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.