LDAP

Overview

Yellowfin can be connected to an LDAP source for user authentication and group management purposes. This allows Yellowfin access to be controlled externally and organisation-wide simply and quickly. Users can use their existing intranet password for Yellowfin authentication, and reports can be given access restrictions which include or exclude users in specific LDAP groups.

Yellowfin has the option to reference an external directory (LDAP) or database to perform authentication or an entered User ID without Single Sign On. This means that a user will have the same User ID and Password across all participating applications that use the directory. In addition, removal/lockout of the user on the directory will automatically flow through to Yellowfin, minimising the manual effort of managing users.

Preparing LDAP Integration

Prior to setting up the LDAP parameters in Yellowfin, the following will have to be completed:

1. Create a Yellowfin User (or specify an existing user) within the LDAP to allow Yellowfin to connect and search for Users and Groups.
2. Create a 'Yellowfin User' Group within LDAP (or specify one) which will be used to determine which users within LDAP will have access to Yellowfin.
3. Ensure network connectivity between the Yellowfin server and the LDAP server.
4. Define the default Yellowfin Role for LDAP users.

Defining the Default Role

For Yellowfin to provision users automatically it has to assign a role to them. This role is defined as a Yellowfin 'Default' Role. In the Role Management page, define one Role as the Default.

1. Navigate to Administration > General > Role Management
2. Select the Role you wish to make Default
3. Tick the Default Role box and Save

Note: if no role is set as default the users will not be provisioned correctly into Yellowfin and the process will fail.

Users Provisioning and Sign On

To provision users from the LDAP directory and to use LDAP Authentication the required attributes must be defined on the Configuration page. The attributes required by Yellowfin include:

Once defined, Yellowfin will automatically provision users as they attempt to login to Yellowfin for the first time.

Note: if the users in LDAP exceed the number of licences purchased, any new users will not be provisioned into the system.

Example

This is an example taken from the Configuration page of Yellowfin

The configuration above will:

• Connect to LDAP host 192.168.4.241 on port 389
• Users will be searched from cn=Users,dc=i4,dc=local
• Users will be allowed access to Yellowfin if they are a member of cn=Yellowfin Users,cn=Users,dc=i4,dc=local
• The user search is conducted with user cn=Administrator,cn=Users,dc=i4,dc=local bound to the LDAP server with password password
• Users will use employeeID as their login ID and Yellowfin will load their given name, surname, and email from the LDAP directory attributes givenName, LastName, and userPrincipalName respectively

Note: if a user is not found in the LDAP directory, it will look for the username as a standard Yellowfin user.

Using LDAP Groups for Yellowfin Security

Once LDAP Authentication is enabled, the Group Management screens will include a new group option called LDAP. This will source groups from the LDAP directory for use as normal Yellowfin Groups. Yellowfin Groups can also be created based on a variety of sources including mixtures of LDAP and Yellowfin groups, where LDAP groups can be either included or excluded in the new group.

1. Open the Add LDAP Group drop down
2. A list of LDAP groups will be displayed. Select the group to be used to create members for the Yellowfin Group
3. Click Add to add the LDAP Group members into the Yellowfin Group