PingDS Deep Dive

Organized by: PING

Summary

This course takes students from a high-level understanding of how the PingDS (DS), formerly known as ForgeRock® Directory Services, works to a fully functional directory deployment, where they learn how to implement the many features of DS. It provides students with the knowledge and concepts necessary to successfully manage their own deployment. It is accepted that this course is not able to demonstrate all the features and capabilities of DS. Further information and guidance can be found in the documentation and knowledge base in the online repositories at: Backstage https://backstage.forgerock.com.

Note: Revision A of this course is based on version 7.2 of DS.

Benefits

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

Provide a technical introduction to the infrastructure, concepts, features, and components of DS.
Create and manage data stores, measure performance, and troubleshoot directory servers.
Understand how to deploy directory servers, and directory proxy servers, manage replication, upgrade DS servers, and configure the DS password synchronization plugin.

Prerequisites

The following are the prerequisites for successfully completing this course:

Knowledge of UNIX/Linux commands.
A basic understanding of how directory servers function.
A basic understanding of REST and HTTP.
A basic knowledge of Java based environments would be beneficial, but no programming experience is required.
Completion of the Ping Identity Essentials courses for PingDS, PingAM, and PingIDM available at: https://backstage.forgerock.com/university/forgerock/on-demand/category/ON_DEMAND_CLOUD_LEARNING

Topics

Chapter 1: Accessing Directory Services

A technical introduction to the infrastructure, concepts, features, and components of DS.

Lesson 1: Introducing PingDS

Explore DS components and understand the LDAP data model:

Describe PingDS

Lesson 2: Interacting With Directory Servers

Access directory servers and perform operations over LDAP and HTTP:

Send LDAP requests
Prepare the lab environment
Perform LDAP operations
Introduce REST to LDAP
Explore the API configuration
Configure REST access
Explain common REST operations
Use the REST API to manage directory data

Chapter 2: Maintaining Directory Servers

Create and manage data stores, measure performance, and troubleshoot directory servers.

Lesson 1: Managing the Configuration

Locate the DS configuration data and use directory server tools to manage configuration data:

Explore configuration data
Prepare the lab environment
Explore the configuration and manage the server state
Manage data stores
Configure backends
Manage indexes
Configure indexes

Lesson 2: Populating Data Stores

Customise directory server schema to add custom attributes, and then import entries to populate a data store:

Extend the schema
Implement custom schema
Import entries
Populate a backend data store
Manage virtual attributes
Configure virtual attributes

Lesson 3: Protecting DS Data

Understand DS security features, implement access control, manage password policies, and delegate administration:

Describe security features
Replace server certificates
Describe access control
Configure access control
Delegate administration
Configure delegated administration
Explore password policies
Configure password policies

Lesson 4: Backing Up and Restoring Data

Back up and restore directory server data:

Explain how to back up and restore data
Back up and restore data

Lesson 5: Measuring Performance

Understand performance requirements and settings that may be tuned to improve directory server performance:

Explain settings that affect performance
Tune the JE DB cache and generate performance tests

Lesson 6: Troubleshooting

Configure log files, collect troubleshooting data for Ping Identity Support, and monitor a DS deployment with Prometheus and Grafana:

Explore log files
Manage log files
Explain how to collect data for support
Collect data for support
Monitor a DS deployment
Observe monitoring metrics

Chapter 3: Deploying Directory Services

Understand how to deploy directory servers, and directory proxy servers, manage replication, upgrade DS servers, and configure the DS password synchronization plugin.

Lesson 1: Installing Directory Servers

Install directory servers for custom and Ping Identity Platform (Identity Platform), formerly known as ForgeRock® Identity Platform, product deployments:

Prepare for a directory server installation
Prepare the lab environment
Install a directory server
Prepare directory servers for Identity Platform installations
Prepare directory servers for AM
Set up a directory server as an IDM repository
(Optional) Synchronize passwords with IDM
(Optional) Synchronize DS passwords with IDM

Lesson 2: Replicating Data

Implement high availability for directory servers and maintain, monitor, and restore a replicated directory server topology:

Plan for replication
Install a replicated topology
Monitor and maintain a replicated topology
Monitor replication

Lesson 3: Upgrading DS Servers

Prepare for and perform an upgrade of directory servers in a DS 6.5.5 replicated topology to version DS 7.2:

Describe upgrade options
Upgrade DS 6 servers to DS 7

Lesson 4: Installing Directory Proxy

Understand the role of directory proxy (DP) servers and install DP servers to provide a single point of entry to directory servers:

Introduce DP servers
Install DP servers
Provide a single point of access to replica