The Oracle Commerce Platform LDAP Repository is an implementation of the Repository API that enables you to store and access profile data in an LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) directory. The LDAP repository is similar in functionality to the SQL repository, as described earlier in this guide. While by default the Personalization module is configured to use an SQL profile repository, you can change the configuration to use an LDAP repository instead. See the Personalization Programming Guide for information about configuring the system to use an LDAP profile repository. LDAP directories are widely used to store personnel information and other kinds of data. An LDAP repository lets you to tap into the profile data you already have in an LDAP directory and share user information across multiple applications.
In addition, you can configure The Oracle Commerce Platform’s application security scheme to use an LDAP repository rather than an SQL repository. See the Managing Access Control chapter in the Platform Programming Guide for more information.
Just like the SQL repository, the LDAP repository implements the Oracle Commerce Platform Repository API to allow you to store, access, modify, and query user profile information. As in the SQL repository, repository items are first created as transient items (RAM profiles); they become persistent after they are added to the database.
It is important to note, however, that the LDAP repository implementation is not specific to user profiles in any way. Because an LDAP directory can be used to store any kind of data—people, groups, mailing lists, documents, printers—you can use the LDAP repository to expose any of that data to the Oracle Commerce Platform. This chapter focuses on using LDAP as a profile repository, because that is the most common application of LDAP. However, other uses are possible.
Note: If you are using Oracle Access Management to provide Single Sign On functionality, Business Control Center user profiles must be stored in an LDAP repository for authentication. Refer to the Using Oracle Access Manager for Single Sign On section of the Platform Installation and Configuration Guide.
This chapter includes the following sections:
Overview: Setting Up an LDAP Repository: An overview of the steps you should take in designing and setting up an LDAP repository.
LDAP Directory Primer: A brief introduction to LDAP concepts and terminology
LDAP Repository Architecture: A description of the way item descriptors and repository items work in the LDAP repository.
Repository Views in the LDAP Repository: How multiple Repository Views can support multiple item descriptors in the same repository.
LDAP Repository Queries: A brief look at how queries work in the LDAP repository.
Configuring LDAP Repository Components: How to configure the components that make up the LDAP repository
LDAP Repository Definition Tag Reference: A detailed reference on the XML tags used to define an LDAP repository.
Sample LDAP Repository Definition File: An example of an XML file that defines a simple LDAP repository.
DTD for LDAP Repository Definition Files: The XML DTD for LDAP repository definitions.
