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.

Reporting for professionals: Log activities in the UCS LDAP directory service

Many services and processes running in a domain document their activities fully automatically in the background. The log files contain information about users’ logins to the system, installation and uninstallation of software, access to web pages, error messages and other information. Univention Corporate Server (UCS) also creates such reports – either behind the scenes in the form of log files or by using the UCS Admin Diary. You can also obtain ready-made reports as CSV or PDF files via the Univention Management Console or Shell.

In this article, I would like to show you how to create audit-proof log files of the LDAP directory service with Univention Directory Logger. I’d also like to tell you how to obtain a complete overview of the operations in a UCS domain with Admin Diary and how you can evaluate data from the directory service with Univention Directory Reports.

Let’s take the Corona crisis as an opportunity

Together we will change the world written on the pavement with chalk

The Corona crisis has had a huge impact on our society. Office workers had to start working remotely, medical professionals had countless double shifts and delivery companies went into over drive. Winners and losers everywhere – Amazon grew turnover by 25% in the second quarter of 2020, the cloud computing department of Microsoft saw a 47% growth, we all know Zoom barely held it together, spending hundreds of millions on expanding their server farms.