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Posts Tagged ‘Lightweight Directory Access Protocol’

OpenDJ and the Fine Art of Impersonation

March 28, 2015 Leave a comment

 

Directory servers are often used in multi-tier applications to store user profiles, preferences, or other information useful to the application.  Oftentimes the web application includes an administrative console to assist in the management of that data; allowing operations such as user creation or password reset.  Multi-tier environments pose a challenge, however, as it is difficult to determine the identity of the user that actually performed the operation as opposed to the user that simply showed up in the log file(s).

Consider the relationship between the user logging in to the web application and the interaction between the web application and a directory server such as OpenDJ.

 

multi-Tier

 

There are two general approaches that many web applications follow when performing actions against the directory server; I will refer to these as Application Access and User Access.  In both scenarios, the user must first log in to the web application.  Their credentials may be validated directly against the directory server (using local authentication) or they may be accessing the web application using single sign-on.  In either pattern, the user must first prove his identity to the web application before they are allowed to perform administrative tasks.  The differences become apparent post authentication and can be found in the manner in which the web application integrates with the directory server to perform subsequent administrative tasks.

 

Note:  The following assumes that you are already familiar with OpenDJ access control.  If this is not the case, then it is highly advisable that you review the following:  OpenDJ Access Control Explained.

 

Approach 1:  Application Access

 

In the case of the Application Access approach all operations against the directory server are performed as an application owner account configured in the directory server.  This account typically has a superset of privileges required by all Web Application administrators in order to perform the tasks required of those users.  In this scenario, the Web Application binds to the directory server using its Web Application service account and performs the operation.  A quick look in the directory server log files demonstrates that all operations coming from the Web Application are performed by the service account and not the user who logged in to the Web Application.

 

[27/Mar/2015:16:37:40 +0000] BIND REQ conn=2053 op=0 msgID=1 version=3 type=SIMPLE dn=”uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com

[27/Mar/2015:16:37:40 +0000] BIND RES conn=2053 op=0 msgID=1 result=0 authDN=”uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com” etime=1

[27/Mar/2015:16:37:40 +0000] SEARCH REQ conn=2053 op=1 msgID=2 base=”ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” scope=wholeSubtree filter=”(l=Tampa)” attrs=”ALL”

[27/Mar/2015:16:37:40 +0000] SEARCH RES conn=2053 op=1 msgID=2 result=0 nentries=69 etime=2

 

While easiest to configure, one drawback to this approach is that you need to reconcile the directory server log files with the Web Application log files in order to determine the identity of the user performing the action.  This makes debugging more difficult.  Not all administrators have the same access rights; so another problem with this approach is that entitlements must be maintained and/or recognized in the Web Application and associated with Web Application users.  This increases complexity in the Web Application as those relationships must be maintained in yet another database.  Finally, some security officers may find this approach to be insecure as the entry appearing in the log files is not indicative of the user performing the actual operation.

 

Approach 2:  User Access

 

The User Access approach is an alternative where the Web Application impersonates the user when performing operations.  Instead of the Web Application binding with a general service account, it takes the credentials provided by the user, crafts a user-specific distinguished name, and then binds to the directory server with those credentials.  This approach allows you to manage access control in the directory server and the logs reflect the identity of the user that performed the operation.

 

[27/Mar/2015:17:01:01 +0000] BIND REQ conn=2059 op=0 msgID=1 version=3 type=SIMPLE dn=”uid=bnelson,ou=Administators,dc=example,dc=com

[27/Mar/2015:17:01:01 +0000] BIND RES conn=2059 op=0 msgID=1 result=0 authDN=” uid=bnelson,ou=Administators,dc=example,dc=com ” etime=1

[27/Mar/2015:17:40:40 +0000] SEARCH REQ conn=2059 op=1 msgID=2 base=”ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” scope=wholeSubtree filter=”(l=Tampa)” attrs=”ALL”

[27/Mar/2015:17:40:40 +0000] SEARCH RES conn=2059 op=1 msgID=2 result=0 nentries=69 etime=2

 

A benefit to this approach is that entitlements can be maintained in the directory server, itself.  This reduces the complexity of the application, but requires that you configure appropriate access controls for each user.  This can easily be performed at the group level, however, and even dynamically configured based on user attributes.  A drawback to this approach is that the Web Application is acting as if they are the user – which they are not.  The Browser is essentially the user and the Browser is not connecting directly to the directory server.  So while the log files may reflect the user, they are somewhat misleading as the connection will always be from the Web Application.  The other problem with this approach is the user’s credentials must be cached within the Web Application in order to perform subsequent operations against the directory server.  One could argue that you could simply keep the connection between the Web Application and the directory server open, and that is certainly an option, but you would need to keep it open for the user’s entire session to prevent them from having to re-authenticate.  This could lead to performance problems if you have extended session durations, a large number of administrative users, or a number of concurrent sessions by each administrative user.

 

Proxy Control – The Hybrid Approach

 

There are both benefits and drawbacks to each of the previously mentioned approaches, but I would like to offer up an alternative proxy-based approach that is essentially a hybrid between the two.  RFC 4370 defines a proxied authorization control (2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.18) that allows a client (i.e. the Web Application) to request the directory server (i.e. OpenDJ) to perform an operation not based on the access control granted to the client, but based on another identity (i.e. the person logging in to the Web Application).

The proxied authorization control requires a client to bind to the directory server as themselves, but it allows them to impersonate another entry for a specific operation.  This control can be used in situations where the application is trusted, but they need to perform operations on behalf of different users.  The fact that the client is binding to the directory server eliminates the need to cache the user’s credentials (or re-authenticate for each operation).  The fact that access is being determined based on that of the impersonated user means that you can centralize entitlements in the directory server and grant access based on security groups.  This is essentially the best of both worlds and keeps a smile on the face of your security officer (as if that were possible).

So how do you configure proxy authorization?  I am glad you asked.

 

Configuring Proxied Access

 

Before configuring proxied access, let’s return to the example of performing a search based on Application Access.  The following is an example of a command line search that can be used to retrieve information from an OpenDJ server.  The search operation uses the bindDN and password of the WebApp1 service account.

 

./ldapsearch -h localhost -D “uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com ” -w password -b “ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” “l=Tampa”

 

The response to this search would include all entries that matched the filter (l=Tampa) beneath the container (ou=People).  My directory server has been configured with 69 entries that match this search and as such, the OpenDJ access log would contain the following entries:

 

[27/Mar/2015:16:37:40 +0000] SEARCH REQ conn=2053 op=1 msgID=2 base=”ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” scope=wholeSubtree filter=”(l=Tampa)” attrs=”ALL”

[27/Mar/2015:16:37:40 +0000] SEARCH RES conn=2053 op=1 msgID=2 result=0 nentries=69 etime=2

 

As previously mentioned, these are the results you would expect to see if the search was performed as the WebApp1 user.  So how can you perform a search impersonating another user?  The answer lies in the parameters used in the search operation.  The LDAP API supports a proxied search, you just need to determine how to access this functionality in your own LDAP client.

 

Note: I am using ldapsearch as the LDAP client for demonstration purposes.  This is a command line tool that is included with the OpenDJ distribution.  If you are developing a web application to act as the LDAP client, then you would need to determine how to access this functionality within your own development framework.

 

The OpenDJ search command includes a parameter that allows you to use the proxy authorization control.   Type ./ldapsearch –help to see the options for the ldapsearch command and look for the -Y or –proxyAs parameter as follows.

 

proxyAs

 

Now perform the search again, but this time include the proxy control (without making any changes to the OpenDJ server).  You will be binding as the WebApp1 account, but using the -Y option to instruct OpenDJ to evaluate ACIs based on the following user:  uid=bnelson,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com.

 

./ldapsearch -h localhost -D “uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com” -w password –Y “uid=bnelson,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” -b “ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” “l=Tampa”

 

You should see the following response:

 

SEARCH operation failed

Result Code:  123 (Authorization Denied)

Additional Information:  You do not have sufficient privileges to use the proxied authorization control  The request control with Object Identifier (OID) “2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.18” cannot be used due to insufficient access rights

 

The corresponding entries in OpenDJ’s access log would be as follows:

 

[27/Mar/2015:10:47:18 +0000] SEARCH REQ conn=787094 op=1 msgID=2 base=”ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” scope=wholeSubtree filter=”(l=Tampa)” attrs=”ALL”

[27/Mar/2015:10:47:18 +0000] SEARCH RES conn=787094 op=1 msgID=2 result=123 message=”You do not have sufficient privileges to use the proxied authorization control  You do not have sufficient privileges to use the proxied authorization control” nentries=0 etime=1

 

The key phrase in these messages is the following:

 

You do not have sufficient privileges to use the proxied authorization control

 

The key word in that phrase is “privileges” as highlighted above; the WebApp1 service account does not have the appropriate privileges to perform a proxied search and as such, the search operation is rejected.  The first step in configuring proxied access control is to grant proxy privileges to the Application Account.

 

Step 1:  Grant Proxy Privileges to the Application Account

 

The first step in allowing the WebApp1 service account to perform a proxied search is to give that account the proxied-auth privilege.  You can use the ldapmodify utility to perform this action as follows:

 

 ./ldapmodify -D “cn=Directory Manager” -w password

dn: uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com

changetype: modify

add: ds-privilege-name

ds-privilege-name: proxied-auth

Processing MODIFY request for uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com

MODIFY operation successful for DN uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com

 

Now repeat the proxied search operation.

 

./ldapsearch -h localhost -D “uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com” -w password –Y “uid=bnelson,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” -b “ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” “l=Tampa”

 

Once again your search will fail, but this time it is for a different reason.

 

SEARCH operation failed

Result Code:  12 (Unavailable Critical Extension)

Additional Information:  The request control with Object Identifier (OID) “2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.18” cannot be used due to insufficient access rights

 

The corresponding entries in OpenDJ’s access log would be as follows:

 

[27/Mar/2015:11:39:17 +0000] SEARCH REQ conn=770 op=1 msgID=2 base=” ou=People,dc=example,dc=com ” scope=wholeSubtree filter=”(l=Tampa)” attrs=”ALL”

[27/Mar/2015:11:39:17 +0000] SEARCH RES conn=770 op=1 msgID=2 result=12 message=”” nentries=0 authzDN=”uid=bnelson,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” etime=3

 

As discussed in OpenDJ Access Control Explained, authorization to perform certain actions may consist of a combination of privileges and ACIs.  You have granted the proxied-auth privilege to the WebApp1 service account, but it still needs an ACI to allow it to perform proxy-based operations.  For the purposes of this demonstration, we will use the following ACI to grant this permission.

 

(targetattr=”*”) (version 3.0; acl “Allow Proxy Authorization to Web App 1 Service Account”; allow (proxy) userdn=”ldap:///uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com”;)

 

This ACI will be placed at the root suffix for ease of use, but you should consider limiting the scope of the ACI by placing it at the appropriate branch in your directory tree (and limiting the targetattr values).

 

Step 2:  Create a (Proxy) ACI for the Application Account

 

Once again, you can use the ldapmodify utility to update OpenDJ with this new ACI.

 

./ldapmodify -D “cn=Directory Manager” -w password

dn: dc=example,dc=com

changetype: modify

add: aci

aci: (targetattr=”*”) (version 3.0; acl “Allow Proxy Authorization to Web App 1 Service Account”; allow (proxy) userdn=”ldap:///uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com”;)

Processing MODIFY request for dc=example,dc=com

MODIFY operation successful for DN dc=example,dc=com

 

Now repeat the proxied search a final time.

 

./ldapsearch -h localhost -D “uid=WebApp1,ou=AppAccounts,dc=example,dc=com” -w password –Y “uid=bnelson,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” -b “ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” “l=Tampa”

 

This time you should see the results of the search performed correctly.  But how do you know that this was a proxied search and not simply one performed by the WebApp1 as before?  The clue is once again in the OpenDJ access log file.  Looking in this file, you will see the following entries:

 

[27/Mar/2015:11:40:23 +0000] SEARCH REQ conn=797 op=1 msgID=2 base=”ou=People,dc=example,dc=com” scope=wholeSubtree filter=”(l=Tampa)” attrs=”ALL”

[27/Mar/2015:11:40:23 +0000] SEARCH RES conn=797 op=1 msgID=2 result=12 message=”” nentries=69 authzDN=”uid=bnelson,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com” etime=1

 

The authzDN value contains the DN of the entry used for authorization purposes.  This is a clear indicator that access control was based on the uid=bnelson entry and not uid=WebApp1.

Still not convinced?  You can verify this by removing the rights for the uid=bnelson entry and running your search again.  Add the following ACI to the top of your tree.

 

(targetattr=”*”)(version 3.0;acl ” Deny Access to BNELSON”; deny (all)(userdn = “ldap:///uid=bnelson,out=people,dc=example,dc=com”);)

 

Now run the search again.  This time, you will not see any errors, but you will also not see any entries returned.  While you are binding as the WebApp1 service account, for all intents and purposes, you are impersonating the uid=bnelson user when determining access rights.

 

Summary of Steps

 

The following steps should be performed when configuring OpenDJ for proxied access control.

Create the Application Account in OpenDJ (i.e. WebApp1)

  1. Create the Application Account in OpenDJ (i.e. WebApp1)
  2. Add the proxy-auth privilege to the Application Account
  3. Create an ACI allowing the Application Account to perform proxy operations
  4. Create a User Account in OpenDJ (i.e. bnelson)
  5. Configure ACIs for User Account as appropriate
  6. Test the configuration by performing a command line search using the proxied access control parameter.

What do OpenDJ and McDonald’s Have in Common?

August 8, 2012 Leave a comment

The OpenDJ directory server is highly scalable and can process all sorts of requests from different types of clients over various protocols.  The following diagram provides an overview of how OpenDJ processes these requests.  (See The OpenDJ Architecture for a more detailed description of each component.)

Note:  The following information has been taken from ForgeRock’s OpenDJ Administration, Maintenance and Tuning Class and has been used with the permission of ForgeRock.

Client requests are accepted and processed by an appropriate Connection Handler.  The Connection Handler decodes the request according to the protocol (LDAP, JMX, SNMP, etc.) and either responds immediately or converts it into an LDAP Operation Object that is added to the Work Queue.

Analogy:  I like to use the analogy of the drive-through window at a fast food restaurant when describing this process.  You are the client making a request of the establishment.  The Connection Handler is the person who takes your order; they take your request and enter it into their ordering system (the Work Queue).  They do not prepare your food; their jobs are simply to take the order as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Worker Threads monitor and detect items on the Work Queue and respond by processing them in a first in, first out fashion.  Requests may be routed or filtered based on the server configuration and then possibly transformed before the appropriate backend is selected.

Analogy:  Continuing with the fast food analogy, the Worker Threads are similar to the people who prepare your food.  They monitor the order system (Work Queue) for any new orders and process them in a first in, first out fashion.

Note: OpenDJ routing is currently limited to the server’s determination of the appropriate backend.  In future versions, this may take on more of a proxy or virtual directory type of implementation.

The result is returned to the client by the Worker Threads using the callback method specified by the Connection Handler.

Analogy:  Once your order is completed, the food (or the results of your request) is given to you by one of the Worker Threads who has been tasked with that responsibility.  This is the only place where the analogy somewhat breaks down.  In older fast food restaurants (ones with only one window) this may sometimes be the person who took your order in the first place.  In our analogy, however, the Connection Handler never responds to your request.   This model is more closely attuned to more recent fast food establishments where they have two windows and there is a clear delineation of duties between the order taker (Connection Handler) and the one who provides you with your food (the Worker Thread).

Other services such as access control processing (ACIs), Logging, and Monitoring provide different access points within the request processing flow and are used to control, audit, and monitor how the requests are processed.

So, what do OpenDJ and McDonald’s have in common?  They are both highly efficient entities that have been streamlined to process requests in the most efficient manner possible.

Check out ForgeRock’s website for more information on OpenDJ or click here if you are interested in attending one of ForgeRock’s upcoming training classes.

The OpenDJ Architecture

July 23, 2012 4 comments

An understanding of the components that make up the OpenDJ Architecture is useful for administering, configuring, or troubleshooting the OpenDJ server.

The following information has been taken from ForgeRock’s OpenDJ Administration, Maintenance and Tuning Class and has been used with the permission of ForgeRock.

The OpenDJ server has been developed using a modular architecture in which most or all components are written to a well-defined specification.  This image above provides an overview of these components.  The following sections provide a brief description of some of the more prevalent components shown in this image.

Configuration Handler

The OpenDJ Configuration Handler is responsible for managing configuration information within OpenDJ’s configuration files (i.e. config.ldif).  Configuration information may impact one or more components; as such, the Configuration Handler is responsible for notifying appropriate components when a configuration change occurs.

Connection Handlers

Connection and request handlers manage all interaction with LDAP clients. This includes accepting new connections and reading and responding to client.  Connection handlers are responsible for any special processing that might be required for this communication, including managing encryption or performing protocol translation.  It is possible to have multiple concurrent implementations active at any given time and as such, OpenDJ includes connection handlers which support various forms of communication that clients use to interact with the server (JMX, LDAP, LDAPS, LDIF, SNMP).  Administrators have the ability to enable or disable these connection handlers to support their client environment.

Note:  ForgeRock is currently working on REST and JSON interfaces to provide direct access to directory server data.

Backend Databases

Connection handlers place client requests onto OpenDJ’s Work Queue.  Worker threads detect requests placed on the work queue and are responsible for performing the processing necessary to respond to the request.  Today’s directory servers must be able to handle a tremendous number of requests in a short period of time; as such, OpenDJ’s Work Queue has been built to be both highly efficient and provide high performance.

A backend database serves as a repository for searching, retrieving, and storing directory data.  OpenDJ supports multiple backends including those considered typical databases (such as Oracle, MySql, and Berekely DB) as well as file-based and memory-based backends.  There can be multiple backend databases active at any given time, each of which handle mutually exclusive subsets of data (selection of the appropriate database is based on the root suffix specified in the operation).  OpenDJ facilitates interaction with these backends and provides tools for enabling, disabling, creating, removing, backing up, and restoring the databases independently from each other without impacting other backends.

Note:  Backends may consist of local or remote repositories (i.e. the database is stored on a remote machine).  This can be found in cases where the backend interacts with a proxy or a virtual server.  Support for proxy and virtual server backends are scheduled for a future release.

Loggers

OpenDJ has a robust logging capability that allows server information to be retained in various repositories.  The most common loggers are as follows:

  • Access Logger – stores server operations (binds, searches, modifications, etc.)
  • Error Logger – stores warnings, errors, and significant events that occur with the server
  • Debug Logger – records debug information when the server is run with debugging enabled and Java assertions are active.

Multiple loggers can be configured for each of these and each logger may be actively storing different information (filtered or not) in different formats in different repositories.

Note:  Some error loggers can be used as an alerting mechanism to actively notify administrators of potential problems.

SASL Handlers

The LDAP protocol supports two methods that clients may use to authenticate to the server:

SASL is an authentication framework that supports multiple authentication mechanisms including ANONYMOUS, CRAM-MD5, DIGEST-MD5, EXTERNAL, GSSAPI, and PLAIN.

OpenDJ includes a set of handlers that implement each of these SASL mechanisms in order to determine the identity of the client.

Access Control

OpenDJ contains an access control module that is used to determine if a client is permitted to perform a particular request or not.

Password Storage

OpenDJ includes several password storage modules that can be used to obscure user passwords using a reversible or one-way algorithm.  Password storage schemes encode new passwords provided by users so that they are stored in an encoded manner. This makes it difficult or impossible for someone to determine the clear-text passwords from the encoded values.  They can also be used to determine whether a clear-text password provided by a client matches the encoded value stored in the server.

Password Complexity

OpenDJ includes a series of modules that define logic used to determine whether a user’s password meets minimum requirements or not.

Syntax and Matching Rules

Attributes must follow a particular syntax and search filters determine matches based on a set of matching rules.  OpenDJ contains a set of syntaxes and matching rules that define the logic for dealing with different kinds of attributes.

Database Cache

Interacting with data in memory is much faster than interacting with data on disk.  As such, OpenDJ includes a database caching module that loads directory data into memory.

Check out ForgeRock’s website for more information on OpenDJ or click here if you are interested in attending one of ForgeRock’s upcoming training classes.

The Most Complete History of Directory Services You Will Ever Find

April 13, 2012 19 comments
I started working with Directory Servers back in 1997 when Netscape was but a fledging company. Over the past 20 years a lot has changed. Companies have come and gone and code has changed hands more times than I care to remember. But one thing remains the same – that little effort started by Tim Howes, Mark Smith, and Gordon Good at the University of Michigan is as important today as it was two decades ago.
 
I thought it might be worthwhile to take a look back at the various companies that have carried the LDAP mantle for stand-alone directory servers and see where we are today. As such, I have created a table of pertinent events (see below) as well as a graphical timeline (see graphic).
 
I offer you the industry’s most most complete history of directory services that you will ever find – well, at least until the next one comes along.
 
 

Directory Services Timeline

The Most Complete History of Directory Services You Will Ever Find

(Until the next one comes along)

 

DateEvent

Source

1969First Arpanet node comes online; first RFC published.

1

1973Ethernet invented by Xerox PARC researchers.

1

1982TCP/IP replaces older Arpanet protocols on the Internet.

1

1982First distributed computing research paper on Grapevine published by Xerox PARC researchers.

1

1984Internet DNS comes online.

1

1986IETF formally chartered.

1

1989Quipu (X.500 software package) released.

1

1990Estimated number of Internet hosts exceeds 250,000.

1

1990First version of the X.500 standard published.

1

1991A team at CERN headed by Tim Berners-Lee releases the first World Wide Web software.

1

1992University of Michigan developers release the first LDAP software.

1

1993NDS debuts in Netware 4.0.

1

July 1993LDAP specification first published as RFC 1487.

1

December 1995First standalone LDAP server (SLAPD) ships as part of U-M LDAP 3.2 release.

1

April 1996Consortium of more than 40 leading software vendors endorses LDAP as the Internet directory service protocol of choice.

1

1996Netscape Hires Tim Howes, Mark Smith, and Gordon Good from University of Michigan.  Howes serves as a directory server architect.

2

September 1997Sun Microsystems releases Sun Directory Services 1.0, derived from U-M LDAP 3.2

3

November 1997LDAPv3 named the winner of the PC Magazine Award for Technical Excellence.

1

December 1997LDAPv3 approved as a proposed Internet Standard.

1

1998The OpenLDAP Project was started by Kurt Zeilenga.  The project started by cloning the LDAP reference source from the University Of Michigan.

5

January 1998Netscape ships the first commercial LDAPv3 directory server.

1

March 1998Innosoft acquires Mark Walh’s Critical Angle company, relesases LDAP directory server product 4.1 one month later.

4

July 1998Sun Microsystems ships Sun Directory Server 3.1, implementing LDAPv3 standards

3

July 1998Estimated number of Internet hosts exceeds 36 million.

1

1999AOL acquires Netscape and forms the iPlanet Alliance with Sun Microsystems.

6

March 1999Innosoft team, led by Mark Wahl, releases Innosoft Distributed Directory Server 5.0

3

March 2000Sun Microsystems acquires Innosoft, merges Innosoft directory code with iPlanet.  This forms the foundation for the iPlanet Directory Access Router.

3

October 2001The iPlanet Alliance ends and Sun and Netscape fork the codebase.

6

October 2004Apache Directory Server Top Level Project is formed after 1 year in incubation

3

December 2004RedHat Purchases Netscape Server products

2

2005Sun Microsystems initiates the OpenDS project.  An open source directory server based on the Java platform.

7

June 2005RedHat Releases Fedora Directory Server

2

October 2006Apache Directory Server 1.0 is released

3

2007UnboundID releases its directory server

12

2008AOL Stops Supporting Netscape Products

8

April 2009Oracle purchases Sun Microsystems

9

May 2009RedHat changes the Fedora Directory Server to 389 Directory Server

10

Feb 1, 2010ForgeRock is founded

3

Dec 2010ForgeRock releases OpenDJ

11

July 2011Oracle releases Oracle Unified Directory

13

Sources:

(1) Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services; Second Edition; Timothy A. Howes, Ph.D., Mark C. Smith, and Gordon S. Good.
(2) 389 Directory Server; History (http://directory.fedoraproject.org/wiki/History).
(3) Email exchange with Ludovic Poitou (ForgeRock).
(4) Press Release, March 16th, 1998; “Innosoft Acquires LDAP Technology Leader Critical Angle Inc. (http://www.pmdf.process.com/press/critical-angle-acquire.html).
(5) OpenLDAP; Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenLDAP).
(6) iPlanet; Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPlanet).
(7) OpenDS; Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDS).
(8) Netscape; Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape).
(9) Press Release, April 20th, 2000; “Oracle Buys Sun” (http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/018363).
(10) 389 Directory Server; 389 Change FAQ (http://directory.fedoraproject.org/wiki/389_Change_FAQ).
(11) OpenDJ; Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDJ).
(12)  Email exchange with Nick Crown (UnboundID).
(13) Press Release, July 20th, 2011; “Oracle Announces Oracle Unified Directory 11g” (http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/434211).