Using the directory via LDAP (for email)

One major use of the directory is looking up email addresses from within your mail program (mail client or MUA). The protocol for doing this is called LDAP. Most mail clients have the facility to support an LDAP interface, and configuring your client to use the lookup service will provide you with a University-wide email addressbook with over 30,000 entries.

Hermes Webmail is configured to use the directory already (you will see it if you go to the Addressbook page), and most mail clients on the MCS are configured to make the directory available by default.

Documentation on how to configure your own mail client to use the directory, and how to make use of the directory once you have the correct configuration, can be found in the folder  Using LDAP to Lookup to find email addresses. This deals with specific mail clients such as Outlook, Mulberry, Eudora, Apple mail, pine and so on. Generally you need to select ldap.lookup.cam.ac.uk as the LDAP server and ou=people,o=University of Cambridge,dc=cam,dc=ac,dc=uk as the ‘base distinguished name’.

The LDAP directory also supports (but does not require) secure LDAP connections (using LDAPS or using the STARTTLS command). Users of the Lapwing wireless service will need to make secure LDAP connections since Lapwing does not allow most insecure protocols.

The exact form of the information given by an LDAP search within a mail client depends on the client. Most clients will provide a list of registered names with their institutions, so that you can distinguish people with the same name, but some only provide the surname.

The directory can also be searched by sending LDAP (or LDAPS) queries from sources other than a mail program. This facility is likely to be useful to administrators using the Lookup "groups" feature to control privileged access to resources. More information about this facility is available.