Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an industry standard access method to directory services. A directory service is a repository of resource information about multiple systems and services within a distributed environment; and it provides client and server access to these resources. Each database server instance will publish its existence to an LDAP server and provide database information to the LDAP directory when the databases are created. When a client connects to a database, the catalog information for the server can be retrieved from the LDAP directory. Each client is no longer required to store catalog information locally on each machine. Client applications search the LDAP directory for information required to connect to the database.
LDAP is not a prerequisite for running DB2, but if you are operating in an LDAP environment, see Appendix Q, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) Directory Services for more information.