Editing Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (section)

{{short description|Network protocol supporting distributed directory information services}}
{{Infobox networking protocol
| is stack   = no
| purpose    = [[Directory service]]
| based on   = [[X.500]]
| ports      = 389 (ldap), 636 (ldaps)
| rfcs       = RFC 4510, RFC 4511
}}
{{IPstack}}
The '''Lightweight Directory Access Protocol''' ('''LDAP''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|l|d|æ|p}}) is an open, vendor-neutral, industry standard [[application protocol]] for accessing and maintaining distributed [[Directory service|directory information services]] over an [[Internet Protocol]] (IP) network.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tools.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4511.txt |title=Network Working Group RFC 4511 |publisher=IETF.org |date=2006-06-01|access-date=2014-04-04}}</ref> [[Directory service]]s play an important role in developing [[intranet]] and Internet applications by allowing the sharing of information about users, systems, networks, services, and applications throughout the network.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://docs.oracle.com/cd/A87860_01/doc/ois.817/a83729/adois09.htm |title=Directory Services LDAP |publisher=Oracle.com |access-date=2014-04-04}}</ref>  As examples, directory services may provide any organized set of records, often with a hierarchical structure, such as a corporate [[email]] directory.  Similarly, a [[telephone directory]] is a list of subscribers with an address and a phone number.

LDAP is specified in a series of [[Internet Engineering Task Force]] (IETF) Standard Track publications known as [[Request for Comments]] (RFCs), using the description language [[ASN.1]]. The latest specification is Version 3, published as [https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4511 RFC 4511]<ref name="gracion">[http://www.gracion.com/server/whatldap.html What is LDAP?]. Gracion.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-17.</ref> (a road map to the technical specifications is provided by [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4510 RFC4510]).

A common use of LDAP is to provide a central place to store usernames and passwords. This allows many different applications and services to connect to the LDAP server to validate users.<ref>{{cite web|title=Introduction to OpenLDAP Directory Services|url=http://www.openldap.org/doc/admin24/intro.html|website=OpenLDAP|access-date=1 February 2016}}</ref>

LDAP is a simpler ("lightweight") subset of the standards in the [[X.500|X.500 series]], particularly the X.511 [[Directory Access Protocol]].{{ref RFC|4511|quote=The core protocol operations defined in this document can be mapped to a subset of the X.500 (1993) Directory Abstract Service [X.511]. However, there is not a one-to-one mapping between LDAP operations and X.500 Directory Access Protocol (DAP) operations.}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/security/what-is-ldap-authentication |title=What is lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) authentication? |publisher=[[Red Hat]] |date=3 June 2022}}</ref>  Because of this relationship, LDAP is sometimes called ''X.500 Lite''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/L/LDAP.html |title=LDAP - Lightweight Directory Access Protocol |date=4 December 1996 |publisher=Webopedia.com |access-date=2014-04-05}}</ref>