LDAP user alternative file update methods

Hey DevNetters -
We're planning an upgrade from our current 6.7.1 (no service pack) Solaris installation.

One of the big changes we're looking at is migrating from OS-based users to LDAP / Active Directory users. We've got this working in 6.7.1 SP1 on our Development server.

This is working nicely in some regards; we can search and choose new users from our AD system, their email addresses are automatically populated and, a bonus, they can now use their AD domain passwords to sign into TeamSite. All good improvements.

Then I start to look at what these non-OS users **can't** do and it gets more complex. For instance, I no longer can see from the server command line (using ls -la, for instance) who updated a particular file. OK, I can understand that.

But here's the tough one: LDAP users can't use samba and can't use ftp either, as far as I can tell. So the folks who we're able to set up a Windows shortcut 'dropbox' to occasionally add files can no longer do that. Developers who map a Windows / samba shortcut to a TeamSite branch area as an app server doc root may lose that capability. And, they no longer can set up their ftp client and easily transfer contents into a workarea that way - which is an easy method to work with Dreamweaver in conjunction with TeamSite.

Granted, these other update methods bypass the TeamSite locking mechanisms (maybe not always a bad thing...), but they're also what allows the system to be used in a faster and more flexible manner.

Given all that leadup, here's a question: can LDAP based users only update TeamSite with external content by using the ContentCenter 'import' function?

Thanks as always,
Wally Box
Nike, Inc.

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Comments

Pawan

Wally,

Did you hear any update on this?
Do LDAP users have to use either built in import functionality or the TeamSite Front Office?

If you can share any pros/cons of using samba with OS users, will be much helpful.

Rob76

Hey DevNetters -
This is working nicely in some regards; we can search and choose new users from our AD system, their email addresses are automatically populated and, a bonus, they can now use their AD domain passwords to sign into TeamSite. All good improvements.

Where do the email addresses need to be defined in AD for them to be automatically pulled in when a user is added to TS?

Migrateduser

Pros / cons of using samba:
- no TeamSite locking is performed (this can be either a pro or a con, depending).
- you need to install and administer samba (con)
- you need to map authentication to samba to permissions in TeamSite. We do this by aligning our OS user names with our work domain, and then call out to a password verification for each access.
- samba can be a bit slow. But then so is import.

On the email addresses from Active Directory:
We set up the configuration file to 'find' the users in Active Directory and the interface was smart enough to find the email address of the user. We didn't have to populate them manually.