In my work with ECM technology I am almost always dealing with an LDAP directory. Even on my laptop I run OpenLDAP because it is easier for me to slam in a bunch of test users and groups by generating and importing LDIF files than it is to otherwise prep a repository for tests or demos. Plus, once you’ve configured your platform to authenticate against your local LDAP directory there’s a decent chance it will work with your client’s assuming the schemas aren’t terribly different.
If you also frequently find yourself tweaking the directory and you’re an Eclipse user, you should download and install the Apache Directory Studio Eclipse plug-in and put an end to clunky, platform-specific directory admin tools.
As an aside, as readers know, I run Ubuntu as my primary OS. On Ubuntu, installing OpenLDAP is as easy as running “sudo apt-get install slapd”. But pre-compiled Windows binaries of OpenLDAP seem elusive. Apache Directory Server might be a decent alternative. The Studio plug-in works with both.
Another great alternative is the LDAP Browser/Editor. It’s not a full featured plugin like the Apache one you mention but a dead simple LDAP viewer/editor. Cross platform as it’s written in Java. http://www.mcs.anl.gov/~gawor/ldap/
FYI, Apache Directory Server is integrated in the Studio application and it is possible to startup the Server within Studio. Of course this is not useful for production, closing Studio also stops the Server. But perhaps for demos it may be sufficient and very easy to setup.
Simon,
Yes, this used to be my standard LDAP tool of choice. It is definitely easy-to-use and seemed pretty stable when I used it.
Jeff