How to: Configure Kerberos Authentication policies using BIG-IP Central Manager¶
Kerberos Authentication is useful when a user is already logged in to the local domain and you want to avoid submitting an BIG-IP Next Access HTTP form for collecting user credentials. The browser automatically submits credentials to the server and bypasses the login box to collect the credentials again.
Using BIG-IP Next Central Manager UI¶
The following example creates a new Kerberos Authentication Access policy using the BIG-IP Next Central Manager user interface.
Log in to BIG-IP Next Central Manager. Navigate to the Security canvas > Security > Access > Policies path.
To create a policy, click the Start Creating button. By default, there are no policies created. The Create Policy page opens, and the Visual Policy Designer (VPD) canvas appears.
Select the required policy type radio button. Available policy options are the Per-Session Policy and Per-Request Policy.
In The How would you like to create it? section, select whether to create a policy using the template or from scratch. Available options are Create using a policy template and Start from scratch. Users are recommended to select Create using a policy template option to quickly access the policy.
In the Policy Templates section, select the required policy template. Available options are Logon Page with Active Directory Query and SAML as a Service Provider. When the Logon Page with Active Directory Query is selected, this policy template includes a Logon Page and Active Directory rules for Authentication and Authorization purposes. When the SAML as a Service Provider is selected, this policy template includes SAML Federation and Variable Assign rules to configure for a SAML Service Provider setup.
Click Next. Based on the selection of the policy type, the applicable policy configurations are displayed.
On the General Properties tab, enter a Policy Name for the policy.
Scroll through the remaining properties and revise any value that you want to change from its default setting.
Click Continue. The Session Properties tab of the respective policy page appears.
On the Session Properties tab, scroll through the properties and revise any value that you want to change from its default setting.
Click Continue. The Logging tab of the respective policy page appears.
On the Logging tab, scroll through the properties and revise any value that you want to change from its default setting.
Click Continue. The Single Sign-On tab of the respective policy page appears.
The Single Sign-On (SSO) provides seamless access to the applications protected through BIG-IP Next Access. This allows administrators to use more modern authentication techniques, such as SAML or OAuth, and translate it to something the back-end application supports, such as Kerberos or Forms.
On the Single Sign-On tab, click Start Creating to select the required authentication type. Available options are Forms, Forms Client-Initiated, HTTP Basic, Kerberos, and OAuth Bearer. When one of the authentication types is selected, its respective configuration page appears. Fill in the required values in the given fields and save the configuration.
Refer to Single Sign-On methods for more information.Click Continue. The Endpoint Security tab of the respective policy page appears.
On the Endpoint Security tab, choose the applicable version from its default setting.
Click Continue. The Resources tab of the respective policy page appears.
The Resources extend BIG-IP Next Access with additional capabilities such as Network Access, Access Control, Identity Providers, and Webtops.
On the Resources tab, click Start Creating to select the required resource. Available options are Access Control List, Network Access, Webtop, and Webtop Section.
Click Continue. The Connectivity tab of the respective policy page appears.
On the Connectivity tab, scroll through the properties and revise any value that you want to change from its default setting.
Click Continue. The Policy Endings tab of the respective policy page appears.
On the Policy Endings tab, scroll through the properties and revise any value that you want to change from its default setting.
Click Finish. A required access policy is created.
The VPD canvas opens.Drag an empty flow into the VPD canvas.
On the empty flow, click the
icon.
The flow expands so you can edit it.On the VPD side bar, click the
icon, and then drag the Kerberos Authentication rule onto the empty flow.Hover the cursor over the Kerberos Authentication rule and then click the
icon.
The Rule Properties tab of the Rule Configuration page opens.In Name field, type a unique name for the authentication rule.
Select Request Based Authentication from the dropdown, either you can Enable or Disable request-based authentication. If this feature is enabled, this provides flexible login mechanism instead of restricting you to use only the form-based login method.
Select Max Logon Attempts Allowed from the dropdown, this specifies the number of user authentication logon attempts to allow. You can choose between 1 to 5 and by default 3 attempts are allowed.
Click Continue.
The Kerberos Server tab of the Rule Configuration page opens.Click Start Creating. New Kerberos Server page opens to configure the server settings.
In Name field, write the unique Kerberos server name.
In the Service Principal Name Format, select Service Principal Name (SPN) format for the Kerberos server.
Select Host-based service to display the authorization realm, service name, and keytab file options. All existing Kerberos servers are host-based services by default.
Select Kerberos 5 NT Principal to display the service principal name and keytab file options. Use this format for VMware View clients.
In the Service Name field, type a service name; for example, HTTP.
In the Authentication Realm field, type a Kerberos authentication realm name (administrative name), such as LAB.COMPANYNET.
In the Keytab File field, locate and upload the keytab file. A keytab file contains Kerberos encryption keys (these are derived from the Kerberos password).
Click Save.
Click Continue. The Branches tab of the Rule Configurations page opens.
Under Branches, click Create.
The Branches page opens.In Name field, write the branch name.
Under Expression, select a Context, a Condition and a Result for this branch.
Add any (optional) AND/OR branches needed for the policy, and then click Save.
On the Branches tab of the Rule Configuration page, click Finish.
The VPD canvas displays the revised policy.Review the policy in the VPD canvas; then click Save to finish creating the policy.
BIG-IP Next Central Manager adds the policy to the BIG-IP Next Access Policies list.
Using BIG-IP Next Central Manager API¶
The following example creates a new Kerberos Authentication Access policy using the BIG-IP Next Central Manager application programming interface (API).
Authenticate with the BIG-IP Next Central Manager API. For details refer to How to: Authenticate with the BIG-IP Next Central Manager API.
Create the policy by sending a Post to the
/api/v1/spaces/default/security/access-policiesendpoint.POST https://<big-ip_next_cm_mgmt_ip>/api/v1/spaces/default/security/access-policiesFor the API body, use the following, substituting values appropriate for the policy you want to create.
{ "description": "", "name": "KerberosPolicy", "policy_type": "PerSession", "properties": [ { "configuration": { "policyType": "PerSession", "name": "KerberosPolicy", "externalServers": [ { "keytabFileContent": "PGRpdiBhbGlnbj0iY2VudGVyIj4KCiMgRjUgU1NMIE9SQ0hFU1RSQVRPUiBDT05GSUcgQ09OVkVSVEVSCgoKW0RvY3VtZW50YXRpb25dKGh0dHBzOi8vY2xvdWRkb2NzLmY1LmNvb", "authRealm": "LAB.COMANYNET", "keytabFileName": "README.md", "name": "Kerberos-Server-f83e32df", "serverType": "Kerberos", "serviceName": "Kserv", "spnFormat": "host-based-service" } ], "policy": { "objectContent": { "macros": [ { "name": "Emptyad0073fb", "start": { "caption": "Fallback", "itemType": "aaa-kerberos", "ruleType": "aaa-kerberos", "ruleId": "Kerberos-Authentication-2c84e108", "server": "Kerberos-Server-f83e32df", "name": "Kerberos-Authentication-010aa8a6", "nextItems": [ { "caption": "Fallback", "itemType": "terminal-out", "name": "Deny" } ], "maxLogonAttempt": 3, "requestBasedAuth": false, "isValid": true }, "endings": [ { "name": "Deny", "color": "#D9647A", "default": true } ] } ], "start": { "itemType": "macro-call", "name": "Empty-a7ff762c", "macro": "Emptyad0073fb", "caption": "Fallback", "nextItems": [ { "itemType": "deny", "name": "Deny", "caption": "Deny" } ] }, "endings": [ { "name": "Deny", "action": "deny", "color": "#D9647A", "default": true }, { "name": "Allow", "action": "allow", "color": "#199D4D", "default": false } ], "languages": [ "en" ], "defaultLanguage": "en" } }, "scope": "profile", "profileType": "all", "userIdentityMethod": "http", "connectivityAccessPolicyName": "KerberosPolicy_cap", "timeout": 300, "inactivityTimeout": 900, "maxSessionTimeout": 604800, "maxConcurrentUsers": 0, "maxConcurrentSessions": 0, "maxInProgressSessions": 128, "minFailureDelay": 2, "maxFailureDelay": 5, "domainCookie": "", "secureCookie": false, "persistentCookie": false, "httpOnlyCookie": false, "restrictToSingleClientIP": false, "useHttp503OnError": false, "logoutUriTimeout": 5, "samesiteCookie": false, "samesiteCookieAttrValue": "strict" }, "connectivityProfileConfiguration": { "compressBufferSize": 4096, "compressGzipLevel": 6, "compressGzipMemlevel": 8192, "compressGzipWindowsize": 16384, "compressCpusaver": true, "compressCpusaverHigh": 90, "compressCpusaverLow": 75, "compressionAdaptive": true, "compressionDeflateLevel": 1, "compressionCodecs": [], "pppTunnel": { "profilePpp": {} }, "clientPolicy": { "ecSaveServersOnExit": true, "ecReuseWinlogonSession": false, "ecReuseWinlogonCreds": false, "ecRunLogoffScript": false, "ecWarnBeforeScriptLaunch": true, "ecSavePasswordMethod": "none", "ecSavePasswordTimeout": 240, "ecComponentUpdate": "yes", "serverList": [], "ecLocationDnsList": [], "androidEcRequireDeviceAuth": false, "androidEcSavePasswordMethod": "disk", "androidEcSavePasswordTimeout": 240, "iosEcRequireDeviceAuth": false, "iosEcSavePasswordMethod": "disk", "iosEcSavePasswordTimeout": 240, "macosEcSavePasswordMethod": "disk", "macosEcSavePasswordTimeout": 240, "chromeosEcSavePasswordMethod": "disk", "chromeosEcSavePasswordTimeout": 240, "chromeosEcLogonMethod": "native", "macosEcLogonMethod": "native", "name": "KerberosPolicy_cap_clientPolicy" }, "policyType": "ConnectivityAccessPolicy", "name": "KerberosPolicy_cap" }, "loggingConfiguration": [ { "component": "apmd", "level": "NOTICE" }, { "component": "tmm", "level": "NOTICE" }, { "component": "websso", "level": "NOTICE" }, { "component": "renderer", "level": "NOTICE" } ] } ] }
BIG-IP Next Central Manager creates the policy specified by the parameter values used in the body of your POST.
Important: To fully configure this policy, attach this rule to an application. After attaching to an application, make sure to configure the External or AAA servers as well for Kerberos Authentication. For additional details about managing an application, refer to How to: Manage applications using BIG-IP Next Central Manager and FAST templates.