# LDAP

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Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an industry standard application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an internet protocol network.

A common use of LDAP is to provide a central place to store usernames and passwords. This allows many different applications and services, like Ultimo, to connect to the LDAP server to import and validate users.

## Active Directory <a href="#activedirectory-ldap-id-activedirectory" id="activedirectory-ldap-id-activedirectory"></a>

Active Directory (AD) is an implementation of Microsoft of a directory service that uses the LDAP protocol. Active Directory allows administrators to state policies (rights and institutions) in the network of an entire company to manage. Active Directory stores settings in relation to an object in a central database. An AD network can vary from a network of a few hundred to millions of objects.

## Ultimo implementation

Ultimo is able to connect with directory services using the LDAP protocol, like Active Directory. With our LDAP integration it is possible to create and maintain users (login accounts) and employees in an Ultimo environment. The integration is configured using [LDAP connectors](/connectors/ldap/ldap-connector.md).

Implementation of the LDAP integration depends on [how Ultimo is hosted](/connectors/ldap/cloud-vs-on-premises.md). Running Ultimo in the cloud requires a different approach than running Ultimo on premises, as the directory services are most of the time unreachable from outside the customers network.

{% hint style="info" %}
The LDAP integration was designed to connect with an on-premises AD server. For new implementations, we recommend to use [SCIM](/connectors/scim.md) instead. Contrary to LDAP, SCIM is able to connect with Azure AD.
{% endhint %}


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