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Chapter 11. Configuration Management

11.1. Configuration Management Objects
11.2. Kolab Configuration File
11.2.1. [kolab]
11.2.2. [ldap]
11.2.3. A Base DN for Every Type
11.2.4. Use of Bind Credentials
Kolab Groupware includes configuration management, so that adjusting settings for your environment can be automatically deployed to the relevant configuration files, and the corresponding services can be reloaded or restarted.
To that end, Kolab Groupware employs a relational, object-oriented model.

11.1. Configuration Management Objects

  • node
    A node is a single operating system instance with a unique fully qualified domain name. It is the container for roles, as each node in a deployment can be assigned one or more roles.
    Additionally, a node is assigned an environment, in order to facilitate setups with pre-production environments.
  • role
    A role is a set of tasks to perform in a given environment. For example, a node can be an MTA, or an MTA of a particular type (internal, external).
    Adding the role "mta-internal" to a node tells the configuration management that certain packages need to be installed, certain configuration settings need to be applied to certain files, and certain services need to be started.
  • file
    A file is related to a service, and contains its configuration settings.
  • setting
    A setting is a single key-value pair of the augeas path and the desired contents. The contents can be specified as a value, or as the return value of a function to call.
    For example, the list of Cyrus IMAP administrator login names is contained within /etc/imapd.conf, setting admins. Its value is a space-separated list of login names. 
    (...snip...)
admins: cyrus-admin
(...snip...)
    Adding a Cyrus IMAP administrator can be performed by;
    • Removing the setting from the management, and directly editing the setting in /etc/imapd.conf adding the login name for the new administrator to the space-seperated list.
    • Adding the new administrator to the list of login names returned by the function called to get to the value of the setting.
      By default, we consider a role cyrus-admins to exist in LDAP, and list the uid attribute values of the accounts with that role.
    Because a setting can contain a setting specific for a particular role, while contained within the same file, you can associate the setting with one or more roles and thereby restrict its application to nodes with these roles only.
    Additionally, settings can vary per environment. Set the environment property on a setting to only apply the setting to nodes in that environment.
  • service
    A service is a (set of) task(s) to perform in a role.
  • package
    para
  • task
    para
  • environment
    para

11.2. Kolab Configuration File

The main Kolab configuration file is /etc/kolab/kolab.conf.

TODO

This does not take into account using POSIX permissions for command-line users using the toolchain.
The format of the configuration file is the INI format, which consists of the following syntax: 
[section]
; comment line

key1 = value
key2 = value
    continued value for key2
The configuration file has a mandatory section, [kolab], which controls much of the information to the base of the Kolab deployment.

11.2.1. [kolab]

The following is an overview of settings available in the [kolab] section:
  • auth_mechanism (ldap)
    The authentication and authorization database technology to use for the primary domain name space in this Kolab deployment. If not set, defaults to a value of 'ldap'.
    Possible options currently include: 'ldap'.
  • primary_domain (constants.domainname)
    The primary domain name space for this Kolab deployment. If not set, defaults to the value of the PyKolab constant domainname, which is derived from the system fully qualified domain name.
  • imap_backend (cyrus-imap)
    The IMAP backend technology used.
    Valid options currently include: cyrus-imap
  • default_quota (None)
    Default quota to apply to user mailboxes. Any integer representing a number of kilobytes will do. Defaults to 'None', which is actually to say, no default quota will be applied.
  • virtual_domains (userid)
    In which mode the IMAP 'virtual_domains' feature is enabled. Not in use yet.

11.2.2. [ldap]

The primary LDAP settings are contained within this section. The following settings are available:
  • ldap_uri (ldap://localhost:389)
    The URI to the LDAP server. Contains only the scheme ('ldap', 'ldaps'), the LDAP server connection address (an IP address or DNS name), and the port to use.
  • base_dn (None)
    This setting contains the absolute top-level that Kolab is allowed to use. While most commonly the same value as the root distinguished name (root dn) for the tree, dc=example,dc=org for example, this is not always the case.
    Despite the fact that Kolab can generate a domain-component oriented naming scheme base dn from the domain name space configured as or believed to be the primary domain, Kolab often requires the configuration of the overall base distinguished name (base dn) as LDAP trees may use a non-domain component oriented naming scheme, such as o=organization,c=nl, or use a different level of depth.
  • bind_dn (None)
    The distinguished name of the account to use for bind operations. This is part of a set of bind credentials used as a last resort only.
    If you have other, more functionally specific bind credentials configured as well, set this to the bind dn which has the least privileges (i.e. an anonymous user).
    If you have no other functionally more specific bind credentials configured, set this to the bind dn used to allow the most actions to be executed against the LDAP server, for example cn=Directory Manager.
    See Section 11.2.4, “Use of Bind Credentials” for more information on configuring functional specific bind credentials.
  • bind_pw (None)
    The password corresponding with the bind dn configured in bind_dn (None).
  • auth_attributes (mail)
    A comma- or comma-space separated list of entry attribute names of which the value is to be allowed as the login name during authentication.
    This enables an administrator to allow users to login with their entry's uid attribute value, in addition to their entry's mail attribute value.
    Common attribute names in this list include: alias, mail, mailAlternateAddress, uid.
  • quota_attribute (mailquota)
    The attribute to use for a user's mail quota.
  • mailserver_attribute (mailhost)
    The attribute to use for a user's mail server.
  • user_base_dn (%(base_dn)s)
    The base dn to use when searching for users.
    If not specified, the value of base_dn (None) is used.
  • user_filter ((objectClass=*))
    The filter to use when searching for users.
  • user_name_attribute (uid)
    The RDN attribute name (and value) to use. The value for this configuration setting should use a globally unique attribute.
  • user_scope (sub)
    The scope to use when searching for users.
  • kolab_user_base_dn (%(base_dn)s)
    The base dn to use when searching for users of type 'kolab'.
    If not specified, the value of user_base_dn (%(base_dn)s) is used.
  • kolab_user_filter ((objectClass=*))
    The filter to use when searching for users of type 'kolab'.
  • kolab_user_scope (sub)
    The scope to use when searching for users of type 'kolab'.
  • special_user_base_dn (%(base_dn)s)
    The base dn to use when searching for users of type 'special'.
  • special_user_filter ((objectClass=*))
    The filter to use when searching for users of type 'special'.
  • special_user_scope (sub)
    The scope to use when searching for users of type 'special'.
  • group_base_dn (%(base_dn)s)
    The base dn to use when searching for groups.
  • group_filter ((objectClass=*))
    The filter to use when searching for groups.
  • group_name_attribute (cn)
    The RDN attribute to use for groups. This should use a globally unique attribute.
  • group_scope (sub)
    The scope to use when searching for groups.
  • domain_base_dn (%(base_dn)s)
    The base dn to use when searching for domains.
  • domain_filter ((objectClass=*))
    The filter to use when searching for domains.
  • domain_scope (sub)
    The scope to use when searching for domains.
  • domain_name_attribute (associateddomain)
    The naming attribute for domains. Results in the first value of the list of values contained within the attribute values for a single entry to be used as the Relative Distinguished Name (RDN).
  • domain_rootdn_attribute (inetdomainbasedn)
    The attribute that contains a reference to the root dn to use for the domain.

11.2.3. A Base DN for Every Type

The configuration can hold a base distinguished name setting for every type of account or group available in the Kolab deployment.
When the configuration is used, the Kolab programs attempt to get user or group type specific settings first, and fall back onto the generic setting. When, for example, the base dn for Kolab users is needed, first the setting kolab_user_base_dn is obtained from the configuration, and should it not have been configured, it will fall back to using user_base_dn. Should that setting also not be available, the program will fall back to using base_dn.
The configuration for a particular type of user or group primarily serves large LDAP directories.

11.2.4. Use of Bind Credentials

The configuration can hold a series of bind credentials, ...;