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ADSSP on Unix

danger

Currently, we do not support running the software on Unix systems and strongy advise against it.

Why we do not support the software on Unix​

There are several reasons for this decision:

  • We have not tested it, and we do not plan to have a proper setup for testing it. Since the software changes things in a very central part of many companies' IT infrastructure - authentication - we consider it safety-critical and thus will not provide you with an official version which has not been tested.
  • We could not identify a use case where anyone operates an Active Directory, but cannot deploy this software on a Windows host. Although you may have the case that you operate only a single Windows host in your entire network - the one running the Active Directory - and otherwise only Unix systems, you can still run this software on the Windows Server with the Active Directory on it.
  • Although Unix hosts can join an Active Directory as a computer, there can easily be a collision that renders the otherwise working setup dysfunctional: If you install OpenSSH on a domain controller, then it exposes the service user for OpenSSH to the Active Directory. If you also install openssh-server on e.g. a Linux host, then there also - by default - exists a user openssh. Resolving this conflict can be quite challenging - and in the meantime, the ADSSP will not work the same way as if it was installed on a Windows host (there, the local user and the directory user for OpenSSH are separated correctly).

How to run the software on Unix anyway​

As a starting point, you will need the same setup as described in Getting Started.

Adapt the TargetFramework in the Linova.ActiveDirectory.SelfService.csproj file to be net6.0 instead of net6.0-windows. Also, remove the switch(Environment.OSVersion.Platform) { ... } statement at the top of Program.cs. This will disable the check for the platform.

You should remove the reference to the NuGet package Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.WindowsServices. You must then also either remove the line with builder.Host.UseWindowsService() in Program.cs or replace it with an appropriate alternative (e.g. using the UseSystemd() extension method from the corresponding Systemd package).

Make sure that all other libraries included via NuGet packages are also available for your platform. You will probably get a warning by NuGet or the compiler if they are not, but in case something does not work this might be something to look into.

caution

We use the .NET 6 platform extensions for the change password functionality. These extensions are only available on Windows, so you will get a PlattformNotSupportedException thrown by Microsoft's library if you try to use this feature on Unix systems.

If you want to use this functionality, you need to replace it by another library.

If you then want to create a production build, see Building a production version. Of course, you should change the appropriate runtime identifier in the dotnet publish command (as opposed to win-x64).