How to Install LDAP Account Manager (LAM) on nixOS

LDAP Account Manager (LAM) is a web-based tool for managing LDAP directories. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the steps to install LAM on nixOS Latest.

Step 1: Install Required Packages

Before we can install LAM, we need to make sure that our system has all the required dependencies. To do this, we will use the nix-env command. Run the following command:

$ sudo nix-env --install openssl curl wget php php-curl php-pcntl php-posix php-ldap php-xml

This will install all the required packages for LAM to run successfully.

Step 2: Download LAM

Next, we need to download the latest version of LAM from their official website. Run the following command to download the latest release:

$ sudo wget https://github.com/ldap-account-manager/lam/releases/download/7.4/lam-7.4.tar.bz2

Step 3: Extract the LAM Archive

Once the download is complete, we need to extract the LAM archive to a directory of our choice. Run the following command:

$ sudo tar xjf lam-7.4.tar.bz2 -C /opt

This will extract the LAM archive to the /opt directory.

Step 4: Create a LAM Configuration File

LAM requires a configuration file to run. We will create this file by copying the default configuration file provided by LAM. Run the following command:

$ sudo cp /opt/lam-7.4/config.cfg.dist /opt/lam-7.4/config.cfg

Step 5: Configure LAM

Now that we have created a LAM configuration file, we need to edit it to include our LDAP server information. You can use any text editor you prefer to edit the file.

$ sudo nano /opt/lam-7.4/config.cfg

In the config.cfg file, you should see the following:

# host name (not IP address!) of LDAP server(s)
# space separated list of hosts
$ldap_server = 'localhost';

Change the localhost to the IP address or hostname of your LDAP server.

If your LDAP server requires authentication, you will also need to set the ldap_binddn and ldap_bindpw values.

Step 6: Configure Nginx

To access LAM from a web browser, we need to configure Nginx as a reverse-proxy. To do this, create a new Nginx server block. Run the following command to create a new file:

$ sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/lam.conf

Paste the following content into the file:

server {
  listen 80;
  server_name example.com; # Replace with your domain name
  access_log /var/log/nginx/access.log;
  error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log;

  location / {
    proxy_pass http://localhost:8083; # Change the port if required
    proxy_set_header Host $host;
    proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
    proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
  }
}

Save and close the file.

Step 7: Restart Nginx

To apply the changes, restart the Nginx server:

$ sudo systemctl restart nginx

Step 8: Start LAM

Finally, start the LAM server by running the following command:

$ cd /opt/lam-7.4
$ ./lam start

You can verify that LAM is running correctly by visiting http://example.com in your web browser. Replace example.com with your domain name.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have shown you how to install and configure LDAP Account Manager on nixOS Latest. By following these steps, you should now have LAM up and running on your NixOS server.