIPA administration). Use something simple that you’re not going to forget during the workshop!

Certain directory server operations require an administrative user.
This user is referred to as the Directory Manager and has full access
to the Directory for system management tasks and will be added to the
instance of directory server created for IPA.
The password must be at least 8 characters long.

Directory Manager password:
Password (confirm):

The IPA server requires an administrative user, named 'admin'.
This user is a regular system account used for IPA server administration.

IPA admin password:
Password (confirm):

Do not configure a DNS forwarder (you will want to configure a DNS forwarder for a real-world deployment but it is not needed for this workshop) and accept the defaults for configuring the reverse zone:

Checking DNS domain ipademo.local., please wait ...
Do you want to configure DNS forwarders? [yes]: no
No DNS forwarders configured
Do you want to search for missing reverse zones? [yes]:
Do you want to create reverse zone for IP 192.168.33.10 [yes]:
Please specify the reverse zone name [33.168.192.in-addr.arpa.]:
Using reverse zone(s) 33.168.192.in-addr.arpa.

Next, you will be presented with a summary of the server configuration and asked for final confirmation. Give confirmation to begin the server installation:

The IPA Master Server will be configured with:
Hostname:       server.ipademo.local
IP address(es): 192.168.33.10
Domain name:    ipademo.local
Realm name:     IPADEMO.LOCAL

The CA will be configured with:
Subject DN:   CN=Certificate Authority,O=IPADEMO.LOCAL
Subject base: O=IPADEMO.LOCAL
Chaining:     self-signed

BIND DNS server will be configured to serve IPA domain with:
Forwarders:       No forwarders
Forward policy:   only
Reverse zone(s):  33.168.192.in-addr.arpa.

Continue to configure the system with these values? [no]: yes

The installation takes a few minutes; you will see output indicating the progress.

When it completes, run kinit admin and enter your admin password to obtain a Kerberos ticket granting ticket (TGT) for the admin user:

[server]$ kinit admin
Password for admin@IPADEMO.LOCAL:  <enter password>

Run klist to view your current Kerberos tickets:

[server]$ klist
Ticket cache: KEYRING:persistent:1000:1000
Default principal: admin@IPADEMO.LOCAL

Valid starting     Expires            Service principal
10/15/15 01:48:59  10/16/15 01:48:57  krbtgt/IPADEMO.LOCAL@IPADEMO.LOCAL

The FreeIPA server is now set up and you are ready to begin enrolling client machines, creating users, managing services, and more!

To prepare for the next unit, exit the server SSH session (but do not shut the VM down). The next essential unit is Unit 2: Enrolling client machines.

Alternatively, if you would like to immediately install a replica server (essential for production deployments), you can take a detour to Unit 7: Replica installation.