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adds notes and suggested steps to create a new domain
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stgmsa committed Dec 17, 2024
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Expand Up @@ -61,6 +61,41 @@ NOTE: If you are using PacketFence in cluster mode, you must save the domain set
NOTE: after version 14.0, the PacketFence domain.conf will be updated, domain identifier is changed from previously single identifier to "hostname + identifier". If you are running PacketFence in a cluster, please check the corresponding sections for each node.
==== Domain Joining on A PacketFence cluster
We've changed the structure of `domain.conf` configuration file. Since v14.0, each node in a cluster will have their own section.
They will find and store their domain configurations under sections starts with their hostnames. +
This change allows each node in a cluster have their indivudual domain configuration. For example, a node doesn't have to use %h as part of the machine
account created on the domain controller, they now have the ability to fully customize the machine account name. +
However, due to the isolation of domain.conf on each of the node, they also lost the ability of sharing configuration across the nodes.
If you are running PacketFence cluster of v14.0, you'll have to join Windows AD on each of the node - this will create a corresponding machine account
for each of the node when you create the domain profile.
Here is the steps you'll need to follow to create a domain profile in cluster after v14.0:
Assuming that we have a PacketFence cluster of 3 nodes, and we are about to join "domain.com"
. Open PacketFence Admin UI, and navigate to "Status" -> "Services" -> "API redirect" or
. Access the Admin UI form "https://node_ip:1443" directly.
Either the steps will allow you to create the domain profile on the selected node.
NOTE: Windows does not allow machine account to be shared when initialize secure connection. Therefore, each node in a cluster has to use a unique machine account.
You can either include %h as part of the machine account or use a unique fully customized machine account name for each of the node. For example, if you use "A" as
machine account name in node1's domain profile creation, and continued using "A" as machine account name to create a domain profile from another node,
this will eventually cause node1 and node2 trying to bind the same machine onto its own secure connection, and cause NTLM authentication interruptions and failures.
After we changed the node that handles the API request or we choosed the node manually (method 2), do the following steps:
. navigate to "Configuration" -> "Policies and Access Control" -> "Active Directory Domains"
. fill in the information required to create the domain profile and then click "Create".
. PacketFence will create the domain profile for the node *only* that handles the API request.
. switch back to API redirect and select another node in the cluster
. back to "Configuration" -> "Policies and Access Control" -> "Active Directory Domains" and create the domain profile for another node.
. Repeat the previous steps until all the nodes are done with domain profile creation.
==== Troubleshooting
* In order to troubleshoot unsuccessful binds, please refer to the following file : `/usr/local/pf/log/packetfence.log`. Search for "ntlm-auth-api-domain" for all ntlm-auth-api entries.
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