Active Directory

Active Directory is the Microsoft-supplied directory service used on many Windows domain networks, and is included in most Windows Server operating systems. AD (Active Directory) utilizes protocols LDAP (LDAPv2 or LDAPv3) and often Kerberos for authentication, and supports an LDAP interface. With Windows AD, users can access resources anywhere on the network with single logon.

The Windows AD structure uses a tree-type hierarchy of objects.

Because of the popularity of Windows domain networks, AD installations may be the most widely implemented LDAP systems. When integrating a Windows AD system with NiagaraAX stations, you replace the standard UserService in each station with one of the following user services:

ActiveDirectoryUserService

Only for LDAPv2-based ADs, and without availability of Kerberos authentication. Essentially this is the same AD-specific LDAP user service provided in the NiagaraAX ldap module since AX-3.1.
LdapV3ADUserService

For any LDAPv3-based AD, with availability of Kerberos authentication. Starting in AX-3.8, the ldap module provides this for all NiagaraAX platforms. The host platform must be licensed with the feature “ldapv3”. If Kerberos authentication is used, the “ldapv3” feature requires the attribute kerberos=”true”.