LDAP in the Solaris Operating Environment[c] Deploying Secure Directory Services

A great deal of progress in Solaris OE directory service technology has occurred since Solaris and LDAP Naming Services was published in December of 2000. More enhancements are on the way. This technology area is anything but static, which makes writing a meaningful yet timely book challenging. Because of the number of improvements over the past two years and imminent introduction of even more, we felt this was a good time to publish a follow-up book.

The Solaris 9 Operating Environment delivers the second phase of Sun's vision for the naming service of the future. Included in this release are technologies to securely access an LDAP server from a Solaris OE client and NIS+-to-LDAP migration tools. The LDAP installation and configuration process has also been greatly simplified.

Besides enhancements to Solaris OE naming services, early access to emerging technologies is available. A Directory Service-Markup Language version 2 (DSMLv2) interface is provided with the Sun ONE Directory Server 5.2 software. The Sun ONE Identity Synchronization for the Windows technology allows users to log in to both Solaris OE and Windows operating environments with the same user name and password. The NIS-to-LDAP transition service provides a way to begin your LDAP transition without disrupting Network Information Services (NIS) client software.

The Solaris OE authentication framework has been enhanced in Solaris 9 OE to allow incorporation of company-specific security policies. Tools and toolkits based on Java technology are available for creating your own customized LDAP management tools.

Drawing on personal experience with early adopters of Solaris OE LDAP naming services, common issues are addressed, as well as the following frequently asked questions:

• What new features does the Solaris 9 and Solaris 8 OE backport client have?

• How do I best deploy these new features?

• What LDAP technologies will be available in the future that might influence my deployment strategy today?

• How do I add functionality to meet my corporate requirements?

• What tools are available for managing LDAP directory data and what are the best practices for their usage?

• How do I integrate Sun's LDAP technology with Active Directory?

These are typical questions asked by IT architects who must define an enterprise-wide LDAP infrastructure, system programmers who need to perform customization, and system administrators who need to develop procedures for deploying and managing LDAP technology.