Modules for Adding Extra Functionality to LDAP

Red Hat Linux includes several packages that add functionality to LDAP.

The nss_ldap module is an LDAP module for the Solaris Nameservice Switch (NSS). NSS is a set of C library extensions necessary for accessing LDAP directory information, instead of or in addition to the Network Information Service (NIS) name service and/or flat files. The nss_ldap module is needed to use LDAP as a native name service.

The pam_ldap module is needed to integrate LDAP authentication into the Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) API. If you use pam_ldap, users can authenticate and change their password using LDAP directories. The nss_ldap and pam_ldap modules are provided in the nss_ldap package.

Red Hat Linux also includes LDAP modules for the Apache Web server. The auth_ldap module is for authenticating HTTP clients against the user entries in an LDAP directory. The php-ldap module adds LDAP support to the PHP4 HTML-embedded scripting language. The auth_ldap and php-ldap modules must be compiled into Apache as Dynamic Shared Objects (DSOs) in order to work.