Technical information
125
LDAP Setup and Configuration
LDAP Setup and Configuration
VSI-FAX supports the use of Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directories to retrieve fax recipient (i.e.,
to) information when sending faxes by placing files in the autosend directory. However, before you can send a fax
using LDAP data, you must configure various VSI-FAX settings that control how to connect to the LDAP server and
map the information in the LDAP directory so VSI-FAX knows where to find certain essential fax information (e.g., fax
number, recipient name, etc.) at send time.
Note
Esker does not provide LDAP software. VSI-FAX simply has the capability of connecting to your LDAP server and
retrieving information from your LDAP directory.
Fundamentals
LDAP is an open standard protocol for accessing information services. Essentially, LDAP is a directory service that is
structured and behaves like a database.
LDAP directories are based on client/server models and use regular TCP/IP networking. LDAP servers typically listen
on port 389. Client programs that can access LDAP directories include Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Netscape
Communicator and many others.
LDAP documentation
LDAP is an open standard that is documented in various Request For Comments (RFC) white papers. These RFCs
are available from many sources on the World Wide Web. Currently, the OpenLDAP Foundation.
www.openLDAP.org
is an excellent source of online LDAP documentation.
Basic LDAP structure and organization
LDAP directories contain records. These records contain various attributes, which are used to store information.
Consider the following simplified LDAP record:
dn: Jim Smith, o=Acme Corp.
givenName: Jim
sn: Smith
mail: jsmith@acme.com
c: US
These are the attributes stored in this record:
Attribute Description
c Country
dn Distinguished name. This attribute always stores a unique indentifier for that LDAP record (no two
records in the same LDAP directory can have the same dn value).
givenName Given (first name)
mail Email address
o Organization
sn Surname (last name)