Film Tutorial: How to Use User Templates in UCS

With user templates, Univention Corporate Server (UCS) offers a proven instrument to minimize the effort of IT admins. Who doesn’t know these slight doubts: Does the e-mail address of the new intern have the correct syntax? Has the new colleague been added to the right user group? The user templates help to dispel these and similar doubts and create user accounts consistently. This saves time and ensure that no important attributes and settings are forgotten.

UCS 5.0 status update: Beta Release in December 2020

UCS 5.0 Beta Release

Almost exactly one year has passed since the announcement that we are working on UCS 5.0. Since then, we have been very busy and made some important steps towards making UCS a future-proof platform. In December 2020, we intend to make the first results publicly available in a Beta Release. In this article, I would like to give you a first taste of the exciting new features that UCS 5.0 will bring.

LDAP: Last logon timestamp recordings with UCS

In relatively many UCS environments, system administrators have not yet developed consistent processes for detecting, deactivating or deleting inactive user accounts. Over the years, accounts that have not been used for a long time accumulate in the LDAP directory. At Univention, we have developed a new UCS extension on behalf of a customer, which helps to detect such unused accounts. The Lastbind-Overlay-Module and a new Python script detect inactive accounts on LDAP servers, even in large environments with several LDAP instances and distributed system roles.

Cloud Office: Open Source is the better solution

These days, a modern workflow includes fast coordination processes in teams that should also function independently of time and location. For this type of collaboration, it is essential that all team members can edit documents together without conflicts due to different file versions or endless and tiring comment loops. In this article I’d like to show you two examples which represent open source alternatives to cloud office solutions from known software giants.

UCS Samba/AD: How to establish trust with native Microsoft Active Directory domains

Logos von UCS und Windows mit verbindenden Pfeilen

Establishing a trust relationship means giving users of a domain access to the resources of another domain. In some situations this can extend the options for identity management. In the following example, I will refer to the interaction between Samba in UCS and Microsoft Windows. I will explain in detail how a so-called trust relationship can be configured and what the current state of implementation is.

IT expenses and Covid-19: learnings for companies

Dark server room with red covid-19 badge

Throughout the Covid-19 crisis, the IT requirements in many companies, organizations and governments have fundamentally changed as has the awareness for IT. For many organizations, it saw the widespread adoption of remote working policies. Often, these changes were required to be implemented overnight, when government- issued stay-at-home-orders created a new reality. Here is the take from our partners and customers on how efficiency gains, system integration and task delegation have changed their IT environment.

Order from Dataport for Open Source collaboration platform Phoenix

Dataport has commissioned a consortium of partners, consisting of Univention, Bechtle, Fraunhofer and Capgemini with the creation of a web-based collaboration platform building on Open Source products by Univention. This platform is to enable the gradual shift of the software infrastructure used in public administration and education towards Open Source. The goal is to largely replace proprietary software by 2025 and bolster the digital sovereignty of public-sector organisations. The consortium’s partners will be supported by an extensive network of partners within the Open Source community, as well as the private and public sectors. Other established Open Source solutions will be integrated into the platform over the coming months.