Note: This feature is available only in the Enterprise Editions of PHPKB software.
LDAP stands for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, and allows usage of single user account directory to login to various applications. LDAP is an open and cross platform protocol used for directory services authentication. LDAP provides the communication language that applications use to communicate with other directory services servers. PHPKB Knowledge Base Software supports LDAP integration and authentication with several LDAP providers displayed below.
What is LDAP integration?
An LDAP integration allows your knowledge base instance to use your existing LDAP server as the primary source of user data. Integration to the LDAP servers allows one to quickly and easily connect PHPKB with user records from the existing LDAP database.
LDAP Integration — Authentication, Authorization & Synchronization
The Enterprise Editions of PHPKB provides seemless integration with LDAP for single sign on (SSO) support. With LDAP Authentication in place, your knowledge base administrator won't need to create a separate account for each user - just connect to LDAP server, map LDAP directory groups to PHPKB groups, and retrieve users with full account information in one click. As well as LDAP integration, user account details can be synched and LDAP groups can be mapped with PHPKB groups for role-based permissions.
The Enterprise edition of PHPKB knowledge base software includes complete support for LDAP integration and authentication with the following LDAP providers:
- Microsoft Active Directory
- Novell eDirectory
- Open LDAP
- Posix Account RFC2307
- Posix Account PFC2307BIS
- Samba
- Sun ONE Directory Server
- Other LDAP Servers
How LDAP integration works with PHPKB?
Once the LDAP integration is established in PHPKB, the knowledge base can allow new users to log in to the system even if they do not yet have an account on the knowledge base. When a new user attempts to log in to the knowledge base, the integration checks to see if this user has an account in the knowledge base. If the integration does not find an existing user account, it automatically queries the LDAP server for the username that was entered. If a matching LDAP account is found, the integration tries to authenticate with the password the user entered. If the password is valid, the knowledge base creates an account for the user in the knowledgebase, populates the account with applicable LDAP information, and logs the user in to the knowledge base.
How to configure LDAP with PHPKB?
LDAP integration is configured from the Manage Settings section in the PHPKB admin control panel as shown in the screenshot below.
You can use existing LDAP server to manage user integration and authentication with following options in PHPKB knowledge base software:
- Authorization
- Group Mapping
- Synchronization of User Details
- Synchronization of Groups
- User Group Assignment
- LDAP version 3 support
Is LDAP Integration same as SSO?
The difference that can be talked about when looking at these two applications is that LDAP is an application protocol that is used to crosscheck information on the server end. SSO, on the other hand, is a user authentication process, with the user providing access to multiple systems.
For a more detailed tutorial on how to set up LDAP integration & authorization, please refer to the following link in our knowledge base.
