2장. Viewing, starting and stopping the Identity Management services

Most of the following services are not strictly required to be installed on the IdM server. For example, you can install services such as a certificate authority (CA) or DNS server on an external server outside the IdM domain.

IdM uses the Kerberos protocol to support single sign-on. With Kerberos, users only need to present the correct username and password once and can access IdM services without the system prompting for credentials again.

Kerberos is divided into two parts:

For information about how to authenticate using Kerberos in IdM, see Logging in to Identity Management from the command line

Logging in to IdM in the Web UI: Using a Kerberos ticket.

The IdM LDAP directory server instance stores all IdM information, such as information related to Kerberos, user accounts, host entries, services, policies, DNS, and others. The LDAP directory server instance is based on the same technology as Red Hat Directory Server. However, it is tuned to IdM-specific tasks.

The integrated certificate authority (CA) is based on the same technology as Red Hat Certificate System. pki is the command line for accessing Certificate System services.

You can also install the server without the integrated CA if you create and provide all required certificates independently.

For more information, see Planning your CA services.

IdM uses DNS for dynamic service discovery. The IdM client installation utility can use information from DNS to automatically configure the client machine. After the client is enrolled in the IdM domain, it uses DNS to locate IdM servers and services within the domain. The BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) implementation of the DNS (Domain Name System) protocols in Red Hat Enterprise Linux includes the named DNS server.

For information, see Planning your DNS services and host names.

The Apache HTTP web server provides the IdM Web UI, and also manages communication between the Certificate Authority and other IdM services.

Samba implements the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol, also known as the Common Internet File System (CIFS) protocol, in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Via the smb service, the SMB protocol enables you to access resources on a server, such as file shares and shared printers. If you have configured a Trust with an Active Directory (AD) environment, the`Winbind` service manages communication between IdM servers and AD servers.

One-time passwords (OTP) are passwords that are generated by an authentication token for only one session, as part of two-factor authentication. OTP authentication is implemented in Red Hat Enterprise Linux via the ipa-otpd service.

For more information, see Logging in to the Identity Management Web UI using one time passwords.

OpenDNSSEC is a DNS manager that automates the process of keeping track of DNS security extensions (DNSSEC) keys and the signing of zones. The ipa-dnskeysyncd service manages synchronization between the IdM Directory Server and OpenDNSSEC.

The System Security Services Daemon (SSSD) is the client-side application that manages user authentication and caching credentials. Caching enables the local system to continue normal authentication operations if the IdM server becomes unavailable or if the client goes offline.

For more information, see Understanding SSSD and its benefits.

The certmonger service monitors and renews the certificates on the client. It can request new certificates for the services on the system.

For more information, see Obtaining an IdM certificate for a service using certmonger.