LDAP secrets engine (API)
Note: This engine can use external X.509 certificates as part of TLS or signature validation. Verifying signatures against X.509 certificates that use SHA-1 is deprecated and is no longer usable without a workaround. See the deprecation FAQ for more information.
This is the API documentation for the OpenBao LDAP secrets engine. For general information about the usage and operation of the LDAP secrets engine, please see the LDAP secrets engine docs.
This documentation assumes the LDAP secrets engine is enabled at the /ldap
path
in OpenBao. Since it is possible to mount secrets engines at any path, please
update your API calls accordingly.
Configuration management
This endpoint configures the LDAP secret engine to manage user entries.
Method | Path |
---|---|
POST | /ldap/config |
GET | /ldap/config |
DELETE | /ldap/config |
Note: The LDAP entry used by config
should have the necessary privileges
to search and change entry passwords in LDAP.
Parameters
binddn
(string: <required>)
- Distinguished name (DN) of object to bind for managing user entries. For example,cn=openbao,ou=Users,dc=openbao,dc=com
.bindpass
(string: <required>)
- Password to use along withbinddn
for managing user entries.url
(string: "ldap://127.0.0.1")
- The LDAP server to connect to. Examples:ldaps://ldap.myorg.com
,ldaps://ldap.myorg.com:636
. This can also be a comma-delineated list of URLs, e.g.ldaps://ldap.myorg.com, ldaps://ldap.myorg.com:636
, in which case the servers will be tried in-order if there are errors during the connection process.`.password_policy
(string: <optional>)
- The name of the password policy to use to generate passwords. Note that this accepts the name of the policy, not the policy itself.schema
(string: "openldap")
- The LDAP schema to use when storing entry passwords. Valid schemas includeopenldap
,ad
, andracf
.userdn
(string: <optional>)
- The base DN under which to perform user search in library management and static roles. For example,ou=Users,dc=openbao,dc=com
.userattr
(string: <optional>)
– The attribute field name used to perform user search in library management and static roles. Defaults tocn
for theopenldap
schema,userPrincipalName
for thead
schema, andracfid
for theracf
schema.upndomain
(string:optional
) - The domain (userPrincipalDomain) used to construct a UPN string for authentication. The constructed UPN will appear as[binddn]@[upndomain]
. For example, ifupndomain=example.com
andbinddn=admin
, the UPN stringadmin@example.com
will be used to log in to Active Directory.connection_timeout
(integer: 30 or string: "30s")
- Timeout, in seconds, when attempting to connect to the LDAP server before trying the next URL in the configuration.request_timeout
(integer: 90, string: "90s" <optional>)
- Timeout, in seconds, for the connection when making requests against the server before returning back an error.starttls
(bool: <optional>)
- If true, issues aStartTLS
command after establishing an unencrypted connection.insecure_tls
(bool: <optional>)
- If true, skips LDAP server SSL certificate verification - insecure, use with caution!certificate
(string: <optional>)
- CA certificate to use when verifying LDAP server certificate, must be x509 PEM encoded.client_tls_cert
(string: <optional>)
- Client certificate to provide to the LDAP server, must be x509 PEM encoded.client_tls_key
(string: <optional>)
- Client key to provide to the LDAP server, must be x509 PEM encoded.
Deprecated Parameters:
length
(int: 64)
- The length of generated password strings. Note: some schemas may require shorter password lengths (such asracf
). Mutually exclusive withpassword_policy
Note about password generation:
length
and password_policy
cannot both be set in the configuration. The POST
endpoint will reject the
configuration if both are specified.
- If neither are set, this will default to a reasonable default password generation algorithm (the same algorithm as prior to the introduction of password policies).
- If
length
is set, the same algorithm is used, but with the length specified instead of the default length. - If
password_policy
is set, the password will be generated from the associated password policy. The policy is not exercised prior to saving the configuration. The policy will need to exist prior to passwords needing to be generated by this engine, but does not need to exist prior to saving the configuration.
See LDAP secrets engine docs for additional information.
Sample payload
{
"binddn": "cn=openbao,ou=Users,dc=openbao,dc=com",
"bindpass": "pa$$w0rd",
"url": "ldaps://127.0.0.11"
}
Sample POST request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request POST \
--data @payload.json \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/config
Sample GET request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request GET \
https://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/config
Sample response
{
"data": {
"binddn": "cn=admin,dc=openbao,dc=com",
"case_sensitive_names": false,
"certificate": "",
"insecure_tls": false,
"length": 64,
"schema": "openldap",
"starttls": false,
"tls_max_version": "tls12",
"tls_min_version": "tls12",
"url": "ldap://127.0.0.1"
}
}
Rotate root password
The rotate-root
endpoint offers password rotation for the binddn
entry used to manage LDAP.
This generated password will only be known to OpenBao and will not be retrievable once rotated.
Method | Path |
---|---|
POST | /ldap/rotate-root |
Sample request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request POST \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/rotate-root
Static roles
The static-role
endpoint configures OpenBao to manage the passwords of existing individual LDAP entries.
Method | Path |
---|---|
GET | /ldap/static-role |
GET | /ldap/static-role/:role_name |
POST | /ldap/static-role/:role_name |
DELETE | /ldap/static-role/:role_name |
Parameters
username
(string: <required>)
- The username of the existing LDAP entry to manage password rotation for. LDAP search for the username will be rooted at the userdn configuration value. The attribute to use when searching for the user can be configured with the userattr configuration value. This is useful whendn
isn't used for login purposes (such as SSH). Cannot be modified after creation.
Example:"bob"
dn
(string: <optional>)
- Distinguished name (DN) of the existing LDAP entry to manage password rotation for. If given, it will take precedence overusername
for the LDAP search performed during password rotation. Cannot be modified after creation.
Example:cn=bob,ou=Users,dc=openbao,dc=com
rotation_period
(string: <required>)
- How often OpenBao should rotate the password of the user entry. Accepts duration format strings. The minimum rotation period is 5 seconds.
Example:"3600", "5s", "1h"
Sample payload
{
"dn": "cn=openbao,ou=Users,dc=openbao,dc=com",
"rotation_period": "24h",
"username": "openbao"
}
Sample POST request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request POST \
--data @payload.json \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/static-role/openbao
Sample GET request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request GET \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/static-role/openbao
Sample GET response
{
"data": {
"dn": "uid=openbao,ou=Users,dc=openbao,dc=com",
"last_vault_rotation": "2020-02-19T11:31:53.7812-05:00",
"rotation_period": 86400,
"username": "openbao"
}
}
Sample LIST response
["openbao", "bob"]
Static role passwords
The static-cred
endpoint offers the credential information for a given static-role.
Method | Path |
---|---|
GET | /ldap/static-cred/:role_name |
Sample get request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request GET \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/static-cred/openbao
Sample get response
{
"dn": "uid=openbao,ou=Users,dc=openbao,dc=com",
"last_vault_rotation": "2020-02-19T11:31:53.7812-05:00",
"password": "LTNfyn7pS7XEZIxEYQ2sEAWic02PEP7zSvIs0xMqIjaU0ORzLhKOKVmYLxL1Xkyv",
"last_password": "?@09AZSen9TzUwK7ZhafS7B0GuWGraQjfWEna5SwnmF/tVaKFqjXhhGV/Z0v/pBJ",
"rotation_period": 86400,
"ttl": 86072,
"username": "openbao"
}
Manually rotate static role password
The rotate-role
endpoint rotates the password of an existing static role.
Method | Path |
---|---|
POST | /ldap/rotate-role/:role_name |
Sample request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request POST \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/rotate-role/:role_name
Dynamic roles
Create or update a dynamic role configuration. This provides instructions to OpenBao on how to create an LDAP domain user account.
Create/Delete dynamic role configuration
Creates, updates, or deletes a dynamic role.
Method | Path |
---|---|
POST | /ldap/role/:role_name |
DELETE | /ldap/role/:role_name |
The POST
endpoint allows for partial updates of existing roles. If a role exists and a POST
request is made
against it, only the keys specified in the request will be updated. To delete a value, specify the key with an
empty string as the value. Example: openbao write ldap/role/myrole default_ttl=""
Parameters
role_name
(string, required)
- The name of the dynamic role.creation_ldif
(string, required)
- A templatized LDIF string used to create a user account. This may contain multiple LDIF entries. Thecreation_ldif
can also be used to add the user account to an existing group. All LDIF entries are performed in order. If OpenBao encounters an error while executing thecreation_ldif
it will stop at the first error and not execute any remaining LDIF entries. If an error occurs androllback_ldif
is specified, the LDIF entries inrollback_ldif
will be executed. Seerollback_ldif
for more details. This field may optionally be provided as a base64 encoded string.deletion_ldif
(string, required)
- A templatized LDIF string used to delete the user account once its TTL has expired. This may contain multiple LDIF entries. All LDIF entries are performed in order. If OpenBao encounters an error while executing an entry in thedeletion_ldif
it will attempt to continue executing any remaining entries. This field may optionally be provided as a base64 encoded string.rollback_ldif
(string, not required but recommended)
- A templatized LDIF string used to attempt to rollback any changes in the event that execution of thecreation_ldif
results in an error. This may contain multiple LDIF entries. All LDIF entries are performed in order. If OpenBao encounters an error while executing an entry in therollback_ldif
it will attempt to continue executing any remaining entries. This field may optionally be provided as a base64 encoded string.username_template
(string)
- A template used to generate a dynamic username. This will be used to fill in the.Username
field within thecreation_ldif
string.
Default Username Template
v_{{.DisplayName}}_{{.RoleName}}_{{random 10}}_{{unix_time}}
Example Usernames:
Example | |
---|---|
DisplayName | token |
RoleName | myrolename |
Username | v_token_myrolename_uszt1n4cyh_1614294836 |
Example | |
---|---|
DisplayName | amuchlonger_dispname |
RoleName | role-name-with-dashes |
Username | v_amuchlonger_dispname_role-name-with-dashes_s0t9xb0jsa_1614294836 |
default_ttl
(string/int)
- Specifies the TTL for the leases associated with this role. Accepts duration format strings. Defaults to system/engine default TTL time.max_ttl
(string/int)
- Specifies the maximum TTL for the leases associated with this role. Accepts duration format strings. Defaults to system/mount default TTL time; this value is allowed to be less than the mount max TTL (or, if not set, the system max TTL), but it is not allowed to be longer.
The creation_ldif
, deletion_ldif
, rollback_ldif
, and username_template
fields are all templated fields. See
Username Templating for details on how to use templating. Also see
Templates for specifics on what data is available for each template.
Sample payload
Sample LDIF files:
creation.ldif
:
dn: cn={{.Username}},ou=users,dc=learn,dc=example
objectClass: person
objectClass: top
cn: learn
sn: {{.Password | utf16le | base64}}
memberOf: cn=dev,ou=groups,dc=learn,dc=example
userPassword: {{.Password}}
deletion.ldif
& rollback.ldif
:
dn: cn={{.Username}},ou=users,dc=learn,dc=example
changetype: delete
Full Payload:
{
"creation_ldif": "...",
"deletion_ldif": "...",
"rollback_ldif": "...",
"username_template": "...",
"default_ttl": "1h",
"max_ttl": "24h"
}
Note: The LDIF statements may optionally be base64 encoded. If they are base64 encoded when creating/updating the
role configuration, the decoded version will be returned from the GET
endpoint.
Sample POST request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request POST \
--data @payload.json \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/role/dynamic-role
Read dynamic role configuration
Retrieves a dynamic role's configuration.
Method | Path |
---|---|
GET | /ldap/role/:role_name |
Response
200 OK
{
"creation_ldif": "...",
"default_ttl": 1800,
"deletion_ldif": "...",
"max_ttl": 0,
"rollback_ldif": "...",
"username_template": "..."
}
Templates
LDIF and username templates use the Go template syntax to construct the LDIF/username that will be executed against the server. This is done because certain values (such as the username and password within an LDIF statement) are not known at configuration time. Additionally, the template gives a lot of flexibility to the operator to construct the LDIF and username.
Templated fields are delimited by {{
and }}
. To reference a field (such as the generated Username
), a period is
placed in front of the field name. Example: {{.Username}}
. Spaces can be included between {{
and }}
. For instance:
{{.Username|lowercase}}
is the same as {{ .Username | lowercase }}
.
If a field needs to be modified (such as SHA256 hashing, base64 encoding, etc.) the value can be sent to one of the
built-in functions. This uses a "pipe" syntax: {{.Username | base64}}
. Values may be "piped"
to multiple functions: {{.Username | lowercase | base64}}
LDIF template fields
The following parameters are available within the LDIF templates:
.Username
- The name of the generated user (optionally from username_template
).
Default pattern: v_<display name>_<role name>_<10 random chars>_<unix timestamp>
.Password
- The generated password (optionally from
password policies)
.RoleName
- The name of the role that credentials are being generated for.
.DisplayName
- The display name associated with the authentication token used to make the credentials request.
.IssueTime
- The time that the lease was created. This time may be slightly earlier than the associated lease due to
where this value is calculated compared with where OpenBao calculates details of the lease.
Format: 2006-01-02T15:04:05Z07:00 (RFC3339)
.IssueTimeSeconds
- The unix time the lease was created. This time may
be slightly earlier than the associated lease due to where this value is calculated compared with where OpenBao
calculates details of the lease.
Format: Integer indicating the number of seconds elapsed since January 1, 1970.
.ExpirationTime
- The time that the lease is set to expire. This time may be slightly earlier than the associated
lease due to where this value is calculated compared with where OpenBao calculates details of the lease.
Format: 2006-01-02T15:04:05Z07:00 (RFC3339)
.ExpirationTimeSeconds
- The unix time the lease is set to expire. This
time may be slightly earlier than the associated lease due to where this value is calculated compared with where OpenBao
calculates details of the lease.
Format: Integer indicating the number of seconds elapsed since January 1, 1970.
Username template fields
The following parameters are available within the username template:
Important note: If any of the following fields include dashes or underscores, they will not be removed/changed unless explicitly done so within the username template. For instance:
If RoleName
is test-role
and the username_template
is v_{{.RoleName}}_{{unix_time}}
, the result of this template
may be: v_test-role_1234567890
. Note the -
(dash) in the test-role
. If the LDAP system OpenBao is managing
restricts usernames/DNs to not allow for dashes (or other characters), the template must explicitly modify/remove those
characters. In this example, the template can be changed to v_{{.RoleName | replace "-" "_"}}
to replace
the dashes with underscores. See Template Functions for more functions available.
.RoleName
- The name of the role the credentials are being generated from.
.DisplayName
- The display name associated with the user making the request against Value.
Template functions
Both the LDIF templates and the username template use the Go template language
so all functions and capabilities from that language are
supported including functions such as printf
.
In addition to the functions available through the template language, the following custom functions are also available:
random
- Generates a random string from lowercase letters, uppercase letters, and numbers. Must include a
number indicating how many characters to generate.
Example: {{random 20}}
generates 20 random characters
truncate
- truncates the previous value to the provided number of characters.
Example: {{.FieldName | truncate 10}}
truncate_sha256
- Truncates the previous value to the provided number of characters. The last 8 characters of the
truncated value will be the first 8 characters of the SHA256 hash of the truncated characters.
This can aid in identifying values (such as the role & display names) if they need to be truncated to a particular length, particularly if the value has common prefixes. An example of this is having many roles with a common prefix in the name of the role, but the role name is truncated such that only the prefix is shown. This function will keep the non-prefix part of the role name in the username which will aid in identification while also keeping uniqueness.
Example:
v_{{.RoleName | truncate_sha256 15}}_{{unix_time}}
.
If two roles exist for this template, myreallylongprefix-foobar
and myreallylongprefix-bazqux
, the username for the first role
would be v_myrealle6da86ec_1234567890
and the username for the second role would be v_myrealld0420a55_1234567890
.
uppercase
- Uppercases the provided value.
Example: {{.FieldName | uppercase}}
lowercase
- Lowercases the provided value.
Example: {{.FieldName | lowercase}}
replace
- Find/replace on the provided value.
Example: {{.FieldName | replace "-" "_"}}
sha256
- SHA256 hashes the provided value.
Example: {{.FieldName | sha256}}
base64
- Base64 encodes the provided value.
Example: {{.FieldName | base64}}
unix_time
- The current unix timestamp (number of seconds since Jan 1 1970).
Example: {{unix_time}}
unix_time_millis
- The current unix timestamp in milliseconds.
Example: {{unix_time_millis}}
timestamp
- The current time. Must provide a formatting string based on Go’s time package.
Example: {{timestamp "2006-01-02T15:04:05Z"}}
uuid
- Generates a random UUID.
Example: {{uuid}}
LDIF template functions
Additionally, the LDIF templates include an additional function to facilitate Active Directory password handling. The username template cannot use this function.
utf16le
- Encodes the provided value into UTF16-LE.
Example: {{.FieldName | utf16le}}
Dynamic role passwords
The creds
endpoint offers the credential information for a given dynamic role.
Method | Path |
---|---|
GET | /ldap/creds/:role_name |
Sample get request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request GET \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/creds/dynamic-role
Sample get response
{
"distinguished_names": [
"cn=v_token-dispname_testrole_jmZMnjS42a_1680580467,ou=users,dc=openbao,dc=com"
],
"password": "OWexB3OzYYLFiotWxUS2EheGpriwR20fa2yA7JGTsnBREcxyqpwf73htofMihxcC",
"username": "v_token-dispname_testrole_jmZMnjS42a_1680580467"
}
Library set management
The library
endpoint configures the sets of service accounts that OpenBao will offer for check-out.
Method | Path |
---|---|
LIST | /ldap/library |
POST | /ldap/library/:set_name |
GET | /ldap/library/:set_name |
DELETE | /ldap/library/:set_name |
When adding a service account to the library, OpenBao verifies it already exists in the LDAP directory.
Parameters
name
(string: "", required)
- The name of the set of service accounts.service_account_names
(string: "", or list: [] required)
- The names of all the service accounts that can be checked out from this set. These service accounts must only be used by OpenBao, and may only be in one set. These service accounts must already exist in the LDAP directory.ttl
(duration: "24h", optional)
- The maximum amount of time a single check-out lasts before OpenBao automatically checks it back in. Defaults to 24 hours. Setting it to zero reflects an unlimited lending period. Uses duration format strings.max_ttl
(duration: "24h", optional)
- The maximum amount of time a check-out last with renewal before OpenBao automatically checks it back in. Defaults to 24 hours. Setting it to zero reflects an unlimited lending period. Uses duration format strings.disable_check_in_enforcement
(bool: false, optional)
- Disable enforcing that service accounts must be checked in by the entity or client token that checked them out. Defaults to false.
Sample POST request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request POST \
--data @payload.json \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/library/accounting-team
Sample POST payload
{
"service_account_names": ["fizz@example.com", "buzz@example.com"],
"ttl": "10h",
"max_ttl": "20h",
"disable_check_in_enforcement": false
}
Sample GET response
{
"service_account_names": ["fizz@example.com", "buzz@example.com"],
"ttl": "10h",
"max_ttl": "20h",
"disable_check_in_enforcement": false
}
Sample LIST response
Performing a LIST
on the /ldap/library
endpoint will list the names of all the sets of service accounts OpenBao contains.
["accounting-team"]
Library set status check
This endpoint provides the check-out status of service accounts in a library set.
Method | Path |
---|---|
GET | /ldap/library/:set_name/status |
Sample GET request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request GET \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/library/accounting-team/status
Sample GET response
{
"request_id": "9e44c8b5-d142-5867-2a11-49f3ba71215a",
"lease_id": "",
"renewable": false,
"lease_duration": 0,
"data": {
"buzz@example.com": {
"available": true
},
"fizz@example.com": {
"available": false,
"borrower_client_token": "4c653e473bf7e27c6759fccc3def20c44d776279",
"borrower_entity_id": "631256b1-8523-9838-5501-d0a1e2cdad9c"
}
},
"wrap_info": null,
"warnings": null,
"auth": null
}
Check-Out management
This endpoint provides service account check out for a library set.
Method | Path |
---|---|
POST | /ldap/library/:set_name/check-out |
Returns a 200
if a credential is available, and a 400
if no credential is available.
Parameters
name
(string: "", required)
- The name of the set of service accounts.ttl
(duration: "", optional)
- The maximum amount of time a check-out lasts before OpenBao automatically checks it back in. Setting it to zero reflects an unlimited lending period. Defaults to the set'sttl
. If the requestedttl
is higher than the set's, the set's will be used. Uses duration format strings.
Sample POST request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request POST \
--data @payload.json \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/library/accounting-team/check-out
Sample POST payload
{
"ttl": "1h"
}
Sample POST response
{
"request_id": "364a17d4-e5ab-998b-ceee-b49929229e0c",
"lease_id": "ad/library/accounting-team/check-out/aoBsaBEI4PK96VnukubvYDlZ",
"renewable": true,
"lease_duration": 36000,
"data": {
"password": "?@09QW0KZ8DSBu3deIu7XLY1NZqzwhozmMAZ6v0IcZJGOjs5GvpVMvOeW7/duls2",
"service_account_name": "fizz@example.com"
},
"wrap_info": null,
"warnings": null,
"auth": null
}
Check-In management
By default, check-in must be called by the same entity or client token used for check-out.
To disable this behavior, use the disable_check_in_enforcement
toggle on the library set. Or, use
the ad/library/manage/:set_name/check-in
behavior to force check-in of the account. Access to the
"manage" endpoint should only be granted to highly privileged OpenBao users, like OpenBao operators.
If a caller attempts to check in a service account they're not authorized to check in, they will
receive an error response. If they attempt to check in a service account they are authorized to
check in, but it's already checked in, they will receive a successful response but the account
will not be included in the check_ins
listed. check_ins
shows which service accounts were checked
in by this particular call.
Method | Path |
---|---|
POST | /ldap/library/:set_name/check-in |
POST | /ldap/library/manage/:set_name/check-in |
Parameters
name
(string: "", required)
- The name of the set of service accounts.service_account_names
(string: "", or list: [] optional)
- The names of all the service accounts to be checked in. May be omitted if only one is checked out.
Sample POST request
$ curl \
--header "X-Vault-Token: ..." \
--request POST \
--data @payload.json \
http://127.0.0.1:8200/v1/ldap/library/accounting-team/check-in
Sample POST payload
{
"service_account_names": ["fizz@example.com"]
}
Sample POST response
{
"request_id": "db45c714-3f68-b748-95bc-8f7467637a52",
"lease_id": "",
"renewable": false,
"lease_duration": 0,
"data": {
"check_ins": ["fizz@example.com"]
},
"wrap_info": null,
"warnings": null,
"auth": null
}