The objects available within our connector are accessible from the "cdata.activedirectory" module. To use the module's objects directly:

1. Import the module as follows:
   

   import cdata.activedirectory as mod

2. To establish a connection string, call the connect() method from the connector object using an appropriate connection string, such as:
   

   mod.connect("User=MyUserName;Password=MyPassword;Server=MyServer;Port=MyPort;BaseDN=MyDN;")

Connecting to Microsoft Active Directory

Set Server and Port for basic connectivity. Additionally, you can fine-tune the connection with the following:

• FollowReferrals: When set, the connector surfaces data as views from only referral servers. To modify data on a referral server, you must specify this server with Server and Port.
• LDAPVersion: Set this to the version of the protocol your server implements; by default, the connector uses version 2.

Authenticating to Microsoft Active Directory

To authenticate requests, set the User and Password properties to valid Microsoft Active Directory credentials (e.g., set User to Domain\\BobF or cn=Bob F,ou=Employees,dc=Domain).

The connector uses plaintext authentication by default, since the connector attempts to negotiate TLS/SSL with the server. You can specify another authentication method with AuthMechanism.

See SSL Configuration for more information on TLS/SSL configuration.

Fine Tuning Data Access

The following properties control the scope of data returned:

• BaseDN will limit the scope of LDAP searches to the height of the distinguished name provided. Note: Specifying a narrow BaseDN may greatly increase performance; for example, a value of cn=users,dc=domain will only return results contained within cn=users and its children.
• Scope: This property enables more granular control over the data to return from a subtree.

Customizing Tables

The connector surfaces the columns most often needed from Microsoft Active Directory entities. However, if you need to work with other data, the tables are easy to modify. Tables are defined in schema files, which have a simple format.

See Working with Active Directory Tables for a guide to extending the default schemas or writing your own. To use custom schemas, set the Location property to the folder containing the schema files.