IPA
The The ipa command in FreeIPA (Identity, Policy, Audit) is a robust tool for managing users, hosts, services, and policies in a centralized manner. It provides subcommands that are essential for managing hosts, hostgroups, services, and keytab files—important components in managing a secure, identity-based infrastructure.
Below are detailed descriptions of these subcommands, including commands for hosts, hostgroups, services, and keytabs:
Key Subcommands: host, hostgroup, service, and getkeytab
host, hostgroup, service, and getkeytab1. Host Subcommands
These commands allow the management of hosts (servers or systems) within the FreeIPA domain. Hosts are enrolled to gain authentication and policy-based access control.
Common Commands:
Add a Host:
Adds a new host to the domain (e.g.,
ipa host-add server1.example.com).Find Hosts:
Lists all enrolled hosts in the domain.
Show Host Details:
Displays detailed information about a specific host.
Modify a Host:
Modifies attributes of an existing host, such as its description or principal.
Delete a Host:
Removes a host from the domain.
Disable/Enable a Host:
Disable: Temporarily removes the host from active use.
Enable: Restores the host to active use.
2. Hostgroup Subcommands
Hostgroups provide an easy way to manage multiple hosts together by grouping them logically, often for policy or access control purposes.
Common Commands:
Add a Hostgroup:
Creates a new hostgroup with a given description.
Find Hostgroups:
Lists all existing hostgroups.
Show Hostgroup Details:
Displays detailed information about a specific hostgroup.
Add Hosts to a Hostgroup:
Adds one or more hosts to a hostgroup.
Remove Hosts from a Hostgroup:
Removes one or more hosts from a hostgroup.
Delete a Hostgroup:
Deletes a hostgroup from the domain.
3. Service Subcommands
Services represent applications (such as web services, mail services, etc.) running on hosts that require secure authentication through IPA. These commands manage such services.
Common Commands:
Add a Service:
Adds a new service to the domain, enabling it to interact with the IPA environment (e.g.,
HTTP/webserver01.example.com).Find Services:
Lists all services available in the domain.
Show Service Details:
Displays detailed information about a specific service.
Delete a Service:
Removes a service from the domain.
Enable/Disable a Service:
Enable:
Disable:
4. Getkeytab Subcommands
Keytabs are files that store service or host credentials used for secure authentication, specifically with Kerberos. The ipa-getkeytab command fetches and manages keytab files.
Common Commands:
Obtain a Keytab for a Host:
Fetches the keytab for a specified host and stores it in the default Kerberos keytab location.
Obtain a Keytab for a Service:
Retrieves the keytab for a service running on a host.
Force a New Keytab:
Forces the retrieval of a new keytab, overwriting any existing keytab.
Remove a Keytab:
Deletes a keytab for a specific service, revoking its credentials.
Example Scenario: Adding and Securing a Host with a Service
Add the Host:
Create a Hostgroup (e.g., all web servers):
Add and Configure a Service: For example, you may want to add an HTTP service for
server1:Obtain the Keytab for the HTTP Service:
This ensures that the host and the service are authenticated and secure within the FreeIPA domain, with keytab-based Kerberos authentication.
Conclusion
Using the ipa command with subcommands for hosts, hostgroups, services, and keytabs, administrators can efficiently manage identity, authentication, and policies in a secure FreeIPA environment. These tools are critical in environments that require centralized management of users, machines, services, and access control in enterprise systems.` command in FreeIPA (Identity, Policy, Audit) is a robust tool for managing users, hosts, services, and policies in a centralized manner. It provides subcommands that are essential for managing hosts, hostgroups, services, and keytab files—important components in managing a secure, identity-based infrastructure.
Below are detailed descriptions of these subcommands, including commands for hosts, hostgroups, services, and keytabs:
Key Subcommands: host, hostgroup, service, and getkeytab
host, hostgroup, service, and getkeytab1. Host Subcommands
These commands allow the management of hosts (servers or systems) within the FreeIPA domain. Hosts are enrolled to gain authentication and policy-based access control.
Common Commands:
Add a Host:
Adds a new host to the domain (e.g.,
ipa host-add server1.example.com).Find Hosts:
Lists all enrolled hosts in the domain.
Show Host Details:
Displays detailed information about a specific host.
Modify a Host:
Modifies attributes of an existing host, such as its description or principal.
Delete a Host:
Removes a host from the domain.
Disable/Enable a Host:
Disable: Temporarily removes the host from active use.
Enable: Restores the host to active use.
2. Hostgroup Subcommands
Hostgroups provide an easy way to manage multiple hosts together by grouping them logically, often for policy or access control purposes.
Common Commands:
Add a Hostgroup:
Creates a new hostgroup with a given description.
Find Hostgroups:
Lists all existing hostgroups.
Show Hostgroup Details:
Displays detailed information about a specific hostgroup.
Add Hosts to a Hostgroup:
Adds one or more hosts to a hostgroup.
Remove Hosts from a Hostgroup:
Removes one or more hosts from a hostgroup.
Delete a Hostgroup:
Deletes a hostgroup from the domain.
3. Service Subcommands
Services represent applications (such as web services, mail services, etc.) running on hosts that require secure authentication through IPA. These commands manage such services.
Common Commands:
Add a Service:
Adds a new service to the domain, enabling it to interact with the IPA environment (e.g.,
HTTP/webserver01.example.com).Find Services:
Lists all services available in the domain.
Show Service Details:
Displays detailed information about a specific service.
Delete a Service:
Removes a service from the domain.
Enable/Disable a Service:
Enable:
Disable:
4. Getkeytab Subcommands
Keytabs are files that store service or host credentials used for secure authentication, specifically with Kerberos. The ipa-getkeytab command fetches and manages keytab files.
Common Commands:
Obtain a Keytab for a Host:
Fetches the keytab for a specified host and stores it in the default Kerberos keytab location.
Obtain a Keytab for a Service:
Retrieves the keytab for a service running on a host.
Force a New Keytab:
Forces the retrieval of a new keytab, overwriting any existing keytab.
Remove a Keytab:
Deletes a keytab for a specific service, revoking its credentials.
Example Scenario: Adding and Securing a Host with a Service
Add the Host:
Create a Hostgroup (e.g., all web servers):
Add and Configure a Service: For example, you may want to add an HTTP service for
server1:Obtain the Keytab for the HTTP Service:
This ensures that the host and the service are authenticated and secure within the FreeIPA domain, with keytab-based Kerberos authentication.
Conclusion
Using the ipa command with subcommands for hosts, hostgroups, services, and keytabs, administrators can efficiently manage identity, authentication, and policies in a secure FreeIPA environment. These tools are critical in environments that require centralized management of users, machines, services, and access control in enterprise systems.
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