So I thought I’d start out with something I think is pretty cool: with a few tweaks you can fully integrate your LDAP system into Joomla! authentication system. Frontend and backend. Thats right you can use LDAP Tools to authenticate your users, and you can even plug it into JACLPlus or similar if you’re using that in your corporate environment. So I reckon thats pretty cool, but what if you don’t have an LDAP server to begin with?

Well, I’m glad you asked that question, because I’ve got it covered as well! I’ve written up a simple starters guide on how to get an LDAP server up and running and get Joomla! authenticating into it. Its mostly step by step and I’ve tested it out running Debian and Mac OS X 10.4 with the standard OpenLDAP instances that ship with those environments. Not only that but when you complete the tutorial theres a sample configuration for both Joomla! 1.0 and 1.5 so you can get up and running easily!

Lastly I’ve released 1.0.3 of JAuthTools for Joomla! 1.0 which adds support for LDAP powered administrator login (previously it relied on caching your password from the front end), a small refactoring of authentication options and some fixes in the XML files for missing or short descriptions. As always this is tested against Microsoft Active Directory, OpenLDAP and Novell eDirectory to see if they work and there are samples of known good set ups for those environments.

So you’ve read all of this and you’re wondering where you can the information from so heres the answer: for JAuthTools 1.0.3 you can go to the File Release Section on Joomla!Code, for the sample guides, the alterations required to the Joomla! Core to get back end login and much more documentation you can check it out at the JAuthTools wiki.

So what are you waiting for? Good luck! 🙂