Setting up the Connect to LDAP Servers prerequisite activity

Use the IBM® Sametime® system console to connect IBM Sametime servers to an LDAP server that has already been installed and configured. An LDAP server is recommended for these server offerings: Community Server, Meeting Server, Media Manager, Bandwidth Manager, and Gateway. Read the system requirements to ensure that you know the minimum supported software requirements.

Before you begin

  • Start the LDAP server and the Sametime System Console.
  • Verify that the LDAP directory includes the "mail" attribute so it can be used for authentication.

    Sametime 8.5 and later requires authenticated users to have the "mail" attribute assigned in the LDAP directory. IBM recommends that your LDAP directory include a "mail" attribute for every user who plans to authenticate with the Sametime servers; this attribute is not required for anonymous (guest) users. The "mail" attribute must be a unique string, which preferably follows the syntax and length restrictions of email addresses.

    The softphone provided by Sametime uses the "mail" attribute for user identification. To support audio and video communications, the LDAP directory must have the "mail" attribute populated for every user.

    The "mail" attribute is not used for email purposes, and does not have to be assigned as a user name for logging into Sametime. Instead, it serves as a common attribute between the various Sametime subsystems, such as Calendar Integration, Business Cards, LDAP, and REST APIs. This attribute is also used when generating a URL for a user's persistent meeting room (for example, http://meetings.company.com/stmeetings/room/user@company.com/users-room). In addition, using the "mail" attribute provides certain performance advantages since translation between attributes is not required; it also provides consistency and integrity by using a common and well-understood attribute.

Tip: Find the most up-to-date help, and translated versions of the help, in the product documentation published on IBM Knowledge Center.

Procedure

If you have not already opened the Connect to LDAP Servers activity, follow these steps:

  1. From a browser, enter the following URL, replacing serverhostname.domain with the fully qualified host name of the Sametime System Console server.

    http://serverhostname.domain:8700/ibm/console

    For example:

    http://sametime.example.com:8700/ibm/console

    If you are prompted with a security exception, accept the certificate, and continue.

  2. Enter the WebSphere® Application Server user ID and password that you created when you installed the system console.
  3. In the navigation tree, click the Sametime System Console task to open it.
  4. Expand Sametime Prerequisites, and click Connect to LDAP Servers.