Network Systems and Administration Assignment 2022

Network Systems and Administration 1

Network Systems and Administration 2
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................................3
Installation and configuration of LDAP..................................................................................................4
Working of LDAP..................................................................................................................................5
Uses of LDAP........................................................................................................................................5
Installing LDAP.....................................................................................................................................6
Infrastructure............................................................................................................................................13
Adding Groups.....................................................................................................................................13
Adding organizational Units................................................................................................................16
Adding users........................................................................................................................................16
Service control.....................................................................................................................................19
Wireshark installation..............................................................................................................................24
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................29
References................................................................................................................................................30

Network Systems and Administration 3
Introduction
Network management is the process of installing and configuring a network system. The process of
administering and monitoring the use of a certain type of network architecture can be also be termed as
the process of network administration. For instance, the users of a certain type of network ecosystem
can be monitored and managed by the network management team. Some of the services which are
provided by this concept include provisioning and maintaining the quality of the service.
A network management software is a type of an application system which is used to administer and
deliver the services to the users. Network administrators are able to maintain the operation of the
network and the types of services used by the networks by using the software tools.
The principles and the strategies used in the evaluation and implementation of a network system can be
used to determine the effectiveness in the delivery of the services to the users.
The implementation of a network system requires a set of rules which are used to manage and prevent
unauthorized access. Network security is an important aspect which is used to control and maintain
authorized access to the resources and the integrity of the system. For instance, access to data and
information within a network requires a set of privileges which are administered by the network
administrator (Cordray, Chart, and Ginter, SCIENCELOGIC, 2015).
A network infrastructure consists of the users of the system, administrators and the managers who have
the sole responsibility of monitoring and limiting access of the network to unauthorized users. Network
solutions are the methodologies which are utilized and installed into the existing architecture to ensure
that the network performance is at optimal and the principles underlying the usage of the network are
not tempered with.
Emerging trends in the use of the network are used to bring about new solutions which are used to
protect the network architecture. New installations into the network should be implemented to ensure
that security mechanisms and procedures are not provoked in an attempt to manipulate the network
architecture. If for instance, a user is able to gain unauthorized access to data and the information in the

Network Systems and Administration 4
system, then the administrators and the managers of the network system should identify the attack and
prevent it from happening.
The main purpose of this document is to set up and configure the installation of LDAP which is used by
the clients for utility performance.
Installation and configuration of LDAP
LDAP (lightweight directory access protocol ) is an implementation of a protocol which is used in the
management and control of information through a hierarchical model using files and directories. LDAP
is able to function in the same way, a relational database works, through storage of information from a
central location and access of the information at another endpoint.
A database performs its functions just in the same way a relational database does. For instance, storage
of files and information which can be accessed from a different location. Directories can be used to
store different types of information, access can be restricted using the strict requirements of the creator.
Some of the directories are created in the instance of a local user and are therefore limited to be
accessed. Information in a directory can be synchronized and normalized to increase the response time
of providing the information to the user and prevent redundancy in the available data.
Several directories which contain the same information can be synchronized together to form an
integral part of information storage which can then be easily accessed.

Network Systems and Administration 5
Working of LDAP
The operation of LDAP and it’s services is based on a client-server model. An LDAP directory consists
of the LDAP servers which are configured together and contain the data. The servers can then form a
block unit which can be called the LDAP backend database which acts as a source of information. The
client is also able to connect to the server. This means that the client must be configured to operate in
such a way that it can contact and get connected to the server. Once the client is connected to the server,
then information and data access are possible (Vazquez, 2019).
Once the client has contacted the server with a question, the server is then able to respond with a
pointer to a location where the information can be obtained. The client then is able to follow to the
location where the information is stored, and once the client has access, information retrieval is carried
out.
An important feature with the LDAP is that one server can be able to reference the same directory entry
just like another server would. The servers are able to traverse and access the directories in the same
way. This provides ease with access to the directories.The LDAP server contains a daemon called slapd
which is used to support different kinds of database backends which are meant to be used by clients.
Uses of LDAP
 Storage of files – LDAP is an important service which is used for storage of information and the
data. The data stored in an LDAP server can then be accessed by a client. LDAP performs its
operations just like any known database service which is used to store information for later
access. The clients must be authenticated before they can access the data from the LDAP
directories. Some of the data is only limited to certain users only.
 Storage of DNS records.
 Authenticating the user to certain services.

Network Systems and Administration 6
Installing LDAP
The installation of LDAP requires prior installation of the following packages.
 Openldap – a package used to configure both the clients and the server. For instance, the
communication between the clients and the server can be achieved by using the module. The
client and the server can not be able to communicate before they establish a connection.
 openldap-servers – this packages contain the necessary modules which are required to configure
the servers. For instance, for a certain server to be able to communicate effectively with the
clients, the modules must be present.
 Openldap-clients – used to configure how the clients are able to establish a connection with the
server. Once the clients are connected to the server, then the client can be able to request for a
certain resource and the server is then able to respond with a pointer to the location of the
resource.
The Linux system modules and utilities first need be updated to contains the latest features.
Figure 1 : update of the system utilities.

Network Systems and Administration 7
Figure 2 : Installing slapd
A password is required for the administrator, the functions of the administrator include management
and configuration of the access by the users. The password is required for authorization and
authentication of the admin to access the resources. Once the administrator has gained access using the
given password, then configuring the resources for access by the clients becomes an easy task.

Network Systems and Administration 8
Figure 3: Password setup for the LDAP directory.

Network Systems and Administration 9
Figure 4 : Confirm is the password entered is correct.

Network Systems and Administration 10
Figure 5 : install of the LDAP utils
After the installation of the packages is complete the LDAP server then needs to be reconfigured again
to bring up the configuration tool. This can be done using the following procedure (Suizo, and Parthan,
Extreme Networks, 2019).
Figure 6 : Reconfiguring the LDAP server.

Network Systems and Administration 11
Figure 7 : open ldap server configuration

Network Systems and Administration 12
Figure 8 : DNS configuration
Figure 9 : Setting up the administrator password

Network Systems and Administration 13
Figure 10 : Setting up the database format.
Figure 11 : remove database when slapd is pulled to be NO.

Network Systems and Administration 14
Figure 12 : Configuration successful.
Infrastructure
Administration of the LDAP server can be done using a web interface. The web interface is configured
to use the PHPMyAdmin which is package readily available. The package can be easily installed using
the command-line tool just like the installation of the LDAP.
Figure 13: Requirement for phpldapadmin
Adding Groups
First, we need to create a file named ldif. The file contains the following information.

Network Systems and Administration 15
 Names of the groups.
 Members of
the groups.
Figure 14: installing of phpldapadmin web interface module
The PHPMyAdmin provides a web interface which can be used to configure the users and the groups.
Some of the tasks carried out by the interface include additional groups and users into the LDAP server.
The web interface is easily accessed using a browser of choice. The users can be associated with certain
groups where they belong, for instance certain users who belong to the ICT or the management can be
associated with such a group.
Different users belong to different accounts and therefore each of the users can then be associated and
linked with such an account.
Some of the requirements for the installation of the PHPMyAdmin include the LDAP server
installation. The data for the web interface can be stored in the instance of a single location but can then
be accessed globally from any location. For instance users can be added using the web interface but the
users can access the directories in a global instance (Joshi and Shah, International Business Machines
Corp, 2016).
The format of the data storage is an important aspect which is used to manage and configure how the
data can be accessed. The format in which the data is stored determines the same method in which the
data can be retrieved on the other side of the client.
Client and server communication is based on the use of the open ports and the services installed on the
server. The client can not be able to communicate and retrieve information from the server is the port is
closed. The port must always be running and configured to accept incoming connections to the clients.

Network Systems and Administration 16
Once the clients are connected to the server, the server is able to respond to the client using a series of a
message which is in form of a response.
Figure 15 : Configuring the organizational unit.

Network Systems and Administration 17
Figure 16: Adding the groups
Figure 17: Command to create the groups
Adding organizational Units
Figure 18 : Adding Organizational units.

Network Systems and Administration 18
Adding users
Figure 19: Adding users.
Figure 20: Authenticating users with the LDAP server.

Network Systems and Administration 19
Figure 21: Setting up the domain name.
Figure 22: read-only access for the admin members.
Services required to configure and install LDAP.
 slapd
 slurpd
 smartd

Network Systems and Administration 20
Linux has a provision for both the client and the server which have access to the active directory
protocol. The client and the server have access to the LDAP directory.
The content is organized to be volatile for access to the users ie the data is mostly made to have read-
only access privileges.
Slapd is a service daemon which is used for maintaining the information that is available in the LDAP
directory. This means that slapd is a standalone service used for information management.
Slurpd is a standalone replication deamon. Replicating and committing the changes to the directories is
done using this service.
Smartd is one other hand a deamon which is used for monitoring purposes. The purpose of the smartd
deamon is to monitor and check for failures in the drive. Smart log monitoring is automated using the
deamon. Smartd aims at automating self-tests to ensure that logs and errors are checked in real-time to
prevent the failure of the drive (Kumar, Ramdoss and Orzach, 2018).
Depending on the nature of the problem, the disk can be replicated or information contained in the
disks can be replicated.
Figure 23 : Installation of ldap
Service control.
LDAP service can be started or stopped using the system call instruction. In case of failure in the
service, can also be restarted.

Network Systems and Administration 21
Figure 24: Starting LDAP service.
Figure 25: installation of slurpd
Figure 26: Installation of smartd
To start, stop and restart the service. The service command is used on each of the cases. For instance to
stop the LDAP service then: Service LDAP stop can be used to stop the service from running and
service smartd reload can be used to restart the smartd deamon in case of failure in the service.
LDAP uses port 389 for the operation of all its services. The port must be open and can be able to listen
for incoming clients. If the port is not open the clients cannot be able to connect to the server and
therefore resources sharing cannot be able to occur. In the case that LDAP is configured to use TLS ,
then LDAP is configured to use port 636 (Fitterer, Smith, and Reddy, International Business Machines
Corp, 2018.).
To check if the ports are open and listening for incoming connections from the clients, netstat
command can be used to check if the port is running.
Configuring LDAP client.
Some packages are required to be installed for the client to be able to communicate with the server.
Some of the modules and packages required for installation include the following:
 libnss-ldap
 libpam-ldap
 nscd

Network Systems and Administration 22
 ldap-utils
each of the packages is configured for a specific purpose and use. During the installation there’s a
prompt for the server configuration.
Figure 27: Installation of required client modules.

Network Systems and Administration 23
Figure 28 : Configuring libnss-ldap
Figure 29 : Configuring the domain for the LDAP

Network Systems and Administration 24
Figure 30: Setting up the account for LDAP
Figure 31 : Password entry for the given account.

Network Systems and Administration 25
Figure 32 : Admin privileges for the directories.
Wireshark installation.
Wireshark is a network tool which is used to analyze and capture network packets for analysis. The
packets which are transmitted within the network can be captured using Wireshark tool.
Some of the features which are included in the Wireshark include :
 Filtering of specific types of data.
 Live data can be captured and analyzed from the ports. For instance, live data being transmitted
between the LDAP port can be captured and monitored and captured using Wireshark.
 Live packet capture.
 A different format for data write.
Figure 33: installation of Wireshark.

Network Systems and Administration 26
Figure 34 : Starting Wireshark from the command line.
Once Wireshark is started successfully, data packets can then be captured from and to the client. The
packets contain information and the data that is being requested by the client and the response that the
client receives from the server.
Once a client is able to connect to the server, the client then communicates with the server by asking
for a resource. The server checks if the resources requested by the client area available in it’s
directories and storage. If the resources requested by the client are available, then the server sends a
message to the client with a pointer to the location where the resources can be found (Vazquez, 2019).
The client can then be able to locate the source and then be able to capture and retrieve data directly
from the server. The client must be authorized and authenticated to access resources from the server
otherwise the client can then not be able to access the resources. All the data found in the server is
highly protected and maintained to ensure integrity is maintained.
Figure 35: Successfully started Wireshark.

Network Systems and Administration 27
Once Wireshark is started, then the filter mode can be selected for the suitable network mode. For
instance there are different mode of the network including the wlan0 and the LAN. After the network
mode is selected, data capture and filtering can then be achieved.
Figure 36 : Packet statistics.
The number of packets captured and the length of the packet capture can be achieved using a specific
period of time.
Figure 37: Data packets captured.

Network Systems and Administration 28
Figure 38 : Service Discovery protocol query.
Figure 39 : Packets request.

Network Systems and Administration 29
Wireshark is able to listen for traffic using the defined ports. For instance to capture traffic for the
LDAP server and the directories, then the Wireshark tool is configured to accept incoming and the
outgoing connections from the client and the server. Each time the client is able to request resources
from the server, the traffic is captured and displayed to the Wireshark interface using the given network
interface.

Network Systems and Administration 30
Conclusion
Network administration involves the use of software tools to manage the configuration and the
connections between the clients. If the clients are able to connect to the server, then the operation and
the configuration of the network architecture is successful. The functions of the network administrators
are to monitor and administer the operations of the network to the users.
Directories can be shared between an instance of a local machine to a global instance which can be
accessed by anyone operating with the network. This makes it easier in terms of the operations that
even using a database management system to store the information and data. A database system is able
to perform and function in the same way an LDAP server operates. Each of the users accessing the
server must be authenticated and authorized to be able to gain and access the data.
Wireshark is a tool available for both the windows and the Linux server environments. The tool is able
to capture and monitor data that is in transit between the client and the server. Each and every packet is
captured, before and after arrival into the client or the server. The tool is able to operate at a given port
and in a given network mode. For instance if the network mode is wlan0, then all the packets will be
captured with ease in the same network mode.

Network Systems and Administration 31
References
Cordray, C., Link, D., Chart, R. and Ginter, K., SCIENCELOGIC Inc, 2015. Self configuring network
management system. U.S. Patent 9,077,611.
Fitterer, A.R., Smith, R.J. and Reddy, R.M.T., International Business Machines Corp, 2018. Ensuring
data maintenance within a LDAP environment. U.S. Patent 9,916,334.
Joshi, C.G. and Shah, R.J., International Business Machines Corp, 2016. Tuning LDAP server and
directory database. U.S. Patent 9,397,976.
Joshi, C.G. and Shah, R.J., International Business Machines Corp, 2015. Portable lightweight LDAP
directory server and database. U.S. Patent 9,032,193.
Kumar, N., Ramdoss, Y. and Orzach, Y., 2018. Network Analysis Using Wireshark 2 Cookbook:
Practical recipes to analyze and secure your network using Wireshark 2. Packt Publishing Ltd.
Suizo, N.G. and Parthan, A., Extreme Networks, Inc., 2019. Network management interface for a
network element with network-wide information. U.S. Patent Application 14/805,362.
Vazquez, A., 2019. Integrating LDAP with Active Directory and Kerberos. In Practical LPIC-3 300
(pp. 123-155). Apress, Berkeley, CA.
Vazquez, A., 2019. OpenLDAP Server Performance Tuning. In Practical LPIC-3 300 (pp. 181-191).
Apress, Berkeley, CA.