Chapter 7. SSSD client-side view
SSSD provides the sss_override
utility, which allows you to create a local view that displays values for POSIX user or group attributes that are specific to your local machine. You can configure overrides for all id_provider
values, except ipa
.
If you are using the ipa
provider, define ID views centrally in IPA. For more information, see Using an ID view to override a user attribute value on an IdM client.
For information about a potential negative impact on the SSSD performance, see Potential negative impact of ID views on SSSD performance.
7.1. Overriding the LDAP username attribute
As an administrator, you can configure an existing host to use accounts from LDAP. However, the values for a user (name, UID, GID, home directory, shell) in LDAP are different from the values on the local system. You can override the LDAP username
attribute by defining a secondary username
with the following procedure.
Prerequisites
-
root
access -
Installed
sssd-tools
Procedure
Display the current information for the user:
# id username
Replace username with the name of the user.
Add the secondary
username
:# sss_override user-add username -n secondary-username
Replace username with the name of the user and replace secondary-username with the new
username
.After creating the first override using the
sss_override user-add
command, restart SSSD for the changes to take effect:# systemctl restart sssd
Verification
Verify that the new
username
is added:# id secondary-username
Optional. Display the overrides for the user:
# sss_override user-show user-name user@ldap.example.com:secondary-username::::::
Example 7.1. Defining a secondary username
To add a secondary
username
sarah for the user sjones:Display the current information for the user sjones:
# id sjones uid=1001(sjones) gid=6003 groups=6003,10(wheel)
Add the secondary
username
:# sss_override user-add sjones -n sarah
Verify that the new
username
has been added and overrides for the user display correctly:# id sarah uid=1001(sjones) gid=6003(sjones) groups=6003(sjones),10(wheel) # sss_override user-show sjones user@ldap.example.com:sarah::::::
Additional resources
-
sss_override
man page on your system
7.2. Overriding the LDAP UID attribute
As an administrator, you can configure an existing host to use accounts from LDAP. However, the values for a user (name, UID, GID, home directory, shell) in LDAP are different from the values on the local system. You can override the LDAP UID attribute by defining a different UID with the following procedure.
Prerequisites
-
root
access -
Installed
sssd-tools
Procedure
Display the current UID of the user:
# id -u user-name
Replace user-name with the name of the user.
Override the UID of the user’s account:
# sss_override user-add user-name -u new-UID
Replace user-name with the name of the user and replace new-UID with the new UID number.
Expire the in-memory cache:
# sss_cache --users
After creating the first override using the
sss_override user-add
command, restart SSSD for the changes to take effect:# systemctl restart sssd
Verification
Verify that the new UID has been applied:
# id -u user-name
Optional. Display the overrides for the user:
# sss_override user-show user-name user@ldap.example.com::new-UID:::::
Example 7.2. Overriding the UID of the user
To override the UID of the user sarah with UID 6666:
Display the current UID of the user sarah:
# id -u sarah 1001
Override the UID of the user sarah's account with UID 6666:
# sss_override user-add sarah -u 6666
Manually expire the in-memory cache:
# sss_cache --users
Restart SSSD for the changes to take effect:
# systemctl restart sssd
Verify that the new UID is applied and overrides for the user display correctly:
# id sarah 6666 # sss_override user-show sarah user@ldap.example.com::6666:::::
Additional resources
-
sss_override
man page on your system
7.3. Overriding the LDAP GID attribute
As an administrator, you can configure an existing host to use accounts from LDAP. However, the values for a user (name, UID, GID, home directory, shell) in LDAP are different from the values on the local system. You can override the LDAP GID attribute by defining a different GID with the following procedure.
Prerequisites
-
root
access -
Installed
sssd-tools
Procedure
Display the current GID of the user:
# id -g user-name
Replace user-name with the name of the user.
Override the GID of the user’s account:
# sss_override user-add user-name -g new-GID
Replace user-name with the name of the user and replace new-GID with the new GID number.
Expire the in-memory cache:
# sss_cache --users
After creating the first override using the
sss_override user-add
command, restart SSSD for the changes to take effect:# systemctl restart sssd
Verification
Verify that the new GID is applied:
# id -g user-name
Optional. Display the overrides for the user:
# sss_override user-show user-name user@ldap.example.com:::6666::::
Example 7.3. Overriding the GID of the user
To override the GID of the user sarah with GID 6666:
Display the current GID of the user sarah:
# id -g sarah 6003
Override the GID of the user sarah's account with GID 6666:
# sss_override user-add sarah -g 6666
Manually expire the in-memory cache:
# sss_cache --users
If this is your first override, restart SSSD for the changes to take effect:
# systemctl restart sssd
Verify that the new GID is applied and overrides for the user display correctly:
# id -g sarah 6666 # sss_override user-show sarah user@ldap.example.com::6666:::::
Additional resources
-
sss_override
man page on your system
7.4. Overriding the LDAP home directory attribute
As an administrator, you can configure an existing host to use accounts from LDAP. However, the values for a user (name, UID, GID, home directory, shell) in LDAP are different from the values on the local system. You can override the LDAP home directory attribute by defining a different home directory with the following procedure.
Prerequisites
-
root
access -
Installed
sssd-tools
Procedure
Display the current home directory of the user:
# getent passwd user-name user-name:x:XXXX:XXXX::/home/home-directory:/bin/bash
Replace user-name with the name of the user.
Override the home directory of the user:
# sss_override user-add user-name -h new-home-directory
Replace user-name with the name of the user and replace new-home-directory with the new home directory.
Restart SSSD for the changes to take effect:
# systemctl restart sssd
Verification
Verify that the new home directory is defined:
# getent passwd user-name user-name:x:XXXX:XXXX::/home/new-home-directory:/bin/bash
Optional. Display the overrides for the user:
# sss_override user-show user-name user@ldap.example.com:::::::new-home-directory::
Example 7.4. Overriding the home directory of the user
To override the home directory of the user sarah with admin:
Display the current home directory of the user sarah:
# getent passwd sarah sarah:x:1001:6003::sarah:/bin/bash
Override the home directory of the user sarah with new home directory admin:
# sss_override user-add sarah -h admin
Restart SSSD for the changes to take effect:
# systemctl restart sssd
Verify that the new home directory is defined and overrides for the user display correctly:
# getent passwd sarah sarah:x:1001:6003::admin:/bin/bash # sss_override user-show user-name user@ldap.example.com:::::::admin::
Additional resources
-
sss_override
man page on your system
7.5. Overriding the LDAP shell attribute
As an administrator, you can configure an existing host to use accounts from LDAP. However, the values for a user (name, UID, GID, home directory, shell) in LDAP are different from the values on the local system. You can override the LDAP shell attribute by defining a different shell with the following procedure.
Prerequisites
-
root
access -
Installed
sssd-tools
Procedure
Display the current shell of the user:
# getent passwd user-name user-name:x:XXXX:XXXX::/home/home-directory:/bin/bash
Replace user-name with the name of the user.
Override the shell of the user:
# sss_override user-add user-name -s new-shell
Replace user-name with the name of the user and replace new-shell with the new shell.
Restart SSSD for the changes to take effect:
# systemctl restart sssd
Verification
Verify that the new shell is defined:
# getent passwd user-name user-name:x:XXXX:XXXX::/home/home-directory:new-shell
Optional. Display the overrides for the user:
# sss_override user-show user-name user@ldap.example.com::::::new-shell:
Example 7.5. Overriding the shell of the user
To change the shell of the user sarah from
/bin/bash
tosbin/nologin
:Display the current shell of the user sarah:
# getent passwd sarah sarah:x:1001:6003::sarah:/bin/bash
Override the shell of the user sarah with new
/sbin/nologin
shell:# sss_override user-add sarah -s /sbin/nologin
Restart SSSD for the changes to take effect:
# systemctl restart sssd
Verify that the new shell is defined and overrides for the user display correctly:
# getent passwd sarah sarah:x:1001:6003::sarah:/sbin/nologin # sss_override user-show user-name user@ldap.example.com::::::/sbin/nologin:
Additional resources
-
sss_override
man page on your system
7.6. Listing overrides on a host
As an administrator, you can list all user and group overrides on a host to verify that the correct attributes have been overridden.
Prerequisites
-
root
access -
Installed
sssd-tools
Procedure
List all user overrides:
# sss_override user-find user1@ldap.example.com::8000::::/bin/zsh: user2@ldap.example.com::8001::::/bin/bash: ...
List all group overrides:
# sss_override group-find group1@ldap.example.com::7000 group2@ldap.example.com::7001 ...
7.7. Removing a local override
If you want to remove local override that is defined in the global LDAP directory, use the following procedure.
Prerequisites
-
root
access -
Installed
sssd-tools
Procedure
To remove the override for a user account, use:
# sss_override user-del user-name
Replace user-name with the name of the user. The changes take effect immediately.
To remove an override for a group, use:
# sss_override group-del group-name
After removing the first override using the
sss_override user-del
orsss_override group-del
command, restart SSSD for the changes to take effect:# systemctl restart sssd
When you remove overrides for a user or group, all overrides for this object are removed.
7.8. Exporting and importing local view
Your local overrides are stored in the local SSSD cache. You can export user and group overrides from this cache to a file to create a backup. This ensures that even if the cache is cleared, you can restore the configurations later.
Prerequisites
-
root
access -
Installed
sssd-tools
Procedure
To back up user and group view, use:
# sss_override user-export /var/lib/sss/backup/sssd_user_overrides.bak # sss_override group-export /var/lib/sss/backup/sssd_group_overrides.bak
To restore user and group view, use:
# sss_override user-import /var/lib/sss/backup/sssd_user_overrides.bak # sss_override group-import /var/lib/sss/backup/sssd_group_overrides.bak