9.10. Using SELinux Policies

SELinux is a collection of mandatory access control rules which are enforced across a system to restrict unauthorized access and tampering. SELinux categorizes files, directories, ports, processes, users, and other objects on the server. Each object is placed in an appropriate security context to define how the object is allowed to behave on the server through its role, user, and security level. These roles for objects are grouped in domains, and SELinux rules define how the objects in one domain are allowed to interact with objects in another domain.

Directory Server has the following domains:

Directory Server also uses one additional, default domains for LDAP ports: ldap_port_t

These domains provide security contexts for all of the processes, files, directories, ports, sockets, and users for the Directory Server.

SELinux has three different levels of enforcement: disabled (no SELinux), permissive (where the rules are processed but not enforced), and enforcing (where all rules are strictly enforced). Red Hat Directory Server has defined SELinux policies that allow it to run as normal under strict SELinux enforcing mode, with a caveat. The Directory Server can run in different modes, one for normal operations and one for database operations like importing (ldif2db mode). The SELinux policies for the Directory Server only apply to normal mode.

By default, the Directory Server runs confined by SELinux policies.