In the last chapter, we looked at how we could add users to the Openfire IM network, organize them into groups, and then pre-populate rosters. But if you have a huge network, adding all of the users manually is far from an optimal solution. Most networks these days have a directory service to store and organize information about their network's users and resources. This provides network administrators with a centralized mechanism to manage their users' access to the resources. It's a walk-in-the-park to configure Openfire to sync up with a directory service for authentication purposes and more!
There are various implementations of the Directory Service, including Apache Directory Server, Apple's Open Directory, Fedora Directory Server, OpenLDAP, and Microsoft's Active Directory. Networks often rely on the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for authenticating users using their directory username and password. Openfire can outsource authentication...