Users Guide

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Configuring RACs Using Microsoft Active
Directory
The Active Directory (AD) service maintains a common database of all information required for
controlling users on a network. If you are using the AD software, you can configure it to provide access
to the RACs, allowing you to add and control user privileges for the existing users in your directory
service.
AD centralizes all RAC user IDs and passwords using standard or extended schema. Standard schema
uses AD group objects only, and extended schema uses Dell-defined AD objects. When using AD to
configure RAC access, ensure that you select the standard or extended schema. For more information on
standard and extended schema, see the appropriate RAC user guide listed in Other Documents You May
Need.
Using DRACT, you can perform the following actions for selected RACs on your network:
• Configure standard or extended schema-based AD settings for selected RACs.
• Create RAC objects on AD server for extended schema-based AD.
NOTE: Before you connect the AD server to DRACT, make sure that your AD server is configured to
communicate with the RAC. For more information, see the appropriate RAC user guide listed in
Other Documents You May Need.
You can upload the digital certificate used during the initiation of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
connections when communicating with an AD server; these communications use LDAP over SSL (LDAPS).
If certificate validation is enabled, it is necessary to upload the certificate of the Certificate Authority (CA)
that issued the AD server certificate during initiation of SSL connections. The CA certificate is used to
validate the authenticity of the certificate provided by the AD server during SSL initiation. The AD CA
Certificate is the certificate that signs all the domain controllers' SSL server certificates.
NOTE: Uploading a CA certificate is optional for iDRAC6, iDRAC7, iDRAC8, and CMC (PowerEdge
VRTX) but mandatory for DRAC5 and CMC (PowerEdge M1000e). The AD CA certificate that is being
uploaded must be the same certificate that is on the AD server. For iDRAC6, iDRAC7, iDRAC8, and
CMC (PowerEdge VRTX), if the certificate is not specified, the default SSL certificate is used.
Using DRACT, you can perform the following configurations for RACs that are configured to a standard
schema, extended schema, or for RACs that have AD schema disabled:
• Configure RACs using AD standard schema. For more information, see Configuring RACs Using AD
Standard Schema.
• Configure RACs using AD extended schema. For more information, see Creating RAC objects and
Configuring RACs Using AD Extended Schema.
• Disable AD standard or extended schema for RACs. For more information, see Disabling AD Standard
or Extended Schema for RACs.
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