OpenLDAP Client and NFS on Windows XP

I am assuming your LDAP server is set up as per my previous post.

Before we go further, I would suggest setting up NFS and then updating your /etc/ldap/slapd.conf file

Since Windows (for me) had issues importing my openssl generated cert, I had to allow unencrypted. Depending on your setup, you may not find this to be a suitable option. You must then get a CA cert that isn’t self-signed.

Otherwise, just add ‘by auth’ to your existing access block.


access to attrs=userPassword,shadowLastChange
by tls_ssf=128 ssf=128 dn="cn=admin,dc=uwptechforce,dc=com" write
by tls_ssf=128 ssf=128 anonymous auth
by tls_ssf=128 ssf=128 self write
by auth
by * none

/etc/init.d/slapd restart

Go to http://pgina.org/ and download pGina and Plugins. Install pGina and extract the Plugins archive into c:pGina

You will have to install ldapauth; the installer for x86 and x86_64 is located in C:pGinapluginsLDAP

Unfortunately, from here on out we have to use a graphical configuration utility. Execute C:pGinaconfigure.bat

In the ‘Plugin’ tab, Select this file for the ‘Plugin Path’

C:pGinapluginsldapauthldapauth_plus.dll

You may also want to check the Show authentication method checkbox on this tab; it allows you to select between LDAP and the Local machine in the login window.

Under the Account Interaction tab, check:

Keep Profiles: This will allow you to have persistent files/settings, allow you to make persistent permission changes (remote desktop, file permissions, etc.).

Force Login: If you change your password elsewhere, this will allow you to use the local password with the password you’re authenticated with

Under the Profile tab, you might want to consider changing the default groups for users who log in (separated with semi-colons). By default everyone is a ‘Limited’ user; Power Users might be more appropriate for a Windows workstation. Do not set any options for ‘Profiles’; they do not work and will conflict with LDAP.

We will now configure LDAP using the Plugin Tester; it provides a good way to debug issues and allows you to configure/test in an easy manner. Execute C:pGinaplugin_tester.exe

Browse and select C:pGinapluginsldapauthldapauth_plus.dll. Now let’s configure it.

Click on the ‘Search’ button. Next to LDAP Server enter the hostname/ip of your LDAP server. Set the port to 389. Add “ou=People,dc=server,dc=com” in Contexts.

If you would like to restrict what users can log into pGina, you can set this in the User Configuration tab. I would recommend against changing anything else here until you have a working setup.

Now for the test. Push the pGina Load button. Enter a user/pass and push ‘Login’.

If this does not work, do the usual and debug slapd and look in the Event Viewer in Windows.

Now for NFS.

On any linux LDAP client, you will need to getent passwd > map.txt && getent group > map2.txt to generate a passwd-like file for Windows. No passwords are stored here. I suggest doing this on the NFS server in cron.


0 1 * * 1 getent passwd > /nfs/map.txt
0 1 * * 1 getent group > /nfs/map2.txt

Once a week your passwd and group map will be updated; coincidentally Windows NFS client updates it’s mapping once a week by default. Feel free to change this to happen more often if needed.

Still, you need to copy over map.txt and map2.txt from Linux before NFS works.

Google Windows Services for UNIX Version 3.5. Extract it and run the installer; select ONLY the Client for NFS under NFS and User Name Mappings under Authentication tools for NFS. When prompted, choose ‘passwd-like files’ instead of NIS.

When prompted, browse for your map.txt and map2.txt files.

Create a file called C:nfs.bat


mount 192.168.1.1home Z:

You probably want to run this at startup; just add a new “String Value” in HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun with a name like “mount nfs” and a value of C:nfs.bat

This entry can be easily disabled later with msconfig.

Now run nfs.bat, and check to see that a Z: was created. If so, you’re done!

7 thoughts on “OpenLDAP Client and NFS on Windows XP”

  1. Hi,

    Great article. Samba puts too much crap in the ldap db so yours is a very good option.

    Do you have any suggestions how to automate user mappings so i don’t have to manually map a Windows user to Unix user every time some one new comes along?

    I saw were I can backup the user mapping and it seems simple enough to add my own. Would I just restore from that file using some kind of automation?

  2. Hi,

    Here is how I fixed my issue above. I didn’t want to create an NIS domain, Samba domain or NIS/LDAP gateway and with my fix below, I just have an LDAP domain.

    Since the pGina has hook script capability, I placed a map command during login which maps a Winblowz user to a Unick user.

    My hook file;

    mapadmin add -wu %COMPUTERNAME%%USERNAME% -uu %USERNAME%@PCNFS

    and for groups;

    mapadmin add -wg “%COMPUTERNAME%Power Users” -ug staff@PCNFS

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