How to Authenticate LDAP in .NET

I would like to authenticate username and passwords for my application on a windows operating system with any directory service. For example it could be microsoft active directory, Novell eDirecotry, or SunOne. I already know how to do this code natively for Microsoft Active Direcotry with c#. ( I totally gave up using ADSI and creating a low level com component)

The way im attempting to authenticate with Novel eDirecotory is i have installed the Mono project. Inside the mono project they provide you with Novell.Directory.ldap.dll The code looks somewhat the same as for Microsoft Active Directory.(http://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/feature/11204.html)

For SunOne, i have been told to use the same code as active direcotry, but the ldap connecton string is a little different.(http://forums.asp.net/t/354314.aspx) (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc720649.aspx)

To complicate my project, most customers use a "Service account:" which means i need to bind with an administrative username and password before i can authenticate a regular username and password. My questions is in 2 parts.

1) From what I have explained above, is this the correct direction I should be going to authenticate against each individual direcotory service?

2) I feel that i dont not need to do any of this code at all. I also feel the stipulation of using a service account is not imporant at all. If all I care about is authenticating a username and password on a windows machine why do i even need to use ldap? I mean think about it. When you login to your machine in the morning, you do not have to provide a service account just to login. I can easily authenticate a username and password at a DOS prompt b

c# ldap novell

Edit Report

I'm not sure I entirely understand the question, but in some situations I've found it easy to authenticate a user by simply doing a search for their account and using their credentials as the username and password.

A successful query means everything provided was correct, not finding the account means something was wrong.

//use the users credentials for the query
DirectoryEntry root = new DirectoryEntry(
    "LDAP://dc=domain,dc=com", 
    loginUser, 
    loginPassword
    );

//query for the username provided
DirectorySearcher searcher = new DirectorySearcher(
    root, 
    "(sAMAccountName=" + loginUser + ")"
    );    

//a success means the password was right
bool success = false; 
try {
    searcher.FindOne();
    success = true;
}
catch {
    success = false;
}

Probably not "best practice", but might get around your issue you are having...

answered 2009-04-20T17:36:56.493

How to Authenticate LDAP in .NET

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