LDAP Server Integration with DW Spectrum

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Affected Roles: Owner, Administrator

Related Digital Watchdog VMS Apps: DW Spectrum IPVMS

Software Version: 5.2

Last Edit: September 23, 2024

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What is an LDAP Server?

When companies have grown to employ many employees, personnel management can become tedious and difficult to address. As a solution, companies will often deploy a Lightweight Directory Accessory Protocol server, also known as an “LDAP” server, which uses a software protocol that stores and manages user identities, data and authenticates users.

Integrating DW Spectrum with an OpenLDAP or Active Directory system allows DW Spectrum administrators to quickly combine the system with the organization’s existing user rights management platform, making it easy to copy user information from the LDAP server to the DW Spectrum System.

This article will outline how to link an LDAP server to DW Spectrum, import LDAP users to the system, and how to organize the profiles into user groups.

Setting up LDAP with DW Spectrum

Step 1: Connect the LDAP Server to DW Spectrum

To integrate an LDAP database and DW Spectrum:

Open the System Administration (CTRL + ALT + A) menu and navigate to the “Users” tab.

Click on “LDAP Settings”.

In the LDAP Settings window, configure the following:

Server URL – enter the LDAP server’s URL. The format should be as follows

ldap://[hostname]:[port] >> Ex: ldap://192.168.1.100:389

ldaps://[hostname]:[port] >> Ex: ldaps://192.168.1.100:636

Admin DN or CN – specify the Base DN (Distinguished Name) or CN (Common Name) that defines the search base for finding user objects in LDAP (e.g., dc=example,dc=com”)
Password – enter the password to the LDAP server if required.
Search Base – enter the Bind DN if required. The Bind DN is typically a user in LDAP with permission to query the directory.
Search Filter – define and identify the users that will be imported into the DW Spectrum Users List. For example, “objectClass=person).

Click the OK button to apply the settings.

You can verify that DW Spectrum can connect with the LDAP server and retrieve user information by clicking the “Test Connection” button.

Step 2 – Set LDAP User Mapping

You will need to map LDAP attributes to DW Spectrum user attributes:

LDAP User Attribute – specify the attribute used for usernames (e.g., sAMAccountname or UID).
Display Name Attribute – map the display name of the user in DW Spectrum (e.g, cn).
Email Attribute – map the user’s email from the LDAP server (e.g., mail).

Step 3 – Synchronize LDAP Users

To import user information:

After configuring the identifiers and settings, click “Fetch Users from LDAP” to import users from the LDAP server.

In the Fetch Users from LDAP dialog, select the users that you would like to import by checking the box beside each user. If you are connecting to a large LDAP database, you can search for individual users by typing in the filter search bar.
Click the “Import Users” button to confirm your selections.

DW Spectrum will import all users based on the search filter that you defined and map their attributes accordingly.

Step 4 – Configure User Groups and Permissions

All newly imported users from the LDAP database will appear in the Users Management dialog. Before a user can begin to use DW Spectrum, they must be enabled.

Navigate to the System Administration > Users menu.
Enable and activate the imported users. Green indicates active, gray indicates disabled.

Assign users to appropriate User Groups (administrators, operators, etc.).

You can also either create a custom user role by clicking the “Edit Roles” button or assign a premade role (e.g., Administrator, Advanced Viewer, etc.) individually to each user.

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