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C# 4 and .NET 4

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52<br />

Directory services<br />

WhaT ’ s in This ChaPTer<br />

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The architecture <strong>and</strong> concepts of Active Directory<br />

Tools for accessing the Active Directory<br />

How to read <strong>and</strong> modify data in Active Directory<br />

Searching for objects in Active Directory<br />

User <strong>and</strong> group management programmatically<br />

Using DSML (Directory Service Markup Language) to access the Active<br />

Directory<br />

Microsoft ’ s Active Directory is a directory service that provides a central, hierarchical store for user<br />

information, network resources, services, <strong>and</strong> so on. The information in this directory service can<br />

be extended to also store custom data that is of interest for the enterprise. For example, Microsoft<br />

Exchange Server <strong>and</strong> Microsoft Dynamics use Active Directory extensively to store public folders <strong>and</strong><br />

other items.<br />

Before the release of Active Directory, Exchange Server used its own private store for its objects. It<br />

was necessary for a system administrator to confi gure two user IDs for a single person: a user account<br />

in the Windows NT domain to enable a logon <strong>and</strong> a user in Exchange Directory. This was necessary<br />

because of the additional information required by users (such as e - mail addresses, phone numbers,<br />

<strong>and</strong> so on), <strong>and</strong> the user information for the NT domain was not extensible to add the required<br />

information.<br />

Now, the system administrator has to confi gure just a single user for a person in Active Directory; the<br />

information for a user object can be extended so that it fi ts the requirements of Exchange Server. You<br />

can also extend this information. For example, you can extend user information in Active Directory<br />

with a skills list. Then, it would easily be possible to track down a <strong>C#</strong> developer by searching for the<br />

required <strong>C#</strong> skill.<br />

This chapter shows how you can use the .<strong>NET</strong> Framework to access <strong>and</strong> manipulate the data in a<br />

directory service using classes from the System.DirectoryServices , System.DirectoryServices<br />

.AccountManagement , <strong>and</strong> System.DirectoryServices.Protocols namespaces.<br />

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