• Home
• App Integrations
• MFA Integrations
• (2FA/MFA) for Ubuntu SSH

---

Ubuntu SSH Two-factor Authentication solution offers a secure way to log into Ubuntu desktops, making it harder for attackers to guess passwords. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA/MFA) adds an extra layer of security, it also lowers the risks for company servers or Ubuntu (Linux) systems. You'll start by entering your usual username and password, and then you'll be asked for a second type of authentication to prove your identity.

miniOrange can connect to the on-premise AD (Active Directory) so that user will use their AD credentials to authenticate themselves. miniOrange Ubuntu 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 SSH access. miniOrange provides 15+ MFA methods for implementing 2FA for various use cases like Ubuntu. It allows IAM users and organizations to set up certain authentication and settings which includes password restrictions, restricting sign-in methods, Google or Microsoft Authenticator, Authy 2-Factor authentication app & miniOrange Authenticator app. You can follow this detailed guide to setup 2FA over Ubuntu.

Checkout details of Linux SSH and local login MFA solution and it's features.

Step by step guide to enable Ubuntu Two-factor Authentication

1. Adding App and Policy for 2FA

• Login into miniOrange Admin Console.
• Go to Apps. Click on Add Application button.



• Select Desktop from All Apps dropdown.



• Click on LINUX/UNIX.



• Add Display Name and click on Save.



• You will be redirected to the Policies section.



• Click on the Assign group button. A new Configure Group Assignment Modal will open.
  • Assign Group: Select the groups you want to link with the application. You can select up to 20 groups at a time.
  
  
  
  • If you need to create new group. Click on Add New Group button.
  • Enter the Group name and click on Create Group.
  
  
  
  • Click on Next.
  • Assign Policies: Add the required policies to the selected groups. Enter the following details:
  • First Factor: Select the login method from the dropdown.
  • If you select Password as the login method, you can enable 2-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Adaptive Authentication, if needed.
  • If you select Password-less as login method, you can enable 2-Factor Authentication (MFA) if needed.



• Click on Save. Policies will be created for all the selected groups.
• Once submitted, the newly added policy will appear in the list.

2. Select 2FA options

• Go to 2-Factor Authentication >> Choose 2FA Options for End User.



• Disable the methods you don’t want your users to configure or use for MFA




Note: Currently miniOrange only supports TOTP Methods (OTP OVER SMS, OTP OVER EMAIL, GOOGLE AUTHENTICATOR, MICROSOFT AUTHENTICATOR, AUTHY AUTHENTICATOR, MINIORANGE OTP , YUBIKEY HARDWARE TOKEN, DISPLAY HARDWARE TOKEN ) for linux MFA.

3. Setup miniOrange 2FA/MFA Provider for Linux Ubuntu

• Download the miniOrange MFA Deb package from here.
• Give execute permissions to the downloaded DEB file using the following command:
chmod a+x miniorange-mfa.deb




• Run the following command to install the miniOrange MFA package:
sudo dpkg -i miniorange-mfa.deb





Option	Description
--install	Install miniorange mfa module on the machine
--uninstall	Uninstall miniorange mfa module from the machine
-e	Edit miniorange configuration file
-d	Display the content of miniorange configuration file
--enable_ssh	Enable miniOrange MFA for SSH login
--disable_ssh	Disable miniOrange MFA for SSH login
-e	Edit miniorange configuration file
-d	Display the content of miniorange configuration file
--test <gdm-password|sshd|> <username>	Test miniOrange mfa
--enable_ssh	Enable miniOrange mfa for specified service
--disable_ssh	Disable miniOrange mfa for specified service
--enable_pl	Enable Passwordless Authentication for service
--disable_pl	Disable Passwordless Authentication for service
--check	Troubleshoot
--use-alias <yes/no>	Use GCEOS field for miniOrange mfa
--use-proxy <yes/no>	Use Proxy URL
--change-auth-source	Change authentication source (cloud/local)
--upgrade	Check for updates for miniOrange MFA
--set-tmp-dir <path>	Set MO_TEMP_DIR for build directory
-v, --verbose	Print logs to terminal instead of file



• To start the 2FA configuration, run the following command:
sudo miniorange-mfa --install




• During the configuration, you will be prompted to enter some details:
• Log in to your miniOrange admin account on Cloud or On-Premise.
• Click on the Settings icon in the top right corner.



• Copy the Customer Key and API key.



• Navigate to the Apps section from the left side menu and copy the name of the Linux application you created in step 1.



• Paste these details into the terminal when prompted 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.



• Testing MFA Configuration:
• Test UI Login: Use the command below to test the MFA for the UI login (GDM):
miniorange-mfa --test login <username>




• Test SSH Login: Use the command below to test the MFA for SSH login:
miniorange-mfa --test sshd <username>




• Troubleshooting Issues: If you encounter issues while testing the MFA, use the command below to troubleshoot:
miniorange-mfa --check

4. Test Multi-Factor Solution for linux Ubuntu

• MFA module is successfully configured, you are now able to login on the Linux Desktop with an MFA.



• If you enter the correct password it should prompt for the OTP.



• MFA is prompted after successful password authentication when logging in via SSH.



• Passwordless Enable :
• Enable Passwordless MFA: Enable login without password using configured MFA methods.
miniorange-mfa --enable_pl <service_name>



miniorange-mfa --disable_pl <service_name>




• Change Authentication Source (Cloud / Local) :

Allows switching between miniOrange cloud authentication and local system authentication for user login.

miniorange-mfa --change-auth-source




• Verbose Logging (Debug Mode) :
• Displays detailed logs during installation or execution. This is useful for troubleshooting configuration or installation issues.
miniorange-mfa --install -v

OR

miniorange-mfa --install --verbose


• View miniOrange MFA Manual :

Displays the manual page for all available miniOrange MFA commands and options.

man miniorange-mfa

5. 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.

• Setup miniOrange as IDP
• Setup AD as User Directory
• Setup External IDP

• To add your users in miniOrange there are 2 ways:
• Create User in miniOrange
• Bulk Upload Users

1. Create User in miniOrange

• Click on Users >> User List >> Add User.



• 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 Identity Providers >> Add Identity Provider in the left menu of the dashboard



• In Choose Identity Provider, select AD/LDAP Directories from the dropdown.



• Then search for AD/LDAP and click it.



• STORE LDAP CONFIGURATION IN MINIORANGE: Choose this option if you want to keep your configuration in miniOrange. If the 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 on your premise.




• Enter AD/LDAP Display Name and Identifier name.
• Select Directory Type as Active Directory.
• Enter the LDAP Server URL or IP Address against the LDAP Server URL field.
• Click on the 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 the Distinguished Name attribute. The bind account should have minimum required read privileges in Active Directory to allow directory lookups. If the use case involves provisioning (such as creating, updating, or deleting users or groups), the account must also be granted appropriate write permissions.



• Enter the valid Bind account Password.
• Click on the 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.



• Click on the Next button, or go to the Login Options tab.
• You can also configure following options while setting up AD. Enable Activate LDAP in order to authenticate users from AD/LDAP. Click on the Next 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
Fallback Authentication	If LDAP credentials fail then user will be authenticated through miniOrange
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
Sync users in miniOrange	Users will be created in miniOrange after authentication with LDAP



• Click on the Next button, or go to the Attributes tab.

Attributes Mapping from AD

• By default userName, firstName, lastName, email are configured. Scroll down and click on Save button. To fetch additional attributes from Active Directory, enable Send Configured Attributes. On the left side, enter the name that you wish to release to the applications. On the right side, enter the attribute name from Active Directory. E.g., if you wish to fetch company attribute from Active Directory, and send it as organization to configured applications, enter the following:

  Attribute Name sent to SP = organization
  Attribute Name from IDP = company






• Click on the Next button, or go to the Provisioning tab.

User Import and Provisioning from AD

• If you want to set up provisioning, click here for detailed information. We will skip this step for now.

Import Password Policy from AD

• If you want to import your Active Directory password policy into miniOrange, click here for detailed information. We will skip this step for now.

Test Connections

• You will see a list of directories under Identity Providers. From the dropdown, select AD/LDAP Directories, search for your configured directory, click the three dots next to it, and select Test Connection.



• A pop-up appears prompting you to enter a username and password to verify your LDAP configuration.



• On Successful connection with LDAP Server, a success message is shown.

Test Attribute Mapping

• You will see a list of directories under Identity Providers. From the dropdown, select AD/LDAP Directories, search for your configured directory, click the three dots next to it, and select Test Attribute Mapping.



• A pop‑up appears to enter a username and click Test.



• The Test Attribute Mapping Result will be displayed.

Set up AD as External Directory configuration is complete.

Note: Refer our guide to setup LDAP on windows server.

miniOrange integrates with various external user sources such as directories, identity providers, and etc.

• Okta
• ADFS
• Ping
• AWS Cognito
• Many more

Not able to find your IdP or Need help setting it up?

Contact us or email us at idpsupport@xecurify.com and we'll help you setting it up in no time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Further References

• What is Multi factor authentication (2FA/MFA)?
• Setup MFA for Windows Logon and RDP
• Setup Linux MFA for SSH authentication
• Setup MFA for RD Gateway
• What is Adaptive Authentication and Adaptive MFA?