Integration with vBulletin - vBulletin Ldap Authentication Plugin

I am using vbulletin for a long time now and before there was the plugin system introduces i hacked every single version of vb to enable ldap authentication. with the introduction of the plugin system i have written a little plugin that works in every version since VBulletin 3.5. This Plugin is the buyable VBulletin Ligh Authentication from http://www.sartori.at. now its FREE.

Since its working and i will not enhance this small plugin anymore, i will make it public. If there are any enhancements, i can put it into my versioning system and update this plugin.

In contrast to the ldap authentication from zemic my board can authenticate against every - already deployed - ldap directory without changeing the encryption type.

If the ldap user is not added in the VBulletin database, the user is automatically added the first time he authenticates against the ldap. if the user already exists then nothing is changed, except the authentication against the directory.

in the admin or moderator panel no user is authenticated against the directory.

Requirements

• php with ldap support

Installation Notes:

1. copy ldapAuth directory to your vb forum installation directory
2. change the path to controller.php directory in ldap-plugin.xml
3. copy the hooks_ldap.xml to FORUM_ROOT/inclucdes/xml directory
4. in login.php search for:
   
   PHP Code:

   if ($vbulletin->GPC['vb_login_username'] == '')
         {
          eval(standard_error(fetch_error('badlogin', $vbulletin->options['bburl'], ....
         } 

   insert below:
   
   PHP Code:

   ($hook = vBulletinHook::fetch_hook('ldap_login_hook')) ? eval($hook) : false; 

5. activate plugin system (if not done already) in admincp
6. in admin cp import the product at "Download / Upload" Plugins
7. in global.php search for:
   
   PHP Code:

   $show['nopasswordempty'] 

   and change:
   
   PHP Code:

   defined('DISABLE_PASSWORD_CLEARING') ? 1 : 0; 

   to:
   
   PHP Code:

   defined('DISABLE_PASSWORD_CLEARING') ? 0 : 1; 

8. configure the ldap settings in: ldapconfig.inc.php
9. test the product

Additional Notes:
If you are running a Microsoft Active Directory as Ldap server you have to change some settings to allow anonymous queries. This is described at
Novell and Microsoft


I would be happy if you support my modification in any way. Install or nominate it or donate some cents at paypal.

[chatzworld]

LDAP Authentication is basically used for people to have a server (Microsoft or Novell) many schools, colleges, university's, company's, LDAP stores the user's account details i.e. username, full name, password, address, folders etc

Basically LDAP Authentication Plugins will allow you to use your users details on your Microsoft or Novell Server for user authentication insted of your MySQL (etc) database. Would manly ideal for schools, colleges, unis, or companys who want to run a forum, but use the user's computer logon details to logon to the forum

[dodjer42]

Does a user still need to register? Or do they automatically get ability to login from existing LDAP credentials?

[fhs2006]

a user can authenticate with the existing ldap user data. no need for registering with vbulletin.

-fhs

[kthompso]

includes/ldapAuth/controller.php line 104 shows:

verify_authentication($vbulletin->GPC['vb_login_username'], $vbulletin->GPC['cookieuser'], true);

includes/functions_login.php shows, line 134:

function verify_authentication($username, $password, $md5password, $md5password_utf, $cookieuser, $send_cookies)

This is giving us an error:

Warning: Missing argument 4 for verify_authentication(), called in /var/www/includes/ldapAuth/controller.php on line 94 and defined in /includes/functions_login.php on line 134

Warning: Missing argument 5 for verify_authentication(), called in /var/www/includes/ldapAuth/controller.php on line 94 and defined in /includes/functions_login.php on line 134

Warning: Missing argument 6 for verify_authentication(), called in /var/www/includes/ldapAuth/controller.php on line 94 and defined in /includes/functions_login.php on line 134

Any recommendations?

[Zachery]

Do you have LDAP support in php?

[kthompso]

Originally Posted by Zachery

Do you have LDAP support in php?

Yes, LDAP is showing in PHPINFO(). That took a bit of learning too, but the restart of the apache enabled the LDAP in PHP after doing the apt-get on php5-ldap module.

The problem as documented about is that the verify_authentication function is expecting 6 variables , and we are only sending 3 in the controller.php. Should we just send dummy values for the password varibles?

[Zachery]

Not that I'm any expert on the subject but password is more than likely required.

[sbhatia]

In step 5, when I am trying to activate the plugin from admin control panel, what do I enter in the field "Plugin PHP Code" ?

[Zachery]

Turn on the hooks system in the admincp, it should be on if you've imported any other plugins or products.

[sbhatia]

if I goto Admincp >> Plugins & products >> Add new plugin:

I specify:

Product: vBulletin
Hook location: ldap_login_hook
Title:Ldap plugin
Execution Order: 5
Plugin PHP Code: <<I dont know what ?>>
Plugin is Active: Yes

I see this to be the only way of activating the plugin, but since I dont have the Plugin PHP Code, it says "Please Complete All Required Fields"

Thanks for the help !