What is Linux two-factor authentication (2FA/MFA)?
Linux two-factor authentication (2FA/MFA) module provides a secure way to login into the linux desktop logins, remote or local linux Secure Shell (or SSH) access servers that enhance the security and makes the brute force attacks more difficult. Two Factor Authentication (2FA / MFA) on top of Secure Shell (or SSH) Access and Linux systems, adds an extra layer of security to increase the identity assurance and reduce risk and exposure. The clients will use their existing credentials (username and password) as their first factor and then they will be prompted for entering the configured second factor type. miniOrange can connect to the on-premise AD (Active Directory) so that user will use their AD credentials to authenticate themselves on Linux system. miniOrange Two Factor Authentication (2FA) module can be installed on Linux operating systems to add Two-Factor or Multi-Factor authentication on the top of local and Remote login.
miniOrange supports following methods for Linux 2FA:
The miniOrange Linux MFA / 2FA module has been well tested on the following Linux distributions.
(If you have other than the following mentioned distributions please Contact us)
Ubuntu
RHEL based systems (e.g. Red Hat, CentOS)
Connect with External Source of Users
miniOrange provides user authentication from various external sources, which can be Directories (like ADFS, Microsoft Active Directory, OpenLDAP, AWS etc), Identity Providers (like Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, AWS), and many more. You can configure your existing directory/user store or add users in miniOrange.
Video Setup Guide
Get Free Linux 2FA Installation Help - Book a Slot
miniOrange offers free help through a consultation call with our System Engineers to Install or Setup Linux MFA / 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) and Secure Shell (or SSH) access MFA solution in your environment with 30 days Free trial.
For this, you need to just send us an email at idpsupport@xecurify.com to book a slot and we'll help you setting it up in no time.
Enroll Users in miniOrange before Linux 2FA Configuration: The username of the user in miniOrange should be the same as in user's local Username. This is required so that the service can prompt the appropriate 2FA for the customer based on the defined policy and provide secure access to Linux machines and systems. There are multiple methods to add users in miniOrange. Admin can add end users or else setup user provisioning from your existing identity source.
Step by step guide to enable Linux MFA / 2FA (Two/Multi Factor Authentication) using SSH
Give the execute permissions the downloaded DEB file via running below command in the terminal:
chmod a+x miniorange-mfa.deb
Run the following command to install the miniOrange MFA DEB package:
sudo dpkg -i miniorange-mfa.deb
Option
Description
--install
Install the miniOrange MFA
--uninstall
Remove the miniOrange MFA
--enable_ssh
Enable miniOrange mfa for SSH Login
--disable_ssh
Disable miniOrange mfa for SSH Login
-e
Edit the miniOrange configuration file
-d
Display the miniOrange configuration file
--enable-pl
Enable Passwordless Authentication
--disable-pl
Disable Passwordless Authentication
--check
Run troubleshooting checks for the miniOrange MFA setup
--test <login|sshd|sudo> <username>
Test miniOrange MFA for the SSH Login (login, sshd, or sudo) for the given username
Run below command for 2FA configuration in the terminal as root user
sudo miniorange-mfa --install
You will be asked for some configuration details. To fill in these details, login to your miniOrange admin account on Cloud or Onpremise.
Click on the Settings icon on top right corner.
Copy the Customer Key and API key.
Now, Go to Apps and copy the name of the Linux application created in step 1.
Paste all these details in the terminal and press enter.
You will be asked to enable the MFA on SSH login. If you want to enable the MFA on SSH login then type 'y' and hit enter.
3. Testing MFA Configuration
Use the command below to test the MFA for SSH login:
miniorange-mfa --test sshd <username>
If you encounter issues while testing the MFA, use the command below to troubleshoot:
miniorange-mfa --check
MFA will be asked after successful password authentication.
To access the manual for miniOrange MFA commands, use the command: man miniorange-mfa
4. Configure Your User Directory (Optional)
miniOrange provides user authentication from various external sources, which can be Directories (like ADFS, Microsoft Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, OpenLDAP, Google, AWS Cognito etc), Identity Providers (like Okta, Shibboleth, Ping, OneLogin, KeyCloak), Databases (like MySQL, Maria DB, PostgreSQL) and many more. You can configure your existing directory/user store or add users in miniOrange.
Here, fill the user details without the password and then click on the Create User button.
After successful user creation a notification message "An end user is added successfully" will be displayed at the top of the dashboard.
Click on Onboarding Status tab. Check the email, with the registered e-mail id and select action Send Activation Mail with Password Reset Link from Select Action dropdown list and then click on Apply button.
Now, Open your email id. Open the mail you get from miniOrange and then click on the link to set your account password.
On the next screen, enter the password and confirm password and then click on the Single Sign-On (SSO) reset password button.
Now, you can log in into miniOrange account by entering your credentials.
2. Bulk Upload Users in miniOrange via Uploading CSV File.
Navigate to Users >> User List. Click on Add User button.
In Bulk User Registration Download sample csv format from our console and edit this csv file according to the instructions.
To bulk upload users, choose the file make sure it is in comma separated .csv file format then click on Upload.
After uploading the csv file successfully, you will see a success message with a link.
Click on that link you will see list of users to send activation mail. Select users to send activation mail and click on Send Activation Mail. An activation mail will be sent to the selected users.
Click on External Directories >> Add Directory in the left menu of the dashboard.
Select Directory type as AD/LDAP.
STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION IN MINIORANGE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in miniOrange. If active directory is behind a firewall, you will need to open the firewall to allow incoming requests to your AD.
STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION ON PREMISE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in your premise and only allow access to AD inside premises. You will have to download and install miniOrange gateway in your premise.
Enter LDAP Display Name and LDAP Identifier name.
Select Directory Type as Active Directory.
Enter the LDAP Server URL or IP Address against LDAP Server URL field.
Click on Test Connection button to verify if you have made a successful connection with your LDAP server.
In Active Directory, go to the properties of user containers/OU's and search for Distinguished Name attribute.
Enter the valid Bind account Password.
Click on Test Bind Account Credentials button to verify your LDAP Bind credentials for LDAP connection.
Search Base is the location in the directory where the search for a user begins. You will get this from the same place you got your Distinguished name.
Select a suitable Search filter from the drop-down menu. If you use User in Single Group Filter or User in Multiple Group Filter, replace the <group-dn> in the search filter with the distinguished name of the group in which your users are present. To use custom Search Filter select "Write your Custom Filter" option and customize it accordingly.
You can also configure following options while setting up AD. Enable Activate LDAP in order to authenticate users from AD/LDAP. Click on the Save button to add user store.
Here's the list of the attributes and what it does when we enable it. You can enable/disable accordingly.
Attribute
Description
Activate LDAP
All user authentications will be done with LDAP credentials if you Activate it
Sync users in miniOrange
Users will be created in miniOrange after authentication with LDAP
Fallback Authentication
If LDAP credentials fail then user will be authenticated through miniOrange
Allow users to change password
This allows your users to change their password. It updates the new credentials in your LDAP server
Enable administrator login
On enabling this, your miniOrange Administrator login authenticates using your LDAP server
Show IdP to users
If you enable this option, this IdP will be visible to users
Send Configured Attributes
If you enable this option, then only the attributes configured below will be sent in attributes at the time of login
Click on Save. After this, it will show you the list of User stores. Click on Test Connection to check whether you have enter valid details. For that, it will ask for username and password.
On Successful connection with LDAP Server, a success message is shown.
Click on Test Attribute Mapping.
Enter a valid Username. Then, click on Test. Mapped Attributes corresponding to the user are fetched.
After successful Attribute Mapping Configuration, go back to the ldap configuration and enable Activate LDAP in order to authenticate users from AD/LDAP.
Go to Settings >> Product Settings in the Customer Admin Account.
Enable the "Enable User Auto Registration" option and click Save.
(Optional) To send a welcome email to all the end users that will be imported, enable the "Enable sending Welcome Emails after user registration" option and click Save.
From the Left-Side menu of the dashboard select Provisioning.
In Setup Provisioning tab select Active Directory in the Select Application drop-down.
Toggle the Import Users tab, click on Save button.
On the same section, switch to Import Users section.
Select Active Directory from the dropdown and click on the Import Users tab, to import all the users from Active Directory to miniOrange.
You can view all the Users you have imports by selecting Users >> User List from Left Panel.
All the imported users will be auto registered.
These groups will be helpful in adding multiple 2FA policies on the applications.
miniOrange integrates with various external user sources such as directories, identity providers, and etc.
