Require libpam-ldap support without python2 installed (python3 only) in 18.04 bionic

[bugproxy]

Secure Service Container (SSC) exploiter zOS Container Extensions (zCX) requires LDAP services from packages ldap-auth-client, libpam-ldap, ldap-auth-config and libnss-ldap.

SSC is no longer allowed to ship/support python2 runtime environment.
Current Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic package
  libpam-ldap 186-4ubuntu1 Depends on
  ldap-auth-config 0.5.3 which then Pre-Depends on
  auth-client-config 0.9ubuntu1 which Depends on
  python (which is python2)

This fails installation in python3 (only) environment.
Need to be able to install libpam-ldap without python2 (as can be done in Ubuntu 20.04)

SSC needs Canonical support to provide required LDAP services without python2, as is does in 20.04

[Steve Langasek (vorlon)]

I'm sorry, but changing the interpreter of a program from python to python3 in a stable release is incompatible with our Stable Release Updates policy. It incurs risk to the stability of the software without conferring benefit to the users.

Requiring python3 instead of python2 is in general something we are supportive of, but please note that in Ubuntu 18.04, python2 was shipped in main and is covered with security support from Canonical for the same duration as all other software in main.

[Dimitri John Ledkov (xnox)]

Why do you say that you cannot use python2 on 18.04 LTS?

Canonical and Ubuntu provide security support of python2 in 18.04 for the lifetime of the 18.04 LTS release and its extended support maintenance timeframe.

You should have no concerns in using python2 on 18.04 LTS for SSC. Is this something that needs to be clarified in the regular sync calls?

Also do you still need to use 18.04 LTS, or can you migrate to 20.04 LTS? (I guess it depends on other, external to Ubuntu factors)

[bugproxy (bugproxy)]

------- Comment From <email address hidden> 2020-09-14 05:53 EDT-------
IBM Buzgilla status->closed, will not be fixed by Canonical