A Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server is available as part of i5/OS® in the product Directory Services for i5/OS. The server provides a network directory which can be accessed by network clients using the LDAP protocol. LDAP defines the transport and format of messages used by a client to access data in an X.500-like directory. Although LDAP does not define the directory service itself, a directory accessed using LDAP is typically called an LDAP directory.
The directory server allows access to a type of database that stores information in a hierarchical structure similar to the way that the i5/OS integrated file system is organized. The LDAP directory server model is based on entries which consist of one or more attributes, such as a name or address, and a type. These attributes typically consist of mnemonic strings, such as cn for common name or mail for e-mail address. Refer to the example below to see how entries are stored in LDAP.
LDAP must be configured on an i5/OS system to configure EIM. EIM configuration information is stored in an LDAP directory. These are the basic steps for installing and configuring LDAP. See "Networking > TCP/IP applications, protocols and services > Directory Services (LDAP)" in the i5/OS Information Center for more details on working with LDAP. Note that although you can use LDAP on other operating systems, these steps describe configuration for i5/OS systems only.
The directory server is installed with i5/OS using a default configuration. To re-configure the directory server, you must have *ALLOBJ and *IOSYSCFG authorities. To configure LDAP:
dn: cn=John S. Day, ou=Rochester, o=Big Company, c=US objectclass: top objectclass: person objectclass: organizationalPerson cn: John Day sn: Day uid: johnday telephonenumber: +1 408 555 1212 description: A big sailing fan. dn: cn=Bjorn Jensen, ou=Rochester, o=Big Company, c=US objectclass: top objectclass: person objectclass: organizationalPerson cn: Bjorn Jensen sn: Jensen uid: bjenson telephonenumber: +1 408 555 1212 description:Babs is a big sailing fan, and travels extensively in search of perfect sailing conditions. title:Product Manager, Rod and Reel Division
For more information on adding LDAP entries, see "Networking > TCP/IP applications, protocols and services > Directory Services (LDAP)" in the i5/OS Information Center.