InfluxDB Enterprise LDAP

Overview

This post discusses implementing LDAP authentication for securing InfluxDB Enterprise clusters with AzureAD-integrated role-based access control. It provides configuration guidance and highlights critical deployment considerations.

Key Components

Metanode & Raft Database Architecture

The metadata storage system requires configuration at two levels: the meta node configuration files and the Raft database on disk. The implementation involves four primary steps:

1. Activate LDAP authentication in all meta node configuration files
2. Generate an LDAP configuration file using influxd-ctl
3. Validate the LDAP configuration file
4. Apply settings to the Raft database via influxd-ctl

Critical Implementation Gotchas

JWT Authentication Requirement

While basic authentication works during initial setup and verification, once LDAP enters the Raft database, JWT authentication becomes necessary for all subsequent influxd-ctl operations. Basic auth doesn't work when LDAP is configured.

Multi-Step Disabling Process

Disabling LDAP requires:

• Setting enabled = false in the configuration file
• Verifying and loading the modified config into Raft
• Disabling LDAP in each meta-node's configuration file
• Restarting InfluxDB services on all nodes

Group Membership Search Filter Complexity

A critical issue involves LDAP search filters. InfluxDB authentication code must use the distinguished name (DN) rather than the common name (CN) when querying group membership. Incorrect filter syntax causes authentication failures.

Cache Warming Solution

The ldap warm-cache command addresses intermittent 403 authorization errors across data nodes by refreshing the authentication cache.

Sample Configuration

A complete TOML configuration template demonstrates proper syntax for server connections, bind credentials, search base DNs, group mappings, and role associations for both standard LDAP and Active Directory environments.