Univention Corporate Server 4.3 releases, updated to Debian 9
Univention Corporate Server (UCS) is the free to use, innovative platform to efficiently operate and manage server applications and complete IT infrastructures. UCS is optimally suited for the management of distributed, heterogeneous and virtualized IT environments, no matter whether you deploy Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X or Linux systems. The integrated identity and infrastructure management system allows the secure administration of applications and provision of infrastructure services as well as the central, cross-location and cross-platform management of server and desktop systems via an intuitive web interface. Thanks to open interfaces and easy-to-use connectors, UCS can be effortlessly integrated in existing environments. Via the integrated App Center, it offers a large number of enterprise applications, which can be operated with a few clicks. Extensive Active Directory functions allow both the integration as well as the migration from Microsoft.
Features
- Identity + Infrastructure management
- App Center
- Login services + authentication
- Active Directory services via Samba 4
- Virtualization management
- IP and network administration
- Printer management
- File services
- System management
- Monitoring
- Mail and groupware
- APIs
the UCS team released UCS 4.3 based on Debian 9 Stretch. This version uses the unmodified Linux kernel from Debian, which greatly enhances the compatibility of software and hardware supporting Debian 9. UCS 4.3 also contains the following changes:
Easy-to-administrate portal page: The portal page introduced with the release of UCS 4.2 provides users with access to the most varied of enterprise applications and resources from anywhere and at any time. With UCS 4.3, administrators can structure and administrate this portal simply and intuitively in a Visual Composer mode using the drag and drop feature. Users and groups are shown different content depending on their rights, department, branch, or school. The advantage: Users only see the content and applications that they actually need and for which they have the corresponding access rights. In this way, heterogeneous environments in particular, for example, different schools or branches of the same company, can be supplied with precisely the apps and services they require.
Massive performance improvements: Based on internal tests, the automated LDAP data import under UCS 4.3 runs four times faster than in the past. For example, the import of 65,000 users in one heterogeneous school environment with distributed users belonging to a variety of groups took just a few hours. The subsequent distribution of the users across the different domains also took next to no time thanks to the mounting of Samba 4.7.
Single sign-on (SSO) linked to Kerberos: When users log in to UCS on their Windows or Linux PC, laptop, or mobile end device, they have immediate access to web applications such as Office 365 or ownCloud/Nextcloud. There is no need to sign on again. This is made possible by the linking of the security assertion markup language (SAML) with the Kerberos authentication introduced with UCS 4.3. Practical for administrators: There is no need to sign on to the Univention Management Console (UMC) again.
Debian base updated: UCS 4.3 has been updated to Debian 9 (“Stretch”) and changed over to the standard Debian kernel. The solution, therefore, offers even higher compatibility with applications and expansions developed for or adapted to Debian.
Active Directory Connector for Windows servers up to Version 2016: Administrators can use the UCS tool “Active Directory Connector” for the administration of Windows servers up to Version 2016. If UCS is joined in an Active Directory domain, they can make a wide range of Open Source applications such as ownCloud, Nextcloud, Mattermost, and Kopano available in Windows environments.
The MySQL database has been replaced with MariaDB and Nagios 3 with Nagios 4 as the standard monitoring system.
