Chapter 8. Granting sudo access to an IdM user on an IdM client
Learn more about granting sudo
access to users in Identity Management.
8.1. Sudo access on an IdM client
System administrators can grant sudo
access to allow non-root users to execute administrative commands that are normally reserved for the root
user. Consequently, when users need to perform an administrative command normally reserved for the root
user, they precede that command with sudo
. After entering their password, the command is executed as if they were the root
user. To execute a sudo
command as another user or group, such as a database service account, you can configure a RunAs alias for a sudo
rule.
If a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8 host is enrolled as an Identity Management (IdM) client, you can specify sudo
rules defining which IdM users can perform which commands on the host in the following ways:
-
Locally in the
/etc/sudoers
file - Centrally in IdM
You can create a central sudo
rule for an IdM client using the command line interface (CLI) and the IdM Web UI.
You can also configure password-less authentication for sudo
using the Generic Security Service Application Programming Interface (GSSAPI), the native way for UNIX-based operating systems to access and authenticate Kerberos services. You can use the pam_sss_gss.so
Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) to invoke GSSAPI authentication via the SSSD service, allowing users to authenticate to the sudo
command with a valid Kerberos ticket.
Additional resources
- See Managing sudo access.
8.2. Granting sudo access to an IdM user on an IdM client using the CLI
In Identity Management (IdM), you can grant sudo
access for a specific command to an IdM user account on a specific IdM host. First, add a sudo
command and then create a sudo
rule for one or more commands.
For example, complete this procedure to create the idm_user_reboot sudo
rule to grant the idm_user account the permission to run the /usr/sbin/reboot
command on the idmclient machine.
Prerequisites
- You are logged in as IdM administrator.
- You have created a user account for idm_user in IdM and unlocked the account by creating a password for the user. For details on adding a new IdM user using the CLI, see Adding users using the command line.
-
No local idm_user account is present on the idmclient host. The idm_user user is not listed in the local
/etc/passwd
file.
Procedure
Retrieve a Kerberos ticket as the IdM
admin
.[root@idmclient ~]# kinit admin
Add the
/usr/sbin/reboot
command to the IdM database ofsudo
commands:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudocmd-add /usr/sbin/reboot ------------------------------------- Added Sudo Command "/usr/sbin/reboot" ------------------------------------- Sudo Command: /usr/sbin/reboot
Create a
sudo
rule named idm_user_reboot:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add idm_user_reboot --------------------------------- Added Sudo Rule "idm_user_reboot" --------------------------------- Rule name: idm_user_reboot Enabled: TRUE
Add the
/usr/sbin/reboot
command to the idm_user_reboot rule:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add-allow-command idm_user_reboot --sudocmds '/usr/sbin/reboot' Rule name: idm_user_reboot Enabled: TRUE Sudo Allow Commands: /usr/sbin/reboot ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
Apply the idm_user_reboot rule to the IdM idmclient host:
[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add-host idm_user_reboot --hosts idmclient.idm.example.com Rule name: idm_user_reboot Enabled: TRUE Hosts: idmclient.idm.example.com Sudo Allow Commands: /usr/sbin/reboot ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
Add the idm_user account to the idm_user_reboot rule:
[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add-user idm_user_reboot --users idm_user Rule name: idm_user_reboot Enabled: TRUE Users: idm_user Hosts: idmclient.idm.example.com Sudo Allow Commands: /usr/sbin/reboot ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
Optional: Define the validity of the idm_user_reboot rule:
To define the time at which a
sudo
rule starts to be valid, use theipa sudorule-mod sudo_rule_name
command with the--setattr sudonotbefore=DATE
option. The DATE value must follow the yyyymmddHHMMSSZ format, with seconds specified explicitly. For example, to set the start of the validity of the idm_user_reboot rule to 31 December 2025 12:34:00, enter:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-mod idm_user_reboot --setattr sudonotbefore=20251231123400Z
To define the time at which a sudo rule stops being valid, use the
--setattr sudonotafter=DATE
option. For example, to set the end of the idm_user_reboot rule validity to 31 December 2026 12:34:00, enter:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-mod idm_user_reboot --setattr sudonotafter=20261231123400Z
Propagating the changes from the server to the client can take a few minutes.
Verification
- Log in to the idmclient host as the idm_user account.
Display which
sudo
rules the idm_user account is allowed to perform.[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ sudo -l Matching Defaults entries for idm_user on idmclient: !visiblepw, always_set_home, match_group_by_gid, always_query_group_plugin, env_reset, env_keep="COLORS DISPLAY HOSTNAME HISTSIZE KDEDIR LS_COLORS", env_keep+="MAIL PS1 PS2 QTDIR USERNAME LANG LC_ADDRESS LC_CTYPE", env_keep+="LC_COLLATE LC_IDENTIFICATION LC_MEASUREMENT LC_MESSAGES", env_keep+="LC_MONETARY LC_NAME LC_NUMERIC LC_PAPER LC_TELEPHONE", env_keep+="LC_TIME LC_ALL LANGUAGE LINGUAS _XKB_CHARSET XAUTHORITY KRB5CCNAME", secure_path=/sbin\:/bin\:/usr/sbin\:/usr/bin User idm_user may run the following commands on idmclient: (root) /usr/sbin/reboot
Reboot the machine using
sudo
. Enter the password for idm_user when prompted:[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ sudo /usr/sbin/reboot [sudo] password for idm_user:
8.3. Granting sudo access to an AD user on an IdM client using the CLI
Identity Management (IdM) system administrators can use IdM user groups to set access permissions, host-based access control, sudo
rules, and other controls on IdM users. IdM user groups grant and restrict access to IdM domain resources.
You can add both Active Directory (AD) users and AD groups to IdM user groups. To do that:
- Add the AD users or groups to a non-POSIX external IdM group.
- Add the non-POSIX external IdM group to an IdM POSIX group.
You can then manage the privileges of the AD users by managing the privileges of the POSIX group. For example, you can grant sudo
access for a specific command to an IdM POSIX user group on a specific IdM host.
It is also possible to add AD user groups as members to IdM external groups. This might make it easier to define policies for Windows users, by keeping the user and group management within the single AD realm.
Do not use ID overrides of AD users for SUDO rules in IdM. ID overrides of AD users represent only POSIX attributes of AD users, not AD users themselves.
You can add ID overrides as group members. However, you can only use this functionality to manage IdM resources in the IdM API. The possibility to add ID overrides as group members is not extended to POSIX environments and you therefore cannot use it for membership in sudo
or host-based access control (HBAC) rules.
Follow this procedure to create the ad_users_reboot sudo
rule to grant the administrator@ad-domain.com AD user the permission to run the /usr/sbin/reboot
command on the idmclient IdM host, which is normally reserved for the root
user. administrator@ad-domain.com is a member of the ad_users_external non-POSIX group, which is, in turn, a member of the ad_users POSIX group.
Prerequisites
-
You have obtained the IdM
admin
Kerberos ticket-granting ticket (TGT). - A cross-forest trust exists between the IdM domain and the ad-domain.com AD domain.
-
No local administrator account is present on the idmclient host: the administrator user is not listed in the local
/etc/passwd
file.
Procedure
Create the ad_users group that contains the ad_users_external group with the administrator@ad-domain member:
- Optional: Create or select a corresponding group in the AD domain to use to manage AD users in the IdM realm. You can use multiple AD groups and add them to different groups on the IdM side.
Create the ad_users_external group and indicate that it contains members from outside the IdM domain by adding the
--external
option:[root@ipaserver ~]# ipa group-add --desc='AD users external map' ad_users_external --external ------------------------------- Added group "ad_users_external" ------------------------------- Group name: ad_users_external Description: AD users external map
NoteEnsure that the external group that you specify here is an AD security group with a
global
oruniversal
group scope as defined in the Active Directory security groups document. For example, the Domain users or Domain admins AD security groups cannot be used because their group scope isdomain local
.Create the ad_users group:
[root@ipaserver ~]# ipa group-add --desc='AD users' ad_users ---------------------- Added group "ad_users" ---------------------- Group name: ad_users Description: AD users GID: 129600004
Add the administrator@ad-domain.com AD user to ad_users_external as an external member:
[root@ipaserver ~]# ipa group-add-member ad_users_external --external "administrator@ad-domain.com" [member user]: [member group]: Group name: ad_users_external Description: AD users external map External member: S-1-5-21-3655990580-1375374850-1633065477-513 ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
The AD user must be identified by a fully-qualified name, such as
DOMAIN\user_name
oruser_name@DOMAIN
. The AD identity is then mapped to the AD SID for the user. The same applies to adding AD groups.Add ad_users_external to ad_users as a member:
[root@ipaserver ~]# ipa group-add-member ad_users --groups ad_users_external Group name: ad_users Description: AD users GID: 129600004 Member groups: ad_users_external ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
Grant the members of ad_users the permission to run
/usr/sbin/reboot
on the idmclient host:Add the
/usr/sbin/reboot
command to the IdM database ofsudo
commands:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudocmd-add /usr/sbin/reboot ------------------------------------- Added Sudo Command "/usr/sbin/reboot" ------------------------------------- Sudo Command: /usr/sbin/reboot
Create a
sudo
rule named ad_users_reboot:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add ad_users_reboot --------------------------------- Added Sudo Rule "ad_users_reboot" --------------------------------- Rule name: ad_users_reboot Enabled: True
Add the
/usr/sbin/reboot
command to the ad_users_reboot rule:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add-allow-command ad_users_reboot --sudocmds '/usr/sbin/reboot' Rule name: ad_users_reboot Enabled: True Sudo Allow Commands: /usr/sbin/reboot ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
Apply the ad_users_reboot rule to the IdM idmclient host:
[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add-host ad_users_reboot --hosts idmclient.idm.example.com Rule name: ad_users_reboot Enabled: True Hosts: idmclient.idm.example.com Sudo Allow Commands: /usr/sbin/reboot ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
Add the
ad_users
group to the ad_users_reboot rule:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add-user ad_users_reboot --groups ad_users Rule name: ad_users_reboot Enabled: TRUE User Groups: ad_users Hosts: idmclient.idm.example.com Sudo Allow Commands: /usr/sbin/reboot ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
Propagating the changes from the server to the client can take a few minutes.
Verification
Log in to the idmclient host as administrator@ad-domain.com, an indirect member of the
ad_users
group:$ ssh administrator@ad-domain.com@ipaclient Password:
Optional: Display the
sudo
commands thatadministrator@ad-domain.com
is allowed to execute:[administrator@ad-domain.com@idmclient ~]$ sudo -l Matching Defaults entries for administrator@ad-domain.com on idmclient: !visiblepw, always_set_home, match_group_by_gid, always_query_group_plugin, env_reset, env_keep="COLORS DISPLAY HOSTNAME HISTSIZE KDEDIR LS_COLORS", env_keep+="MAIL PS1 PS2 QTDIR USERNAME LANG LC_ADDRESS LC_CTYPE", env_keep+="LC_COLLATE LC_IDENTIFICATION LC_MEASUREMENT LC_MESSAGES", env_keep+="LC_MONETARY LC_NAME LC_NUMERIC LC_PAPER LC_TELEPHONE", env_keep+="LC_TIME LC_ALL LANGUAGE LINGUAS _XKB_CHARSET XAUTHORITY KRB5CCNAME", secure_path=/sbin\:/bin\:/usr/sbin\:/usr/bin User administrator@ad-domain.com may run the following commands on idmclient: (root) /usr/sbin/reboot
Reboot the machine using
sudo
. Enter the password foradministrator@ad-domain.com
when prompted:[administrator@ad-domain.com@idmclient ~]$ sudo /usr/sbin/reboot [sudo] password for administrator@ad-domain.com:
8.4. Granting sudo access to an IdM user on an IdM client using the IdM Web UI
In Identity Management (IdM), you can grant sudo
access for a specific command to an IdM user account on a specific IdM host. First, add a sudo
command and then create a sudo
rule for one or more commands.
Complete this procedure to create the idm_user_reboot
sudo rule to grant the idm_user
account the permission to run the /usr/sbin/reboot
command on the idmclient
machine.
Prerequisites
- You are logged in as IdM administrator.
-
You have created a user account for
idm_user
in IdM and unlocked the account by creating a password for the user. For details on adding a new IdM user using the command-line interface, see Adding users using the command line. -
No local
idm_user
account is present on theidmclient
host. Theidm_user
user is not listed in the local/etc/passwd
file.
Procedure
Add the
/usr/sbin/reboot
command to the IdM database ofsudo
commands:-
Navigate to Policy
Sudo Sudo Commands. - Click Add in the upper right corner to open the Add sudo command dialog box.
Enter the command you want the user to be able to perform using
sudo
:/usr/sbin/reboot
.Figure 8.1. Adding IdM sudo command
- Click Add.
-
Navigate to Policy
Use the new
sudo
command entry to create a sudo rule to allow idm_user to reboot the idmclient machine:-
Navigate to Policy
Sudo Sudo rules. - Click Add in the upper right corner to open the Add sudo rule dialog box.
-
Enter the name of the
sudo
rule: idm_user_reboot. - Click Add and Edit.
Specify the user:
- In the Who section, check the Specified Users and Groups radio button.
- In the User category the rule applies to subsection, click Add to open the Add users into sudo rule "idm_user_reboot" dialog box.
- In the Add users into sudo rule "idm_user_reboot" dialog box in the Available column, check the idm_user checkbox, and move it to the Prospective column.
- Click Add.
Specify the host:
- In the Access this host section, check the Specified Hosts and Groups radio button.
- In the Host category this rule applies to subsection, click Add to open the Add hosts into sudo rule "idm_user_reboot" dialog box.
- In the Add hosts into sudo rule "idm_user_reboot" dialog box in the Available column, check the idmclient.idm.example.com checkbox, and move it to the Prospective column.
- Click Add.
Specify the commands:
- In the Command category the rule applies to subsection of the Run Commands section, check the Specified Commands and Groups radio button.
- In the Sudo Allow Commands subsection, click Add to open the Add allow sudo commands into sudo rule "idm_user_reboot" dialog box.
-
In the Add allow sudo commands into sudo rule "idm_user_reboot" dialog box in the Available column, check the
/usr/sbin/reboot
checkbox, and move it to the Prospective column. - Click Add to return to the idm_sudo_reboot page.
Figure 8.2. Adding IdM sudo rule
- Click Save in the top left corner.
-
Navigate to Policy
The new rule is enabled by default.
Propagating the changes from the server to the client can take a few minutes.
Verification
-
Log in to
idmclient
asidm_user
. Reboot the machine using
sudo
. Enter the password foridm_user
when prompted:$ sudo /usr/sbin/reboot [sudo] password for idm_user:
If the sudo
rule is configured correctly, the machine reboots.
8.5. Creating a sudo rule on the CLI that runs a command as a service account on an IdM client
In IdM, you can configure a sudo
rule with a RunAs alias to run a sudo
command as another user or group. For example, you might have an IdM client that hosts a database application, and you need to run commands as the local service account that corresponds to that application.
Use this example to create a sudo
rule on the command line called run_third-party-app_report
to allow the idm_user
account to run the /opt/third-party-app/bin/report
command as the thirdpartyapp
service account on the idmclient
host.
Prerequisites
- You are logged in as IdM administrator.
-
You have created a user account for
idm_user
in IdM and unlocked the account by creating a password for the user. For details on adding a new IdM user using the CLI, see Adding users using the command line. -
No local
idm_user
account is present on theidmclient
host. Theidm_user
user is not listed in the local/etc/passwd
file. -
You have a custom application named
third-party-app
installed on theidmclient
host. -
The
report
command for thethird-party-app
application is installed in the/opt/third-party-app/bin/report
directory. -
You have created a local service account named
thirdpartyapp
to execute commands for thethird-party-app
application.
Procedure
Retrieve a Kerberos ticket as the IdM
admin
.[root@idmclient ~]# kinit admin
Add the
/opt/third-party-app/bin/report
command to the IdM database ofsudo
commands:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudocmd-add /opt/third-party-app/bin/report ---------------------------------------------------- Added Sudo Command "/opt/third-party-app/bin/report" ---------------------------------------------------- Sudo Command: /opt/third-party-app/bin/report
Create a
sudo
rule namedrun_third-party-app_report
:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add run_third-party-app_report -------------------------------------------- Added Sudo Rule "run_third-party-app_report" -------------------------------------------- Rule name: run_third-party-app_report Enabled: TRUE
Use the
--users=<user>
option to specify the RunAs user for thesudorule-add-runasuser
command:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add-runasuser run_third-party-app_report --users=thirdpartyapp Rule name: run_third-party-app_report Enabled: TRUE RunAs External User: thirdpartyapp ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
The user (or group specified with the
--groups=*
option) can be external to IdM, such as a local service account or an Active Directory user. Do not add a%
prefix for group names.Add the
/opt/third-party-app/bin/report
command to therun_third-party-app_report
rule:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add-allow-command run_third-party-app_report --sudocmds '/opt/third-party-app/bin/report' Rule name: run_third-party-app_report Enabled: TRUE Sudo Allow Commands: /opt/third-party-app/bin/report RunAs External User: thirdpartyapp ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
Apply the
run_third-party-app_report
rule to the IdMidmclient
host:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add-host run_third-party-app_report --hosts idmclient.idm.example.com Rule name: run_third-party-app_report Enabled: TRUE Hosts: idmclient.idm.example.com Sudo Allow Commands: /opt/third-party-app/bin/report RunAs External User: thirdpartyapp ------------------------- Number of members added 1 -------------------------
Add the
idm_user
account to therun_third-party-app_report
rule:[root@idmclient ~]# ipa sudorule-add-user run_third-party-app_report --users idm_user Rule name: run_third-party-app_report Enabled: TRUE Users: idm_user Hosts: idmclient.idm.example.com Sudo Allow Commands: /opt/third-party-app/bin/report RunAs External User: thirdpartyapp ------------------------- Number of members added 1
Propagating the changes from the server to the client can take a few minutes.
Verification
-
Log in to the
idmclient
host as theidm_user
account. Test the new sudo rule:
Display which
sudo
rules theidm_user
account is allowed to perform.[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ sudo -l Matching Defaults entries for idm_user@idm.example.com on idmclient: !visiblepw, always_set_home, match_group_by_gid, always_query_group_plugin, env_reset, env_keep="COLORS DISPLAY HOSTNAME HISTSIZE KDEDIR LS_COLORS", env_keep+="MAIL PS1 PS2 QTDIR USERNAME LANG LC_ADDRESS LC_CTYPE", env_keep+="LC_COLLATE LC_IDENTIFICATION LC_MEASUREMENT LC_MESSAGES", env_keep+="LC_MONETARY LC_NAME LC_NUMERIC LC_PAPER LC_TELEPHONE", env_keep+="LC_TIME LC_ALL LANGUAGE LINGUAS _XKB_CHARSET XAUTHORITY KRB5CCNAME", secure_path=/sbin\:/bin\:/usr/sbin\:/usr/bin User idm_user@idm.example.com may run the following commands on idmclient: (thirdpartyapp) /opt/third-party-app/bin/report
Run the
report
command as thethirdpartyapp
service account.[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ sudo -u thirdpartyapp /opt/third-party-app/bin/report [sudo] password for idm_user@idm.example.com: Executing report... Report successful.
8.6. Creating a sudo rule in the IdM WebUI that runs a command as a service account on an IdM client
In IdM, you can configure a sudo
rule with a RunAs alias to run a sudo
command as another user or group. For example, you might have an IdM client that hosts a database application, and you need to run commands as the local service account that corresponds to that application.
Use this example to create a sudo
rule in the IdM WebUI called run_third-party-app_report
to allow the idm_user
account to run the /opt/third-party-app/bin/report
command as the thirdpartyapp
service account on the idmclient
host.
Prerequisites
- You are logged in as IdM administrator.
-
You have created a user account for
idm_user
in IdM and unlocked the account by creating a password for the user. For details on adding a new IdM user using the CLI, see Adding users using the command line. -
No local
idm_user
account is present on theidmclient
host. Theidm_user
user is not listed in the local/etc/passwd
file. -
You have a custom application named
third-party-app
installed on theidmclient
host. -
The
report
command for thethird-party-app
application is installed in the/opt/third-party-app/bin/report
directory. -
You have created a local service account named
thirdpartyapp
to execute commands for thethird-party-app
application.
Procedure
Add the
/opt/third-party-app/bin/report
command to the IdM database ofsudo
commands:-
Navigate to Policy
Sudo Sudo Commands. - Click Add in the upper right corner to open the Add sudo command dialog box.
Enter the command:
/opt/third-party-app/bin/report
.- Click Add.
-
Navigate to Policy
Use the new
sudo
command entry to create the newsudo
rule:-
Navigate to Policy
Sudo Sudo rules. - Click Add in the upper right corner to open the Add sudo rule dialog box.
Enter the name of the
sudo
rule: run_third-party-app_report.- Click Add and Edit.
Specify the user:
- In the Who section, check the Specified Users and Groups radio button.
- In the User category the rule applies to subsection, click Add to open the Add users into sudo rule "run_third-party-app_report" dialog box.
In the Add users into sudo rule "run_third-party-app_report" dialog box in the Available column, check the idm_user checkbox, and move it to the Prospective column.
- Click Add.
Specify the host:
- In the Access this host section, check the Specified Hosts and Groups radio button.
- In the Host category this rule applies to subsection, click Add to open the Add hosts into sudo rule "run_third-party-app_report" dialog box.
In the Add hosts into sudo rule "run_third-party-app_report" dialog box in the Available column, check the idmclient.idm.example.com checkbox, and move it to the Prospective column.
- Click Add.
Specify the commands:
- In the Command category the rule applies to subsection of the Run Commands section, check the Specified Commands and Groups radio button.
- In the Sudo Allow Commands subsection, click Add to open the Add allow sudo commands into sudo rule "run_third-party-app_report" dialog box.
In the Add allow sudo commands into sudo rule "run_third-party-app_report" dialog box in the Available column, check the
/opt/third-party-app/bin/report
checkbox, and move it to the Prospective column.- Click Add to return to the run_third-party-app_report page.
Specify the RunAs user:
- In the As Whom section, check the Specified Users and Groups radio button.
- In the RunAs Users subsection, click Add to open the Add RunAs users into sudo rule "run_third-party-app_report" dialog box.
In the Add RunAs users into sudo rule "run_third-party-app_report" dialog box, enter the
thirdpartyapp
service account in the External box and move it to the Prospective column.- Click Add to return to the run_third-party-app_report page.
- Click Save in the top left corner.
-
Navigate to Policy
The new rule is enabled by default.
Figure 8.3. Details of the sudo rule
![A screenshot of an overview of the sudo rule that was added. The "Who" section has an entry for "idm_user." The "Access this host" section has "idmclient.idm.example.com." The "Run Commands" section has the "/opt/third-party-app/bin/report" command. The "As Whom" section lists the "thirdpartyapp" account.](https://access.redhat.com/webassets/avalon/d/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux-9-Managing_IdM_users_groups_hosts_and_access_control_rules-en-US/images/fba1243a13c367506fa2a57e70f8bb25/idm-sudo-rule-runas-details.png)
Propagating the changes from the server to the client can take a few minutes.
Verification
-
Log in to the
idmclient
host as theidm_user
account. Test the new sudo rule:
Display which
sudo
rules theidm_user
account is allowed to perform.[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ sudo -l Matching Defaults entries for idm_user@idm.example.com on idmclient: !visiblepw, always_set_home, match_group_by_gid, always_query_group_plugin, env_reset, env_keep="COLORS DISPLAY HOSTNAME HISTSIZE KDEDIR LS_COLORS", env_keep+="MAIL PS1 PS2 QTDIR USERNAME LANG LC_ADDRESS LC_CTYPE", env_keep+="LC_COLLATE LC_IDENTIFICATION LC_MEASUREMENT LC_MESSAGES", env_keep+="LC_MONETARY LC_NAME LC_NUMERIC LC_PAPER LC_TELEPHONE", env_keep+="LC_TIME LC_ALL LANGUAGE LINGUAS _XKB_CHARSET XAUTHORITY KRB5CCNAME", secure_path=/sbin\:/bin\:/usr/sbin\:/usr/bin User idm_user@idm.example.com may run the following commands on idmclient: (thirdpartyapp) /opt/third-party-app/bin/report
Run the
report
command as thethirdpartyapp
service account.[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ sudo -u thirdpartyapp /opt/third-party-app/bin/report [sudo] password for idm_user@idm.example.com: Executing report... Report successful.
8.7. Enabling GSSAPI authentication for sudo on an IdM client
Enable Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSSAPI) authentication on an IdM client for the sudo
and sudo -i
commands via the pam_sss_gss.so
PAM module. With this configuration, IdM users can authenticate to the sudo
command with their Kerberos ticket.
Prerequisites
-
You have created a
sudo
rule for an IdM user that applies to an IdM host. For this example, you have created theidm_user_reboot
sudo
rule to grant theidm_user
account the permission to run the/usr/sbin/reboot
command on theidmclient
host. -
You need
root
privileges to modify the/etc/sssd/sssd.conf
file and PAM files in the/etc/pam.d/
directory.
Procedure
-
Open the
/etc/sssd/sssd.conf
configuration file. Add the following entry to the
[domain/<domain_name>]
section.[domain/<domain_name>] pam_gssapi_services = sudo, sudo-i
-
Save and close the
/etc/sssd/sssd.conf
file. Restart the SSSD service to load the configuration changes.
[root@idmclient ~]# systemctl restart sssd
On RHEL 9.2 or later:
Optional: Determine if you have selected the
sssd
authselect
profile:# authselect current Profile ID: sssd
If the
sssd
authselect
profile is selected, enable GSSAPI authentication:# authselect enable-feature with-gssapi
If the
sssd
authselect
profile is not selected, select it and enable GSSAPI authentication:# authselect select sssd with-gssapi
On RHEL 9.1 or earlier:
-
Open the
/etc/pam.d/sudo
PAM configuration file. Add the following entry as the first line of the
auth
section in the/etc/pam.d/sudo
file.#%PAM-1.0 auth sufficient pam_sss_gss.so auth include system-auth account include system-auth password include system-auth session include system-auth
-
Save and close the
/etc/pam.d/sudo
file.
-
Open the
Verification
Log into the host as the
idm_user
account.[root@idm-client ~]# ssh -l idm_user@idm.example.com localhost idm_user@idm.example.com's password:
Verify that you have a ticket-granting ticket as the
idm_user
account.[idmuser@idmclient ~]$ klist Ticket cache: KCM:1366201107 Default principal: idm_user@IDM.EXAMPLE.COM Valid starting Expires Service principal 01/08/2021 09:11:48 01/08/2021 19:11:48 krbtgt/IDM.EXAMPLE.COM@IDM.EXAMPLE.COM renew until 01/15/2021 09:11:44
Optional: If you do not have Kerberos credentials for the
idm_user
account, delete your current Kerberos credentials and request the correct ones.[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ kdestroy -A [idm_user@idmclient ~]$ kinit idm_user@IDM.EXAMPLE.COM Password for idm_user@idm.example.com:
Reboot the machine using
sudo
, without specifying a password.[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ sudo /usr/sbin/reboot
Additional resources
- The GSSAPI entry in the IdM terminology listing
- Granting sudo access to an IdM user on an IdM client using IdM Web UI
- Granting sudo access to an IdM user on an IdM client using the CLI
-
pam_sss_gss (8)
man page -
sssd.conf (5)
man page
8.8. Enabling GSSAPI authentication and enforcing Kerberos authentication indicators for sudo on an IdM client
Enable Generic Security Service Application Program Interface (GSSAPI) authentication on an IdM client for the sudo
and sudo -i
commands via the pam_sss_gss.so
PAM module. Additionally, only users who have logged in with a smart card will authenticate to those commands with their Kerberos ticket.
You can use this procedure as a template to configure GSSAPI authentication with SSSD for other PAM-aware services, and further restrict access to only those users that have a specific authentication indicator attached to their Kerberos ticket.
Prerequisites
-
You have created a
sudo
rule for an IdM user that applies to an IdM host. For this example, you have created theidm_user_reboot
sudo
rule to grant theidm_user
account the permission to run the/usr/sbin/reboot
command on theidmclient
host. -
You have configured smart card authentication for the
idmclient
host. -
You need
root
privileges to modify the/etc/sssd/sssd.conf
file and PAM files in the/etc/pam.d/
directory.
Procedure
-
Open the
/etc/sssd/sssd.conf
configuration file. Add the following entries to the
[domain/<domain_name>]
section.[domain/<domain_name>] pam_gssapi_services = sudo, sudo-i pam_gssapi_indicators_map = sudo:pkinit, sudo-i:pkinit
-
Save and close the
/etc/sssd/sssd.conf
file. Restart the SSSD service to load the configuration changes.
[root@idmclient ~]# systemctl restart sssd
On RHEL 9.2 or later:
Determine if you have selected the
sssd
authselect
profile:# authselect current Profile ID: sssd
Optional: Select the
sssd
authselect
profile:# authselect select sssd
Enable GSSAPI authentication:
# authselect enable-feature with-gssapi
Configure the system to authenticate only users with smart cards:
# authselect with-smartcard-required
On RHEL 9.1 or earlier:
-
Open the
/etc/pam.d/sudo
PAM configuration file. Add the following entry as the first line of the
auth
section in the/etc/pam.d/sudo
file.#%PAM-1.0 auth sufficient pam_sss_gss.so auth include system-auth account include system-auth password include system-auth session include system-auth
-
Save and close the
/etc/pam.d/sudo
file. -
Open the
/etc/pam.d/sudo-i
PAM configuration file. Add the following entry as the first line of the
auth
section in the/etc/pam.d/sudo-i
file.#%PAM-1.0 auth sufficient pam_sss_gss.so auth include sudo account include sudo password include sudo session optional pam_keyinit.so force revoke session include sudo
-
Save and close the
/etc/pam.d/sudo-i
file.
-
Open the
Verification
Log into the host as the
idm_user
account and authenticate with a smart card.[root@idmclient ~]# ssh -l idm_user@idm.example.com localhost PIN for smart_card
Verify that you have a ticket-granting ticket as the smart card user.
[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ klist Ticket cache: KEYRING:persistent:1358900015:krb_cache_TObtNMd Default principal: idm_user@IDM.EXAMPLE.COM Valid starting Expires Service principal 02/15/2021 16:29:48 02/16/2021 02:29:48 krbtgt/IDM.EXAMPLE.COM@IDM.EXAMPLE.COM renew until 02/22/2021 16:29:44
Display which
sudo
rules theidm_user
account is allowed to perform.[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ sudo -l Matching Defaults entries for idmuser on idmclient: !visiblepw, always_set_home, match_group_by_gid, always_query_group_plugin, env_reset, env_keep="COLORS DISPLAY HOSTNAME HISTSIZE KDEDIR LS_COLORS", env_keep+="MAIL PS1 PS2 QTDIR USERNAME LANG LC_ADDRESS LC_CTYPE", env_keep+="LC_COLLATE LC_IDENTIFICATION LC_MEASUREMENT LC_MESSAGES", env_keep+="LC_MONETARY LC_NAME LC_NUMERIC LC_PAPER LC_TELEPHONE", env_keep+="LC_TIME LC_ALL LANGUAGE LINGUAS _XKB_CHARSET XAUTHORITY KRB5CCNAME", secure_path=/sbin\:/bin\:/usr/sbin\:/usr/bin User idm_user may run the following commands on idmclient: (root) /usr/sbin/reboot
Reboot the machine using
sudo
, without specifying a password.[idm_user@idmclient ~]$ sudo /usr/sbin/reboot
Additional resources
- SSSD options controlling GSSAPI authentication for PAM services
- The GSSAPI entry in the IdM terminology listing
- Configuring Identity Management for smart card authentication
- Kerberos authentication indicators
- Granting sudo access to an IdM user on an IdM client using IdM Web UI
- Granting sudo access to an IdM user on an IdM client using the CLI.
-
pam_sss_gss (8)
man page -
sssd.conf (5)
man page
8.9. SSSD options controlling GSSAPI authentication for PAM services
You can use the following options for the /etc/sssd/sssd.conf
configuration file to adjust the GSSAPI configuration within the SSSD service.
- pam_gssapi_services
-
GSSAPI authentication with SSSD is disabled by default. You can use this option to specify a comma-separated list of PAM services that are allowed to try GSSAPI authentication using the
pam_sss_gss.so
PAM module. To explicitly disable GSSAPI authentication, set this option to-
. - pam_gssapi_indicators_map
This option only applies to Identity Management (IdM) domains. Use this option to list Kerberos authentication indicators that are required to grant PAM access to a service. Pairs must be in the format
<PAM_service>:_<required_authentication_indicator>_
.Valid authentication indicators are:
-
otp
for two-factor authentication -
radius
for RADIUS authentication -
pkinit
for PKINIT, smart card, or certificate authentication -
hardened
for hardened passwords
-
- pam_gssapi_check_upn
-
This option is enabled and set to
true
by default. If this option is enabled, the SSSD service requires that the user name matches the Kerberos credentials. Iffalse
, thepam_sss_gss.so
PAM module authenticates every user that is able to obtain the required service ticket.
Examples
The following options enable Kerberos authentication for the sudo
and sudo-i
services, requires that sudo
users authenticated with a one-time password, and user names must match the Kerberos principal. Because these settings are in the [pam]
section, they apply to all domains:
[pam] pam_gssapi_services = sudo, sudo-i pam_gssapi_indicators_map = sudo:otp pam_gssapi_check_upn = true
You can also set these options in individual [domain]
sections to overwrite any global values in the [pam]
section. The following options apply different GSSAPI settings to each domain:
- For the
idm.example.com
domain -
Enable GSSAPI authentication for the
sudo
andsudo -i
services. -
Require certificate or smart card authentication authenticators for the
sudo
command. -
Require one-time password authentication authenticators for the
sudo -i
command. - Enforce matching user names and Kerberos principals.
-
Enable GSSAPI authentication for the
- For the
ad.example.com
domain -
Enable GSSAPI authentication only for the
sudo
service. - Do not enforce matching user names and principals.
-
Enable GSSAPI authentication only for the
[domain/idm.example.com] pam_gssapi_services = sudo, sudo-i pam_gssapi_indicators_map = sudo:pkinit, sudo-i:otp pam_gssapi_check_upn = true ... [domain/ad.example.com] pam_gssapi_services = sudo pam_gssapi_check_upn = false ...
Additional resources
8.10. Troubleshooting GSSAPI authentication for sudo
If you are unable to authenticate to the sudo
service with a Kerberos ticket from IdM, use the following scenarios to troubleshoot your configuration.
Prerequisites
-
You have enabled GSSAPI authentication for the
sudo
service. See Enabling GSSAPI authentication for sudo on an IdM client. -
You need
root
privileges to modify the/etc/sssd/sssd.conf
file and PAM files in the/etc/pam.d/
directory.
Procedure
If you see the following error, the Kerberos service might not able to resolve the correct realm for the service ticket based on the host name:
Server not found in Kerberos database
In this situation, add the hostname directly to
[domain_realm]
section in the/etc/krb5.conf
Kerberos configuration file:[idm-user@idm-client ~]$ cat /etc/krb5.conf ... [domain_realm] .example.com = EXAMPLE.COM example.com = EXAMPLE.COM server.example.com = EXAMPLE.COM
If you see the following error, you do not have any Kerberos credentials:
No Kerberos credentials available
In this situation, retrieve Kerberos credentials with the
kinit
utility or authenticate with SSSD:[idm-user@idm-client ~]$ kinit idm-user@IDM.EXAMPLE.COM Password for idm-user@idm.example.com:
If you see either of the following errors in the
/var/log/sssd/sssd_pam.log
log file, the Kerberos credentials do not match the username of the user currently logged in:User with UPN [<UPN>] was not found. UPN [<UPN>] does not match target user [<username>].
In this situation, verify that you authenticated with SSSD, or consider disabling the
pam_gssapi_check_upn
option in the/etc/sssd/sssd.conf
file:[idm-user@idm-client ~]$ cat /etc/sssd/sssd.conf ... pam_gssapi_check_upn = false
For additional troubleshooting, you can enable debugging output for the
pam_sss_gss.so
PAM module.Add the
debug
option at the end of allpam_sss_gss.so
entries in PAM files, such as/etc/pam.d/sudo
and/etc/pam.d/sudo-i
:[root@idm-client ~]# cat /etc/pam.d/sudo #%PAM-1.0 auth sufficient pam_sss_gss.so debug auth include system-auth account include system-auth password include system-auth session include system-auth
[root@idm-client ~]# cat /etc/pam.d/sudo-i #%PAM-1.0 auth sufficient pam_sss_gss.so debug auth include sudo account include sudo password include sudo session optional pam_keyinit.so force revoke session include sudo
Try to authenticate with the
pam_sss_gss.so
module and review the console output. In this example, the user did not have any Kerberos credentials.[idm-user@idm-client ~]$ sudo ls -l /etc/sssd/sssd.conf pam_sss_gss: Initializing GSSAPI authentication with SSSD pam_sss_gss: Switching euid from 0 to 1366201107 pam_sss_gss: Trying to establish security context pam_sss_gss: SSSD User name: idm-user@idm.example.com pam_sss_gss: User domain: idm.example.com pam_sss_gss: User principal: pam_sss_gss: Target name: host@idm.example.com pam_sss_gss: Using ccache: KCM: pam_sss_gss: Acquiring credentials, principal name will be derived pam_sss_gss: Unable to read credentials from [KCM:] [maj:0xd0000, min:0x96c73ac3] pam_sss_gss: GSSAPI: Unspecified GSS failure. Minor code may provide more information pam_sss_gss: GSSAPI: No credentials cache found pam_sss_gss: Switching euid from 1366200907 to 0 pam_sss_gss: System error [5]: Input/output error
8.11. Using an Ansible playbook to ensure sudo access for an IdM user on an IdM client
In Identity Management (IdM), you can ensure sudo
access to a specific command is granted to an IdM user account on a specific IdM host.
Complete this procedure to ensure a sudo
rule named idm_user_reboot exists. The rule grants idm_user the permission to run the /usr/sbin/reboot
command on the idmclient machine.
Prerequisites
You have configured your Ansible control node to meet the following requirements:
- You are using Ansible version 2.14 or later.
-
You have installed the
ansible-freeipa
package on the Ansible controller. - The example assumes that in the ~/MyPlaybooks/ directory, you have created an Ansible inventory file with the fully-qualified domain name (FQDN) of the IdM server.
-
The example assumes that the secret.yml Ansible vault stores your
ipaadmin_password
.
-
The target node, that is the node on which the
ansible-freeipa
module is executed, is part of the IdM domain as an IdM client, server or replica. - You have ensured the presence of a user account for idm_user in IdM and unlocked the account by creating a password for the user. For details on adding a new IdM user using the command-line interface, see link: Adding users using the command line.
-
No local idm_user account exists on idmclient. The idm_user user is not listed in the
/etc/passwd
file on idmclient.
Procedure
Create an inventory file, for example
inventory.file
, and defineipaservers
in it:[ipaservers] server.idm.example.com
Add one or more
sudo
commands:Create an
ensure-reboot-sudocmd-is-present.yml
Ansible playbook that ensures the presence of the/usr/sbin/reboot
command in the IdM database ofsudo
commands. To simplify this step, you can copy and modify the example in the/usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/sudocmd/ensure-sudocmd-is-present.yml
file:--- - name: Playbook to manage sudo command hosts: ipaserver vars_files: - /home/user_name/MyPlaybooks/secret.yml tasks: # Ensure sudo command is present - ipasudocmd: ipaadmin_password: "{{ ipaadmin_password }}" name: /usr/sbin/reboot state: present
Run the playbook:
$ ansible-playbook --vault-password-file=password_file -v -i path_to_inventory_directory/inventory.file path_to_playbooks_directory/ensure-reboot-sudocmd-is-present.yml
Create a
sudo
rule that references the commands:Create an
ensure-sudorule-for-idmuser-on-idmclient-is-present.yml
Ansible playbook that uses thesudo
command entry to ensure the presence of a sudo rule. The sudo rule allows idm_user to reboot the idmclient machine. To simplify this step, you can copy and modify the example in the/usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/playbooks/sudorule/ensure-sudorule-is-present.yml
file:--- - name: Tests hosts: ipaserver vars_files: - /home/user_name/MyPlaybooks/secret.yml tasks: # Ensure a sudorule is present granting idm_user the permission to run /usr/sbin/reboot on idmclient - ipasudorule: ipaadmin_password: "{{ ipaadmin_password }}" name: idm_user_reboot description: A test sudo rule. allow_sudocmd: /usr/sbin/reboot host: idmclient.idm.example.com user: idm_user state: present
Run the playbook:
$ ansible-playbook -v -i path_to_inventory_directory/inventory.file path_to_playbooks_directory/ensure-sudorule-for-idmuser-on-idmclient-is-present.yml
Verification
Test that the sudo
rule whose presence you have ensured on the IdM server works on idmclient by verifying that idm_user can reboot idmclient using sudo
. Note that it can take a few minutes for the changes made on the server to take effect on the client.
- Log in to idmclient as idm_user.
Reboot the machine using
sudo
. Enter the password for idm_user when prompted:$ sudo /usr/sbin/reboot [sudo] password for idm_user:
If sudo
is configured correctly, the machine reboots.
Additional resources
-
See the
README-sudocmd.md
,README-sudocmdgroup.md
, andREADME-sudorule.md
files in the/usr/share/doc/ansible-freeipa/
directory.