Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

To understand Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) you must first understand directory services. This article defines directory services and how LDAP structures the entries in a directory service. Pay attention to the basic LDAP components such as attributes, entries, and data information trees (DITs). How does LDAP organize data, and what is LDAP inheritance? Note that there are some variations in LDAP protocols.

What is LDAP?

LDAP, or lightweight directory access protocol, is a communications protocol that defines the methods in which a directory service can be accessed. More broadly speaking, LDAP shapes the way that the data within a directory service should be represented to users, defines requirements for the components used to create data entries within a directory service, and outlines the way that different primitive elements are used to compose entries.

Since LDAP is an open protocol, there are many different implementations available. The OpenLDAP project is one of the most well supported open source variants.