Key-value authentication database
Key-value databases can be used as auth backends. They probably should be used only for caching in front of e.g. SQL auth backends. Iteration is supported if the underlying dict provider supports iteration. See Dictionary for list of supported databases.
Auth configuration
dovecot.conf:
passdb {
driver = dict
args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-dict-auth.conf
}
userdb {
driver = dict
args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-dict-auth.conf
}
Dict configuration
uri = redis:host=127.0.0.1:port=6379
# Dictionary URI
#uri =
# Default password scheme
default_pass_scheme = MD5
# Username iteration prefix. Keys under this are assumed to contain usernames.
iterate_prefix = userdb/
# Should iteration be disabled for this userdb? If this userdb acts only as a
# cache there's no reason to try to iterate the (partial & duplicate) users.
#iterate_disable = no
# The example here shows how to do multiple dict lookups and merge the replies.
# The "passdb" and "userdb" keys are JSON objects containing key/value pairs,
# for example: { "uid": 1000, "gid": 1000, "home": "/home/user" }
key passdb {
key = passdb/%u
format = json
}
key userdb {
key = userdb/%u
format = json
}
key quota {
key = userdb/%u/quota # or e.g. quota/%{userdb:quota_class}
#format = value
# The default_value is used if the key isn't found. If default_value setting
# isn't specified at all (even as empty), the passdb/userdb lookup fails with
# "user doesn't exist".
default_value = 100M
}
# Space separated list of keys whose values contain key/value paired objects.
# All the key/value pairs inside the object are added as passdb fields.
# This can only be used for JSON formatted values.
passdb_objects = passdb
#passdb_fields {
#}
# Userdb key/value object list.
userdb_objects = userdb
userdb_fields {
# dict:<key> refers to key names
quota_rule = *:storage=%{dict:quota}
# dict:<key>.<objkey> refers to the objkey inside (JSON) object
mail = maildir:%{dict:userdb.home}/Maildir
}
Example values
The value formats are either "value" that contains a direct value, or "json". For example userdb lookup should return something like:
{ "uid": 123, "gid": 123, "home": "/home/username" }
dict proxying
It may be useful to do the lookups via the "dict" or "dict-async" service. For example:
dovecot.conf:
dict {
cassandra-userdb = cassandra:/etc/dovecot/dovecot-dict-userdb-cql.conf.ext
}dovecot-dict-auth.conf.ext:
uri = proxy:dict-async:cassandra-userdb
iterate_disable = yes
# The _key and _path suffixes are not necessary, they're just here to help
# understand how to match them between different parts of the configuration.
key email_key {
key = userdb/email_path/%u
}
key displayname_key {
key = userdb/displayname_path/%u
}
userdb_fields {
# these fields will be visible as %{userdb:u_email} and %{userdb:u_displayname}
u_email = %{dict:email_key}
u_displayname = %{dict:displayname_key}
}dovecot-dict-userdb-cql.conf.ext:
driver = cassandra
connect = host=127.0.0.1 dbname=email_users
# SELECT displayname FROM user_profile WHERE id = %u
map {
# pattern must match the "key" path, except with added shared/ prefix. %u gets caught into $username
pattern = shared/userdb/displayname_path/$username
table = user_profile
value_field = displayname
value_type = string
fields {
id = $username
}
}
# SELECT email FROM user_profile WHERE id = %u
map {
pattern = shared/userdb/email_path/$username
table = user_profile
value_field = email
value_type = string
fields {
id = $username
}
}
Complete example for authenticating via the CDB dictionary
This example uses the CDB dictionary to store the userdb and passdb.
Auth configuration
dovecot.conf:
# Access to the CDB has to go through a dict process.
dict {
auth = cdb:/etc/dovecot/auth.cdb
}
passdb {
driver = dict
args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-cdb.conf
}
userdb {
driver = dict
args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-cdb.conf
}
Dict configuration
The CDB dictionary doesn't support iteration yet.
dovecot-cdb.conf:
uri = proxy::auth
# FIXME: obsolete configuration - should use the key { .. } instead
password_key = passdb/%u
user_key = userdb/%u
# iterate_prefix = userdb/ # no yet supported
iterate_disable = yes
default_pass_scheme = BLF-CRYPT
Complete example for authenticating via a UNIX socket
The Dict auth backend can be used to query a local UNIX socket for users. This can be handy for accessing user databases which would otherwise only be accessible via the CheckPassword backend and a scripting language.
When given a "proxy:" URL the Dict backend speaks a simple protocol over a UNIX socket. The protocol is defined in src/lib-dict/dict-client.h (GitHub).
Auth configuration
dovecot.conf:
passdb {
driver = dict
args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-dict-auth.conf
}
userdb {
# optional
driver = prefetch
}
userdb {
driver = dict
args = /etc/dovecot/dovecot-dict-auth.conf
}
Dict configuration
The last "dictionary name" ("somewhere") argument is redundant here.
/etc/dovecot/dovecot-dict-auth.conf.ext:
uri = proxy:/var/run/auth_proxy_dovecot/socket:somewhere
# FIXME: obsolete configuration - should use the key { .. } instead
password_key = passdb/%u
user_key = userdb/%u
iterate_disable = yes
#default_pass_scheme = plain
Server process for answering Dict lookups
The server process listening on /var/run/auth_proxy_dovecot/socket can be written in any language. Here's an example in Perl:
package AuthProxyDovecot;
use base qw( Net::Server::PreFork );
use strict;
use warnings;
use JSON::XS;
AuthProxyDovecot->run() or die "Could not initialize";
sub default_values
{
return {
port => '/var/run/auth_proxy_dovecot/socket|unix',
log_level => 2,
log_file => 'Sys::Syslog',
syslog_logsock => 'unix',
syslog_ident => 'auth_proxy_dovecot',
syslog_facility => 'daemon',
background => 1,
setsid => 1,
pid_file => '/var/run/auth_proxy_dovecot.pid',
user => 'root',
group => 'root',
max_spare_servers => 2,
min_spare_servers => 1,
min_servers => 2,
max_servers => 10,
};
} ## end sub default_values
##################################################
sub process_request {
my $self = shift;
my %L_handler = (
passdb => sub {
my ($arg) = @_;
my $ret = {
password => '$1$JrTuEHAY$gZA1y4ElkLHtnsrWNHT/e.',
userdb_home => "/home/username/",
userdb_uid => 1000,
userdb_gid => 1000,
};
return $ret;
},
userdb => sub {
my ($arg) = @_;
my $ret = {
home => "/home/username/",
uid => 1000,
gid => 1000,
};
return $ret;
},
);
# protocol from src/lib-dict/dict-client.h
my $json = JSON::XS->new;
eval {
my $ret;
# Dict protocol is multiline... go through the lines.
while (<STDIN>) {
$self->log(2, "Got request: $_");
chomp;
my $cmd = substr($_,0,1);
next if $cmd eq 'H'; # "hello", skip this line, assume it's ok
die "Protocol error: Bad command $cmd" unless ($cmd eq 'L');
# Process request
my ($namespace,$type,$arg) = split ('/',substr($_,1),3);
if ($namespace eq 'shared') {
my $f = $L_handler{$type};
if (defined $f && defined $arg) {
$ret = $f->($arg);
}
else {
die 'Protocol error: Bad arg';
}
}
else {
die 'Protocol error: Bad namespace'
}
last; # Got an "L" , now respond.
}
if ($ret) {
my $json = JSON::XS->new->indent(0)->utf8->encode($ret);
$self->log(3,"O:$json");
print "O".$json."\n";
}
else {
$self->log(3,"NOUSER");
print "N\n";
}
1;
} or do {
$self->log(2, "Error: $@");
print "F\n";
};
}
sub pre_loop_hook {
my $self = shift;
$self->log(1, 'Starting server');
}
sub pre_server_close_hook {
my $self = shift;
$self->log(1, 'Server is shut down');
}
1;
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