LDAP Authentication

[flyingmonkey]

I have a database that has sensitive information in it and I want to make it password protected. Instead of using the filemaker pro access privledges I would like to tap into our corporate LDAP authentication server for access provledges that way everyone just has to remember one password instead of several. All of my IT buddies are doing it with their MS Access databases and the Windows IIS Servers. I want to show them that FileMaker Pro can do everything that Access can do and more. I have all of the info for our LDAP server but I don't know where to start with it all. Is this even possible?

I can host this solution from either a Mac or a Windows 2000 Server. In addition I have Filemaker Pro 4.0, 5.0, and 5.5 for both platforms. If there are advantages to either platform or version please let me know.

[Anatoli]

I think it can be done in FM 5.5.

Small story though: NT Server went up in smoke. Repair and installation was 3 days and lost productivity of 20 people.

Not so, I've installed the FM server and data on workstation and because it was just the FM security, it took 10 minutes. Users could not log into domain, but even did not notice, that bellowed CRM is running from workstation!

Try to do the same with Access -(

[gersomers]

I belive, only the current windows version of Filemaker supports LDAP / active directory. I'm very interested in this subject, i like to know how you got on with trying it out.

[pjhodge]

I've been working on this problem also. Our company has a whole series of FMP databases. We are trying to build system to control access and authentication using user's standard LDAP passwords. Our goal is to have one place where uses login to the system and then have filemaker control their access.

If anyone can help me with ideas on completeing I will offer what help I can.

Currently I have a FMP5.5 database on Mac OS X.1 that authenticates to our corporate LDAP server through apple script calls. The steps are:

There are two fields for user name and password.

Then the system calls an AppleScript with the following steps:

The authentication script queries the LDAP server for the encrypted password

Strips off the LDAP salt

Crypts the submitted password

Then queries the database again for authentication.

The AppleScript was entered as a very long concatenation in a calculation field.

The problem I am running into now is getting the authentication to work on the server side. We are cross platform and none of the users are using Mac OS X yet. To be a solution for our problem Mac 9 and X and PC's NT4 - 2000 have to be able to access it. So has anyone made a script that gets executed on the server.

thanks,

phil