#!/bin/bash
# change shell and home for user in OpenFiler LDAP server

BINDDN=”cn=Manager,dc=themclarks,dc=com”
BASEDN=”ou=People,dc=themclarks,dc=com”

USER=$1
SHELL=$2

if [ -z "${SHELL}" -o -n "${3}" ]; then
echo “Usage: $0 ”
exit 1
fi

ldapsearch -s base -x -b “uid=${USER},${BASEDN}” > /dev/null
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo “Error: User ${USER} not found in LDAP server”
exit 1
fi

grep -q -E -e “^${SHELL}$” /etc/shells
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo “Error: ${SHELL} not found in /etc/shells”
exit 1
fi

ldapmodify -x -D ${BINDDN} -W <
dn: uid=${USER},${BASEDN}
changetype: modify
replace: homeDirectory
homeDirectory: /home/${USER}
EOF
ldapmodify -x -D ${BINDDN} -W <
dn: uid=${USER},${BASEDN}
changetype: modify
replace: loginShell
loginShell: ${SHELL}
EOF

Before you run this script, go into openfiler and make a backup of your LDAP config and database. I doubt their will be a problem, but if you don’t do a backup I can almost guarantee something bad will happen.
Be sure to chmod 775 that script. When you run it you will need to supply the user you want to modify and the shell you want them to have. Home directories will be in /home, but you can modify that as you see fit.
Once that script has run, you will have a user setup with a shell and a home directory in LDAP. moving on to the Centos box
run authconfig as root and select “Use LDAP” in User Information and “Use LDAP Authentication” in Authentication. I also like to select “Local Authentication is sufficient” so I can add an oh-crap account. When you select next, you will be prompted for some LDAP settings.
Leave Use TLS unchecked.
LDAP Server will be ldap://OPEN_FILER_SERVER_NAME
Base DN: will be “dc=your_domain,dc=com”
Hit OK. you can test to see if this works by doing an

su - $USER

for the user that you setup in LDAP. This should work, but it will give you an error about not having a home directory. To fix that, we need to make a change to the pam config. If you did this using the gui authconfig, I believe you will have had an option to setup the automatic creation of home directories, so if you don’t get an error, you’re done.
as root on the centos box, edit /etc/pam.d/system-auth and add the following line to the bottom of the file

session required pam_mkhomedir.so skel=/etc/skel umask=0022

save the file and do an su – to the user you setup in LDAP. You should see a message about a home directory being created. Congratulations, you are authing to LDAP!

This is my little workshop in the basement. Nothing too special. The computer rack is pretty much empty now (thank you vmware) and the toolbox is a $40 homedepot special. The desk itself is 8ft by 3ft with a 1ft ledge and the monitors are a 23 and a 15. They are hinged to the table and can fold backwards. What you can’t see is a drill press on the other side of the toolbox.

The one neat thing about the lab is the spool holder. I made this from a reject levolor mini blind. I just took all of the slats out of it and mounted the mechanism to my ceiling. The bar is a $2 curtain rod mounted to the blind base with a couple of screws and nuts. I use zip ties to keep the various spools separated from each other.  I just lift it into the ceiling when I don’t need it and lower it down when I do.

The wife and kids bought me a USB microscope for fathers day that I promptly hacked. I got rid of the cheap base and mounted it to a 3rd arm, then I took and drilled 2mm holes about 70 degrees apart from each other all around the focus knob. I mounted a screw on multimeter probe with a harddrive bearing bolted to it into the holes and now I have a very fine motor way to adjust the focus of the scope. The stock way was prone to sticking and could be frustrating.

Last is the latest change to WHIA. Instead of controlling the dampers in the basement, I’m moving to controlling the registers. To that end I bought a whole bunch of tiny servos and I’m modifying the vents to fit them directly into the register. The servo’s shaft actually becomes the pivot point for the vent and allows me very simple torque transfer without any of the clearance issues that I ran across when I tried a linkage style mount. Works great, very quiet, look for more of this soon.