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Google Secure LDAP

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Google Cloud Identity provides a Secure LDAP service that can be configured with GitLab for authentication and group sync.

Secure LDAP requires a slightly different configuration than standard LDAP servers. The steps below cover:

  • Configuring the Secure LDAP Client in the Google administrator console.
  • Required GitLab configuration.

Secure LDAP is only available on specific Google Workspace editions. For more information, see the Google Secure LDAP service documentation.

Configuring Google LDAP client

  1. Go to https://admin.google.com/Dashboard and sign in as a Google Workspace domain administrator.

  2. Go to Apps > LDAP > Add Client.

  3. Provide an LDAP client name and an optional Description. Any descriptive values are acceptable. For example, the name could be GitLab and the description could be GitLab LDAP Client. Select Continue.

    Google Workspace window with client details for adding LDAP client.

  4. Set Access Permission according to your needs. You must choose either Entire domain (GitLab) or Selected organizational units for both Verify user credentials and Read user information. Select Add LDAP Client.

    NOTE: If you plan to use GitLab LDAP Group Sync , turn on Read group information.

    Google Workspace window with access permissions for adding LDAP client.

  5. Download the generated certificate. This is required for GitLab to communicate with the Google Secure LDAP service. Save the downloaded certificates for later use. After downloading, select Continue to Client Details.

  6. Expand the Service Status section and turn the LDAP client ON for everyone. After selecting Save, select the Service Status bar again to collapse and return to the rest of the settings.

  7. Expand the Authentication section and choose Generate New Credentials. Copy/note these credentials for later use. After selecting Close, select the Authentication bar again to collapse and return to the rest of the settings.

Now the Google Secure LDAP Client configuration is finished. The screenshot below shows an example of the final settings. Continue on to configure GitLab.

Google Workspace Admin window with configured LDAP settings for GitLab.

Configuring GitLab

Edit GitLab configuration, inserting the access credentials and certificate obtained earlier.

The following are the configuration keys that need to be modified using the values obtained during the LDAP client configuration earlier:

  • bind_dn: The access credentials username
  • password: The access credentials password
  • cert: The .crt file text from the downloaded certificate bundle
  • key: The .key file text from the downloaded certificate bundle

For Linux package installations:

  1. Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb:

    gitlab_rails['ldap_enabled'] = true
gitlab_rails['ldap_servers'] = YAML.load <<-EOS # remember to close this block with 'EOS' below
  main: # 'main' is the GitLab 'provider ID' of this LDAP server
    label: 'Google Secure LDAP'

    host: 'ldap.google.com'
    port: 636
    uid: 'uid'
    bind_dn: 'DizzyHorse'
    password: 'd6V5H8nhMUW9AuDP25abXeLd'
    encryption: 'simple_tls'
    verify_certificates: true
    retry_empty_result_with_codes: [80]
    base: "DC=example,DC=com"
    tls_options:
      cert: |
        -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
        MIIDbDCCAlSgAwIBAgIGAWlzxiIfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMHcxFDASBgNVBAoTC0dvb2dsZSBJ
        bmMuMRYwFAYDVQQHEw1Nb3VudGFpbiBWaWV3MRQwEgYDVQQDEwtMREFQIENsaWVudDEPMA0GA1UE
        CxMGR1N1aXRlMQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzETMBEGA1UECBMKQ2FsaWZvcm5pYTAeFw0xOTAzMTIyMTE5
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        dGFpbiBWaWV3MRQwEgYDVQQDEwtMREFQIENsaWVudDEPMA0GA1UECxMGR1N1aXRlMQswCQYDVQQG
        EwJVUzETMBEGA1UECBMKQ2FsaWZvcm5pYTCCASIwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADggEPADCCAQoCggEB
        ALOTy4aC38dyjESk6N8fRsKk8DN23ZX/GaNFL5OUmmA1KWzrvVC881OzNdtGm3vNOIxr9clteEG/
        tQwsmsJvQT5U+GkBt+tGKF/zm7zueHUYqTP7Pg5pxAnAei90qkIRFi17ulObyRHPYv1BbCt8pxNB
        4fG/gAXkFbCNxwh1eiQXXRTfruasCZ4/mHfX7MVm8JmWU9uAVIOLW+DSWOFhrDQduJdGBXJOyC2r
        Gqoeg9+tkBmNH/jjxpnEkFW8q7io9DdOUqqNgoidA1h9vpKTs3084sy2DOgUvKN9uXWx14uxIyYU
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        yazhbHkDKIH2gFxfm7QLhhnqsmafvl4WP7JqZt0u0KdnvbDPfokdkM87yfbKJU1MTI86M36wEC+1
        P6bzklKz7kXbzAD4GggksAzxsEE64OWHC+Y64Tkxq2NiZTw/76POkcg9StiIXjG0ZcebHub9+Ux/
        rTncip92nDuvgEM7lbPFKRIS/YMhLCk09B/U0F6XLsf1yYjyf5miUTDikPkov23b/YGfpc8kh6hq
        1kqdi6a1cYPP34eAhtRhMqcZU9qezpJF6s9EeN/3YFfKzLODFSsVToBRAdZgGHzj//SAtLyQTD4n
        KCSvK1UmaMxNaZyTHg8JnMf0ZuRpv26iSg==
        -----END CERTIFICATE-----

      key: |
        -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
        MIIEvQIBADANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAASCBKcwggSjAgEAAoIBAQCzk8uGgt/HcoxEpOjfH0bCpPAz
        dt2V/xmjRS+TlJpgNSls671QvPNTszXbRpt7zTiMa/XJbXhBv7UMLJrCb0E+VPhpAbfrRihf85u8
        7nh1GKkz+z4OacQJwHovdKpCERYte7pTm8kRz2L9QWwrfKcTQeHxv4AF5BWwjccIdXokF10U367m
        rAmeP5h31+zFZvCZllPbgFSDi1vg0ljhYaw0HbiXRgVyTsgtqxqqHoPfrZAZjR/448aZxJBVvKu4
        qPQ3TlKqjYKInQNYfb6Sk7N9POLMtgzoFLyjfbl1sdeLsSMmFGNQ5w8tMHM3LLkbe5fhILQhIKbC
        4iyUGylviUtVAgMBAAECggEAIPb0CQy0RJoX+q/lGbRVmnyJpYDf+115WNnl+mrwjdGkeZyqw4v0
        BPzkWYzUFP1esJRO6buBNFybQRFdFW0z5lvVv/zzRKq71aVUBPInxaMRyHuJ8D5lIL8nDtgVOwyE
        7DOGyDtURUMzMjdUwoTe7K+O6QBU4X/1pVPZYgmissYSMmt68LiP8k0p601F4+r5xOi/QEy44aVp
        aOJZBUOisKB8BmUXZqmQ4Cy05vU9Xi1rLyzkn9s7fxnZ+JO6Sd1r0Thm1mE0yuPgxkDBh/b4f3/2
        GsQNKKKCiij/6TfkjnBi8ZvWR44LnKpu760g/K7psVNrKwqJG6C/8RAcgISWQQKBgQDop7BaKGhK
        1QMJJ/vnlyYFTucfGLn6bM//pzTys5Gop0tpcfX/Hf6a6Dd+zBhmC3tBmhr80XOX/PiyAIbc0lOI
        31rafZuD/oVx5mlIySWX35EqS14LXmdVs/5vOhsInNgNiE+EPFf1L9YZgG/zA7OUBmqtTeYIPDVC
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        w/RP/vs7rwhaZejnCZ8/7uIqwg4sdUBRzZYR3PRNFeheW+BPZvb+2keRCGzOs7xkbF1mu54qtYTa
        HZGZj1OsD83AoMwVLcdLDgO1kw32dkS8IQKBgFRdgoifAHqqVah7VFB9se7Y1tyi5cXWsXI+Wufr
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        j8OszHVkJdz/WXlY1cmdDAxDwXOUGVKIlxTAf7TbiijILZ5gg0Cb+hj+zR9/oI0WXtr+mAv02jWp
        W8cSOLS4TnBBpTLjIpdu+BwbnvYeLF6MmEjNKEufCXKQbaLEgTQ/XNlchBSuzwSIXkbWqdhM1+gx
        EjtBAoGARAdMIiDMPWIIZg3nNnFebbmtBP0qiBsYohQZ+6i/8s/vautEHBEN6Q0brIU/goo+nTHc
        t9VaOkzjCmAJSLPUanuBC8pdYgLu5J20NXUZLD9AE/2bBT3OpezKcdYeI2jqoc1qlWHlNtVtdqQ2
        AcZSFJQjdg5BTyvdEDhaYUKGdRw=
        -----END PRIVATE KEY-----
EOS

  2. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect.

For self-compiled installations:

  1. Edit config/gitlab.yml:

    ldap:
  enabled: true
  servers:
    main: # 'main' is the GitLab 'provider ID' of this LDAP server
      label: 'Google Secure LDAP'
      base: "DC=example,DC=com"
      host: 'ldap.google.com'
      port: 636
      uid: 'uid'
      bind_dn: 'DizzyHorse'
      password: 'd6V5H8nhMUW9AuDP25abXeLd'
      encryption: 'simple_tls'
      verify_certificates: true
      retry_empty_result_with_codes: [80]

      tls_options:
        cert: |
          -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
          MIIDbDCCAlSgAwIBAgIGAWlzxiIfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBCwUAMHcxFDASBgNVBAoTC0dvb2dsZSBJ
          bmMuMRYwFAYDVQQHEw1Nb3VudGFpbiBWaWV3MRQwEgYDVQQDEwtMREFQIENsaWVudDEPMA0GA1UE
          CxMGR1N1aXRlMQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzETMBEGA1UECBMKQ2FsaWZvcm5pYTAeFw0xOTAzMTIyMTE5
          MThaFw0yMjAzMTEyMTE5MThaMHcxFDASBgNVBAoTC0dvb2dsZSBJbmMuMRYwFAYDVQQHEw1Nb3Vu
          dGFpbiBWaWV3MRQwEgYDVQQDEwtMREFQIENsaWVudDEPMA0GA1UECxMGR1N1aXRlMQswCQYDVQQG
          EwJVUzETMBEGA1UECBMKQ2FsaWZvcm5pYTCCASIwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQADggEPADCCAQoCggEB
          ALOTy4aC38dyjESk6N8fRsKk8DN23ZX/GaNFL5OUmmA1KWzrvVC881OzNdtGm3vNOIxr9clteEG/
          tQwsmsJvQT5U+GkBt+tGKF/zm7zueHUYqTP7Pg5pxAnAei90qkIRFi17ulObyRHPYv1BbCt8pxNB
          4fG/gAXkFbCNxwh1eiQXXRTfruasCZ4/mHfX7MVm8JmWU9uAVIOLW+DSWOFhrDQduJdGBXJOyC2r
          Gqoeg9+tkBmNH/jjxpnEkFW8q7io9DdOUqqNgoidA1h9vpKTs3084sy2DOgUvKN9uXWx14uxIyYU
          Y1DnDy0wczcsuRt7l+EgtCEgpsLiLJQbKW+JS1UCAwEAATANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFAAOCAQEAf60J
          yazhbHkDKIH2gFxfm7QLhhnqsmafvl4WP7JqZt0u0KdnvbDPfokdkM87yfbKJU1MTI86M36wEC+1
          P6bzklKz7kXbzAD4GggksAzxsEE64OWHC+Y64Tkxq2NiZTw/76POkcg9StiIXjG0ZcebHub9+Ux/
          rTncip92nDuvgEM7lbPFKRIS/YMhLCk09B/U0F6XLsf1yYjyf5miUTDikPkov23b/YGfpc8kh6hq
          1kqdi6a1cYPP34eAhtRhMqcZU9qezpJF6s9EeN/3YFfKzLODFSsVToBRAdZgGHzj//SAtLyQTD4n
          KCSvK1UmaMxNaZyTHg8JnMf0ZuRpv26iSg==
          -----END CERTIFICATE-----

        key: |
          -----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
          MIIEvQIBADANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAASCBKcwggSjAgEAAoIBAQCzk8uGgt/HcoxEpOjfH0bCpPAz
          dt2V/xmjRS+TlJpgNSls671QvPNTszXbRpt7zTiMa/XJbXhBv7UMLJrCb0E+VPhpAbfrRihf85u8
          7nh1GKkz+z4OacQJwHovdKpCERYte7pTm8kRz2L9QWwrfKcTQeHxv4AF5BWwjccIdXokF10U367m
          rAmeP5h31+zFZvCZllPbgFSDi1vg0ljhYaw0HbiXRgVyTsgtqxqqHoPfrZAZjR/448aZxJBVvKu4
          qPQ3TlKqjYKInQNYfb6Sk7N9POLMtgzoFLyjfbl1sdeLsSMmFGNQ5w8tMHM3LLkbe5fhILQhIKbC
          4iyUGylviUtVAgMBAAECggEAIPb0CQy0RJoX+q/lGbRVmnyJpYDf+115WNnl+mrwjdGkeZyqw4v0
          BPzkWYzUFP1esJRO6buBNFybQRFdFW0z5lvVv/zzRKq71aVUBPInxaMRyHuJ8D5lIL8nDtgVOwyE
          7DOGyDtURUMzMjdUwoTe7K+O6QBU4X/1pVPZYgmissYSMmt68LiP8k0p601F4+r5xOi/QEy44aVp
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          7ViJcydItQKBgQDFmK0H0IA6W4opGQo+zQKhefooqZ+RDk9IIZMPOAtnvOM7y3rSVrfsSjzYVuMS
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          +lLMq2YABw+PeJUnqdYE38xsZVHoDjBsVjFGRmbDybeQxauYT7PACy3FAoGBAK2+k9bdNQMbXp7I
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          W8cSOLS4TnBBpTLjIpdu+BwbnvYeLF6MmEjNKEufCXKQbaLEgTQ/XNlchBSuzwSIXkbWqdhM1+gx
          EjtBAoGARAdMIiDMPWIIZg3nNnFebbmtBP0qiBsYohQZ+6i/8s/vautEHBEN6Q0brIU/goo+nTHc
          t9VaOkzjCmAJSLPUanuBC8pdYgLu5J20NXUZLD9AE/2bBT3OpezKcdYeI2jqoc1qlWHlNtVtdqQ2
          AcZSFJQjdg5BTyvdEDhaYUKGdRw=
          -----END PRIVATE KEY-----

  2. Save the file and restart GitLab for the changes to take effect.

Using encrypted credentials

You can optionally store the bind_dn and password in a separate encrypted configuration file using the same steps as the regular LDAP integration.