More and more products are being written LDAP-aware in order to utilize its capabilities. Security products tend to be leading the way with the need to distribute information such as security keys used in encryption software. The mechanism used to distribute the keys is often a directory server. In this chapter, we went through a simple step-by-step cookbook in order to get a basic LDAP configuration up and running. What we were attempting to do was to introduce the concept of LDAP as well as make us aware of the steps required to get the software up and running. In addition, we used the LDAP-UX Client Services software to utilize the user information stored in the directory. At its heart, this software wants to store user details in the directory server. We have demonstrated that this is possible. LDAP set out to be a lightweight protocol to allow disparate applications access to corporate-wide information. It achieves this goal and looks like to be a dominant force in the marketplace . With more and more vendors signing up to have LDAP-aware products and features in their operating systems, we can even see the day when interoperability will be a feature we take for granted instead of the current state of affairs where interoperability between vendors is seldom seen and seldom works effectively. Keep you eyes trained on LDAP; it might just fundamentally change the way we work.
