Connect Windows® to LDAP

Windows was set up to connect to Microsoft® Active Directory® – not to OpenLDAP™. So is it still possible to bind a Windows device to LDAP?

At JumpCloud®, we get this question a lot because our Directory-as-a-Service® provides a hosted LDAP offering. Many of our clients want to bind Windows to OpenLDAP so that they can authenticate and authorize their user population on Windows devices.

Our answer is to leverage an agent that natively connects Windows devices to JumpCloud’s Directory-as-a-Service.

Binding Windows to LDAP with JumpCloud

JumpCloud’s Directory-as-a-Service is a core user store. It is hosted in the cloud and is enabled to work with all major platforms as well as with devices and applications on-premises and in the cloud. Instead of having to implement Microsoft Active Directory, IT admins can simply use a SaaS-based service to cover the ability to manage users on their Windows devices.

Here’s how JumpCloud works to effectively execute the same function as binding the Windows device to OpenLDAP:

• Step 1:  An agent is installed on each Windows device. The agent securely communicates back to the Directory-as-a-Service platform.
• Step 2:  Full IT control. Users and their privileges are added to the device via the agent to platform communications. Users are created locally, but managed centrally from the DaaS console. Users can be easily provisioned and terminated at the click of a button.

Benefits of Binding Windows to LDAP through JumpCloud

Rather than configuring the details of OpenLDAP and then figuring out a way to bind to a directory, JumpCloud skips all of those steps and gives IT admins the level of control that they need over the Windows device.

On top of authentication and authorization capabilities that most directories provide, Directory-as-a-Service provides the ability to execute commands on the Windows devices as well.

More than Just Binding to LDAP

Through DaaS, IT admins can set policies similar to Active Directory’s Group Policy Objects. In this way, JumpCloud’s Directory-as-a-Service provides a more comprehensive solution to controlling and managing users on Windows devices than just binding the Windows device to LDAP.