2.4. Performing a Split Enrollment

Enrolling machines as clients in the IPA domain is a two-part process. A host entry is created for the client (and stored in the 389 Directory Server instance), and then a keytab is created to provision the client.

Both parts are performed automatically by the ipa-client-install command. It is also possible to perform those steps separately; this allows for administrators to prepare machines and IPA in advance of actually configuring the clients. This allows more flexible setup scenarios, including bulk deployments.

When performing a manual enrollment, the host entry is created separately, and then enrollment is completed when the client script is run, which creates the requisite keytab.

There may be a situation where an administrator in one group is prohibited from creating a host entry and, therefore, from simply running the ipa-client-install command and allowing it to create the host. However, that administrator may have the right to run the command after a host entry exists. In that case, one administrator can create the host entry manually, then the second administrator can complete the enrollment by running the ipa-client-install command.