Configuration Propagation

All policies are stored in a central configuration repository, such as an LDAP server (7). A policy is the term for a group of semantically coherent configuration settings. A Configuration Agent (3), running on each client machine, is responsible for retrieving the policy data from the LDAP server, and for caching the data locally (2). The Configuration Agent periodically checks for any changes on the LDAP server, and updates the cache accordingly. Furthermore, the Configuration Agent sends notifications to all interested applications. Desktop applications, such as StarOffice, Mozilla, Evolution or GNOME, read the policies by means of corresponding adapters (1). These adapters encapsulate the necessary communication with the cache and the Configuration Agent.