Connecting to an LDAP server

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an identity management protocol organizing individuals, organizations, resources, and the roles and access of those entities, organized locally, in the intranet or in the internet. Many LDAP servers are available for download and install and are free and open source, including the OpenLDAP and Apache Directory.

Getting ready

For those who like to try an LDAP instance without actually going through the hassle of installing the server, there are a few open and public LDAP servers available online. Some of them offer write access, for example, FreeIPA (https://www.freeipa.org/page/Main_Page). FreeIPA is an integrated security information management solution that offers an online demo installation for testing purposes at https://ipa.demo1.freeipa.org/ipa/ui/. We will use it for our recipes. As with any public server with write access, FreeIPA server needs to be cleaned up daily. During these hours, it goes offline. The...