Although the open source directory server action is at OpenDS, Sun's existing Directory Server Enterprise Edition is widely deployed and integrated in products such as Sun Java System Access Manager and it's open source twin, OpenSSO. One of the many reasons for its popularity is its implementation of multi-master replication (MMR), the ability to deploy a cluster of Directory Server instances, each synchronizing data with the rest. Installing and configuring such a fully-connected mesh of Directory Servers is quite a laborious task, so Sun identity architect Jonathan Gershater devised a Perl script to do the legwork, then wrote it up as a Sun Developer Network article with technical author Marina Sum. Discover how Perl scripts automate Directory Server installation and configuration.

Through Ludo: • OpenDS 1.0.0 Build 008 Now Available. • Also check out the Build Page.

OpenDS is nearing its first release, Milestone 1, and Trey and Marina have put together a good Overview Article that includes a description of a a Typical LDAP-enabled Application and a list of future features. Also check the OpenDS home page, their USERS and DEV mailing list, their Documentation Wiki and the Downloads Page.

Thanks to Marina for the tip.

Happy First Birthday, OpenDS! Congrats to Ludo, Trey and the whole team - you guys are doing an excellent job! Recent OpenDS news include: Ludo's presentation at LDAPcon, the latest OpenDS 1.0 candidate build, and a description on how to Configure OpenDS with DSConfig. Relevant entries at TheAquarium are tagged with OpenDS.

OpenDS continues to make progress. We recently reported on the OpenDS 0.9 release, but now we have available the first builds for OpenDS 1.0. And, in related events, JBoss Portal is going to use OpenDS and Ludo Added OpenDS to Ohloh. OpenDS 1.0 final is getting closer; stay tuned.

OpenDS, the 100% Java implementation of an LDAP v3 directory has reached the 0.9 milestone earlier this week. At this point, it is an LDAP v3 compliant directory with multi-master replication and access controls just to name the main features. Next stops are the beta release and a 1.0 version later this year. In the mean time a Summer 2007 Bugfest has just started with prizes for people helping fix as many as 130 defects listed today.

OpenDS comes with a Java Web Start installer and data to populate the directory. It really doesn't get any easier than that to start using an LDAP directory. If you need to speak XML to OpenDS rather than LDAP, the DSML gateway (implemented as a WAR archive) is also available.

Check also the cool uses of OpenDS as presented by Ludo at the San Francisco GlassFish Day in May 2007.

I like Trey's approach (shown at GlassFish Day) to spreading the word about OpenDS by building some useful and interesting artifacts. I believe his OpenID server has not yet been released but the Atom Server (GlassFish front-end, OpenDS back-end) has and it is getting some nice recognition ([1], [2], [3], [4]). Trey has a nice post Describing the Project. Additional details at the project website and wiki. To integrate OpenDS with GlassFish check Trey's earlier entry.

OpenDS has lots of configuration options and they're all stored in the directory. While this makes administration convenient for those with an intimate knowledge of the configuration tree and LDAP command line tools the uninitiated will likely run away screaming. As part of our continued effort to make LDAP more accessible to the masses a JMX interface to OpenDS is now available and accessible via JConsole. No client installation required! To get started, launch JConsole and follow along using the screen shots here.

OpenDS is a highly configurable and customizable directory server with numerous built-in extension points. For those cases where pre-defined hooks are just not enough OpenDS provides a simple and safe facility for injecting your custom business logic. Checkout this simple example and let us know what you think.

More OpenDS contributions; this one is from Trey showing how to use OpenDS with Roller, with some help from Dave. Start by Downloading OpenDS, then configure it for GlassFish and you can use this LDIF data set to preconfigure it (what is LDIF). Full details at Trey's blog, and more TheAquarium entries under the OpenDS tag. Given my previous entry on Trees or Tables, a drawing of Yggdrasil seemed appropriate.

I believe OpenDS will turn out to be a very popular project. The team has been taking a soft-launch approach but they actually are already in pretty good shape - check the OpenDS tag for some earlier news. Trey recently wrote a blog entry contrasting LDAP with RMDBS. In part it boils down to whether your application data is better modeled by Trees or Tables. Check out Trey's blog. You may want to also check the LDAP page at Wikipedia, and the latest standard spec, LDAPv3, at IETF

The OpenDS project just announced its first non-Sun contributor: Benjamin Damm from Brighton Consulting. The OpenDS guys are doing a very good job at community building: they have good documentation, simple build instructions, a list of Bite-Sized Bugs (Benjamin tackled one of them)... A good description of how to contribute can be fond in this blog and also at the OpenDS Developers Page.

The OpenDS team is quietly delivering. Their Initial Launch was met mostly with positive responses ([1], [2]) with some exceptions ([3], [4]). This week's addition are Weekly Builds, which is exactly in the right direction to encourage participation. The team's main blog is here; recent entries include the Introduction to OpenDS, an Overview of LDAP, Java and Performance, New Features in OpenDS.