• Configuration and access control
• Distributed directories; replication and referral
• Using OpenLDAP to replace NIS
• Using OpenLDAP to manage email configurations
• Using LDAP for abstraction with FTP and HTTP servers, Samba, and Radius
• Interoperating with different LDAP servers, including Active Directory
• Programming using Net::LDAP

Since directory services aren't widely understood, this book begins by defining them and explaining what they can do for an organization. The guide then gets into the specifics of how LDAP organizes directories and handles queries. The authors go to great lengths to talk about what information to put in directories, how to validate and maintain it, and how to manage access to it. There's also lots of material on initiating LDAP services and on troubleshooting.

The aft part of this book holds special appeal for software developers, since it talks extensively about how to implement LDAP in both new and existing software. Throughout, the authors pay special attention to data redundancy, security, privacy, and the economic issues involved in an LDAP deployment. The book's real-world focus is cemented by case studies (both historical and semifictional). --David Wall --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description
In the past decade, LDAP directories have risen from a relatively obscure offshoot of an equally obscure field to become one of the linchpins of modern computing. Increasingly, LDAP directories are becoming the nerve center of an organization's computing infrastructure, providing naming, location, management, security, and other services that have traditionally been provided by network operating systems. Design and deployment of a successful LDAP directory service can be complex and challenging, yet little information is available explaining the ins and outs of this important task. When two of us (Mark and Tim) finished writing a previous book, LDAP: programming Directory-Enabled Applications with Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, in early 1997, we soon realized there was another, much bigger piece of the directory puzzle still to be addressed. The previous book was aimed at directory application programmers, but nothing similar was available to address the needs of directory decision makers, designers, and administrators. This book is aimed at that audience. Recognizing the size of the task ahead of us and remembering the joys of giving up evenings and weekends for months at a time to meet deadlines for our first book, we quickly decided to expand our team. Just as quickly, we decided there was no one we'd rather share the fun with than our longtime friend and colleague, Gordon Good, at the time a senior directory developer at Netscape. Aside from being the third leg of the LDAP development team at the University of Michigan (U-M), Gordon brought a wealth of system administration experience from his past life as a directory and e-mail administrator and Web master for U-M. With Gordon on board, the three of us set about writing a book that we only half-jokingly referred to as the "LDAP Bible." The first edition of Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services was published in 1999. Two years later, we realized that it was time to update this book and publish a second edition. LDAPv3 work in the IETF was mostly complete. Numerous extensions to the basic LDAP protocol were being developed. LDAP support in commercial and open-source software was widespread. In this edition, we cover these recent directory services developments. In addition, in response to reader suggestions we have streamlined the text, added more hands-on examples, updated the examples to reflect currently available software versions, and updated the case studies to reflect current directory practice. We thank all the readers of the first edition who provided helpful suggestions, and we hope that you find this second edition even more valuable. The Book's Organization This book includes 26 chapters in 6 parts. Part I introduces directories and LDAP. Parts II through IV each address a different part of the directory life cycle. Part V discusses how to leverage your directory service after it's up and running. Finally, Part VI presents three directory services deployment case studies. Part I, Introduction to Directory Services and LDAP, provides a comprehensive introduction to directories and LDAP. For readers unfamiliar with the topic, this section should bring them up to speed and provide the background necessary to understand the rest of the book. It also includes a section on the history of directories for readers interested in how all this technology came about. Part II, Designing Your Directory Service, begins to delve into the directory life cycle by covering the first, and in many ways most important, phase: design. We cover all aspects of directory design, from determining your needs, to designing your data sources, schema, namespace, topology, replication, and finally privacy and security. Part III, Deploying Your Directory Service, covers the next phase in the directory life cycle: deployment. We cover everything from choosing the right directory products to piloting your service to putting your service into production. We've also included a chapter about analyzing the cost of your service and how to help reduce those costs. Part IV, Maintaining Your Directory Service, concludes our coverage of the directory life cycle with a look at the maintenance phase. We cover such topics as backups and disaster recovery, maintaining data, monitoring your directory system, and troubleshooting problems when they occur. Part V, Leveraging Your Directory Service, talks about how to take advantage of the service you have designed and deployed. We discuss how to directory-enable existing applications, how to create new applications that use the directory, and how your directory can coexist with other data sources. Part VI, Case Studies, closes the book by presenting several directory case studies. Some of the case studies presented are real, and some are fictitious, but all are designed to illustrate the concepts of directory design, deployment, and maintenance in action. The Book's Audience This book is intended for primarily three kinds of readers: decision makers, architects, and administrators. In addition, anyone who wants to know more about LDAP or directories in general will find the book useful, as will software engineers who develop directory applications. Directory decision makers will find this book useful for aiding an understanding of directories and the kinds of business problems they help solve. Decision makers will find Part I useful for explaining the basics of directories. Part VI should also prove useful by providing some realistic examples of how directories are used and the benefits they can bring. Directory architects will find this book useful in defining the design problem and providing a methodology for producing a comprehensive directory design. The design methodology is focused on a practical approach to design based on real-world requirements. We highly recommend that directory architects and designers read the whole book, paying special attention to Parts II, III, and IV. A good directory design results in large part from a clear understanding of the other aspects of the directory life cycle and how the directory will be used. Directory administrators will find Part IV especially useful. It focuses on the maintenance phase of the directory life cycle, where administrators spend much of their lives. We also highly recommend that administrators read the rest of the book to get an idea of the directory big picture, as well as to understand some of the directory design decisions that are bound to make their lives either miserable or enjoyable. Other interested readers can pick and choose from the sections of the book that interest them. We encourage all readers to at least skim Part I, to ensure that they have the background required to benefit from the rest of the book. We've tried to structure the book so that each chapter stands by itself as much as possible. Readers should be able to read the chapters covering topics that interest them, without wading through chapters of less interest. Finally, we think all readers will find the case studies presented in Part VI interesting. They give different perspectives on directories designed to illustrate the trade-offs that different directory needs imply. Contacting Us If you have comments or suggestions about this book, or if you'd like to tell us about an interesting directory deployment or application you've developed, we'd like to hear from you. Feel free to drop us a line at the following addresses: Tim Howes:[a href="mailto:howes@opsware.com" id="howes@opsware.com">howes@opsware.com Mark Smith:mark@bradesmith.com Gordon Good:ggood@opsware.com We'll try our best to get back to you, but keep in mind that we all have day jobs! 0672323168P04142003

LDAP in the Solaris Operating Environment

Deploying Secure Directory Services

• Provides an in-depth discussion of Solaris Operating Environment security methods and how they relate to LDAP as a naming service

• Covers migration planning tips from NIS/NIS+ to an LDAP-based naming service including capacity planning

• Presents an overview of LDAP tools and toolkits, and how they are used to administer LDAP as a naming service

• Discusses performance principles and benchmarking techniques for optimizing directory server performance

LDAP in the Solaris Operating Environment is a follow-on to the Sun BluePrints book Solaris and LDAP Naming Services, and describes the significant improvements to the Solaris LDAP client and directory server. Deploying the Solaris Secured LDAP Client is covered in detail. This Sun BluePrints book introduces NIS/NIS+ migration tools and techniques to aid in the transition to an LDAP-based naming service. Troubleshooting tips, examples of extending Solaris authentication methods, and examples of extending Solaris authentication methods using the Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) framework are provided.

There's a nice balance in this text among the background and theory of Internet directories and the many useful sample programs that show LDAP and Java in action. After outlining the development of the LDAP standard, this text gives you concise examples of using Internet directories for such applications as phone books, organizational charts, storing photo IDs centrally, and even providing "location transparency" for user preferences. (This capability allows users to access personalized settings from anywhere on a network.) Other standout material includes security and authentication, including some good detail on signing JAR files for both Netscape and Internet Explorer Web browsers.

This book also provides working sample code for combining LDAP with a variety of Java and Internet APIs such as applets, JavaScript, JavaBeans, and servlets. The working source code is clearly explained, and the authors do a fine job of describing essential programming strategies like authentication and LDAP searching. Filled with practical Java source code and tips, LDAP programming with Java is an up-to-the-minute resource on using Internet directories to improve software in the enterprise. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction to the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP); history and advantages of Internet directories; the X.500 standard; installing and using the Directory SDK for Java; command-line LDAP; LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF); Distinguished Names (DNs); LDAP searching options; filters and attributes; LDAP authentication techniques; adding, updating, and deleting directory entries; groups; access control lists; using the Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL); using LDAP with applets and JavaScript; JAR signing; LDAP and JavaBeans; location transparency with LDAP; storing organizational structures; pictures and user preferences; LDAP and servlets; options and constraints; LDAP URLs; managing schemas; LDAP controls and referrals; extended operations.

Book Description
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is now a staple of enterprise and Internet software environments. Those involved in Internet development where Java(tm) technology is prominent or in Enterprise Information Systems, will need to understand how to use Java technology - and in particular the Directory SDK for Java - to unlock the power of LDAP.

Written by the designer of the Directory SDK for Java and by a leading implementor of directory-based solutions, LDAP programming with Java(tm) is the first accurate, concise, and complete guide on how to access LDAP from Java applications. Assuming familiarity with Java programming, the book provides a comprehensive discussion on LDAP, from basic directory concepts through the most advanced techniques. It collects in one convenient resource the many innovative and experienced-based techniques and approaches programmers have discovered to use the Directory SDK to solve LDAP Access challenges.

If you are new to LDAP, you will find helpful background on the role of directories in today's software systems; LDAP methods of storing, accessing, searching, and updating data; and how the Directory SDK for Java helps applications gain access to an LDAP server. Once you have become proficient with the essential concepts and techniques, you can read in depth about authentication, LDAP and JavaScript, working with JavaBeans(tm) for reusable LDAP components, expressing data relationships in a directory, and other advanced LDAP subjects.

Specific topics covered include:

* The LDAP naming and information models * The command-line tools of the SDK * Authentication with a DN password, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), and Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) * Configuring access control * Writing LDAP applets for a browser * Accessing the SDK from JavaScript * Storing Configuration and preferences in a directory * Encapsulating LDAP functionality in a JavaBean * Using LDAP in Java servlets * LDAP URLs * Multiple threads and multiple connections * Referrals and replicated systems * LDAP controls * Synchronous and asynchronous operations * Performance tips

The book also presents numerous examples, from simple code snippets to complete components and applications. The companion CD contains the entire book in searchable format, source code for the Directory SDK, and all of the examples from the book.

This book is recommended for both educational as well as personal libraries. Both novice and trained professionals in the field will find something useful in this book.
- E-Streams

Book Description
The ABCs of LDAP: How to Install, Run, and Administer LDAP Services delivers the theoretical background needed to understand how these servers work, resulting in clear, concise examples of implementations in both commercial and OpenLDAP environments. topics include an examination of major LDAP APIs, such as PHP, Perl, and Java, as well as distributed command line tools. The book covers ways to integrate LDAP into existing systems, and provides hands-on examples within working implementations.Users also benefit from a concise overview of how to design a directory, preparing you to execute directory deployments for email, PKI, DNS, and NIS servers.