FreeIPA is an open-source Identity, Policy, and Audit (IPA) suite. It lets you authenticate, authorize and manage the identities of computers, users, and services on a network. This tutorial will guide you on how to install FreeIPA on Arch Linux.
Before you start with the installation, you need to ensure that you meet the following prerequisites:
First, you need to install some required packages for the FreeIPA installation. Open the terminal and run the following command to install the packages:
sudo pacman -S epel-release
sudo pacman -S freeipa-server bind bind-dyndb-ldap
The above command installs the epel-release, freeipa-server, bind and bind-dyndb-ldap packages.
Next, you need to set up a hostname and IP address for your server. This can be done by editing the hostname and hosts file, as follows:
sudo nano /etc/hostname
In the above command, replace "nano" with the text editor of your choice. Now enter your hostname, save, and exit the file.
sudo nano /etc/hosts
In the above command, replace "nano" with the text editor of your choice. Now add the IP, hostname, and fqdn entries for your server as per the below format, save, and exit the file:
127.0.0.1 localhost
::1 localhost
192.168.0.1 freeipa.example.com freeipa
Make sure to replace freeipa.example.com and freeipa with your server's hostname and domain name.
You need to configure DNS forwarding for your server to resolve domain names on your network. Edit the named.conf.options file, as follows:
sudo nano /etc/named.conf.options
In the above command, replace "nano" with the text editor of your choice. Now add the following line to the options section:
forwarders { 8.8.8.8; 8.8.4.4; };
Save and exit the file.
Now you need to generate the FreeIPA server configuration file for your server by running the following command:
sudo ipa-server-install
This will launch the FreeIPA server installation wizard. Follow the prompts and answer the questions until the installation is complete.
After the installation completes successfully, you need to enable and start the FreeIPA services. Run the following commands to achieve this:
sudo systemctl enable ipa.service
sudo systemctl enable named.service
sudo systemctl start ipa.service
sudo systemctl start named.service
By running the above commands, the ipa and named services are enabled and started on your server.
After the services have started, you can verify the FreeIPA installation by running the ipa-client-install command:
sudo ipa-client-install
Follow the prompts to set up the client on your server, then run the ipa user-find command to verify that the clients are correctly configured with the server.
Congratulations! You now have a fully-functional FreeIPA server installed on Arch Linux.
In this tutorial, you have learned how to install FreeIPA on Arch Linux. Now you have a centralized authentication and management system for your network.
If you want to self-host in an easy, hands free way, need an external IP address, or simply want your data in your own hands, give IPv6.rs a try!
Alternatively, for the best virtual desktop, try Shells!
