Ubuntu – Kerberos authentication on the Active Directory

Would you like to learn how to configure the Ubuntu Linux to authenticate on the Active Directory using Kerberos? In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to authenticate Ubuntu users using the Kerberos protocol on the Active directory.

• Ubuntu 20
• Ubuntu 19
• Ubuntu 18
• Windows 2012 R2

In our example, the domain controller IP address is 192.168.15.10.

In our example, the Linux server IP address is 192.168.15.11.

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Tutorial Ubuntu – Kerberos authentication on the Active Directory

• IP – 192.168.15.11
• Operacional System – Ubuntu 20
• Hostname – UBUNTU01

Edit the HOSTS configuration file.

Add the domain controller IP address and hostname.

Install the required packages to enable Kerberos authentication.

Here is the file, before our configuration.

Here is the file, after our configuration.

You need to change the domain information to reflect your Network environment.

Start a Kerberos session as the domain Administrator.

List the Kerberos session.

Here is the command output.

Add the Linux server as a domain computer.

You need to change the domain information to reflect your Network environment.

You need to change the Hostname.

Stop the Kerberos session as the domain Administrator.

Move the key file to the correct location.

Create a configuration file for the SSSD service.

Here is the file content.

You need to change the domain information to reflect your Network environment.

You need to change the Hostname.

Set the correct file permission.

Edit the PAM configuration file.

Locate the following line.

After this line, insert the following configuration.

As an example, here is the content of our configuration file.

Restart the SSD service.

Congratulations! You have configured the Ubuntu authentication to use the Kerberos protocol.

Tutorial Ubuntu – Testing the Kerberos authentication

Test the Kerberos authentication by starting a new SSH session using an Active Directory domain account.

On the login prompt, enter the domain password for the Active Directory account.

After a successful authentication, list the Kerberos sessions created.

Here is the command output.

List the account groups.

Here is the command output.

You have successfully tested the Kerberos authentication on Ubuntu Linux.