Chapter 13. Configuring certificate mapping if AD is configured to map user certificates to user accounts


This user story describes the steps necessary for enabling certificate mapping in IdM if the IdM deployment is in trust with Active Directory (AD), the user is stored in AD, and the user entry in AD contains certificate mapping data.

Prerequisites

  • The user does not have an account in IdM.
  • The user has an account in AD which contains the altSecurityIdentities attribute, the AD equivalent of the IdM certmapdata attribute.
  • The IdM administrator has access to data on which the IdM certificate mapping rule can be based.

13.1. Adding a certificate mapping rule in the IdM web UI if AD is configured to map user certificates to user accounts

  1. Log into the IdM web UI as an administrator.
  2. Navigate to Authentication Certificate Identity Mapping Rules Certificate Identity Mapping Rules.
  3. Click Add.

    Figure 13.1. Adding a new certificate mapping rule in the IdM web UI

    Screenshot of the IdM Web UI displaying the "Certificate Identity Mapping Rules" sub-tab from the Authentication tab. The "Add" button at the right of the page is highlighted.
  4. Enter the rule name.
  5. Enter the mapping rule. For example, to make AD DC search for the Issuer and Subject entries in any certificate presented, and base its decision to authenticate or not on the information found in these two entries of the presented certificate:

    (altSecurityIdentities=X509:<I>{issuer_dn!ad_x500}<S>{subject_dn!ad_x500})
    Copy to Clipboard
  6. Enter the matching rule. For example, to only allow certificates issued by the AD-ROOT-CA of the AD.EXAMPLE.COM domain to authenticate users to IdM:

    <ISSUER>CN=AD-ROOT-CA,DC=ad,DC=example,DC=com
    Copy to Clipboard
  7. Enter the domain:

    ad.example.com
    Copy to Clipboard

    Figure 13.2. Certificate mapping rule if AD is configured for mapping

    Screenshot of the "Add Certificate Identity Mapping Rule" pop-up window with the following fields filled in: Rule name (which is required) - Mapping rule - Matching rule. The "Priority" field is blank and there is also an "Add" button next to the "Domain name" label.
  8. Click Add.
  9. The System Security Services Daemon (SSSD) periodically re-reads the certificate mapping rules. To force the newly-created rule to be loaded immediately, restart SSSD in the CLI::

    # systemctl restart sssd
    Copy to Clipboard

13.2. Adding a certificate mapping rule in the IdM CLI if AD is configured to map user certificates to user accounts

  1. Obtain the administrator’s credentials:

    # kinit admin
    Copy to Clipboard
  2. Enter the mapping rule and the matching rule the mapping rule is based on. For example, to make AD search for the Issuer and Subject entries in any certificate presented, and only allow certificates issued by the AD-ROOT-CA of the AD.EXAMPLE.COM domain:

    # ipa certmaprule-add ad_configured_for_mapping_rule --matchrule '<ISSUER>CN=AD-ROOT-CA,DC=ad,DC=example,DC=com' --maprule '(altSecurityIdentities=X509:<I>{issuer_dn!ad_x500}<S>{subject_dn!ad_x500})' --domain=ad.example.com
    -------------------------------------------------------
    Added Certificate Identity Mapping Rule "ad_configured_for_mapping_rule"
    -------------------------------------------------------
      Rule name: ad_configured_for_mapping_rule
      Mapping rule: (altSecurityIdentities=X509:<I>{issuer_dn!ad_x500}<S>{subject_dn!ad_x500})
      Matching rule: <ISSUER>CN=AD-ROOT-CA,DC=ad,DC=example,DC=com
      Domain name: ad.example.com
      Enabled: TRUE
    Copy to Clipboard
  3. The System Security Services Daemon (SSSD) periodically re-reads the certificate mapping rules. To force the newly-created rule to be loaded immediately, restart SSSD:

    # systemctl restart sssd
    Copy to Clipboard

13.3. Checking certificate mapping data on the AD side

The altSecurityIdentities attribute is the Active Directory (AD) equivalent of certmapdata user attribute in IdM. When configuring certificate mapping in IdM in the scenario when a trusted AD domain is configured to map user certificates to user accounts, the IdM system administrator needs to check that the altSecurityIdentities attribute is set correctly in the user entries in AD.

Prerequisites

  • The user account must have user administration access.

Procedure

  • To check that AD contains the right information for the user stored in AD, use the ldapsearch command. For example, enter the command below to check with the adserver.ad.example.com server that the following conditions apply:

    • The altSecurityIdentities attribute is set in the user entry of ad_user.
    • The matchrule stipulates that the following conditions apply:

      • The certificate that ad_user uses to authenticate to AD was issued by AD-ROOT-CA of the ad.example.com domain.
      • The subject is <S>DC=com,DC=example,DC=ad,CN=Users,CN=ad_user:
    $ ldapsearch -o ldif-wrap=no -LLL -h adserver.ad.example.com \
    -p 389 -D cn=Administrator,cn=users,dc=ad,dc=example,dc=com \
    -W -b cn=users,dc=ad,dc=example,dc=com "(cn=ad_user)" \
    altSecurityIdentities
    Enter LDAP Password:
    dn: CN=ad_user,CN=Users,DC=ad,DC=example,DC=com
    altSecurityIdentities: X509:<I>DC=com,DC=example,DC=ad,CN=AD-ROOT-CA<S>DC=com,DC=example,DC=ad,CN=Users,CN=ad_user
    Copy to Clipboard
Back to top
Red Hat logoGithubredditYoutubeTwitter

Learn

Try, buy, & sell

Communities

About Red Hat Documentation

We help Red Hat users innovate and achieve their goals with our products and services with content they can trust. Explore our recent updates.

Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. For more details, see the Red Hat Blog.

About Red Hat

We deliver hardened solutions that make it easier for enterprises to work across platforms and environments, from the core datacenter to the network edge.

Theme

© 2025 Red Hat