{"slug": "openldap", "name": "OpenLDAP", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 1, "commenters": 2, "warners": 0, "score": 1.074, "rising": -0.33, "first": "2025-12-18", "latest": "2026-02-18", "why": "I wish I could stick with LDAP forever, it just worked. But no. My first setup in 2004 was OpenLDAP all the way for every service.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": false, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I wish I could stick with LDAP forever, it just worked. But no. My first setup in 2004 was OpenLDAP all the way for every service.", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["OpenLDAP"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 740974368, "item_id": 46310898, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46310898", "by": "marenkay", "date": "2025-12-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I wish I could stick with LDAP forever, it just worked. But no. My first setup in 2004 was OpenLDAP all the way for every service.", "excerpt": "Honestly, I wish I could stick with LDAP forever, it just worked. But no. My first setup in 2004 was OpenLDAP all the way for every service. I am moving to a new server over Christmas, thanks for telling though :-)", "context": "homelab / self-hosting since 2004", "use_case": "directory service for all services", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Self-hosted AD/Entra ID alternative that works with Windows and Linux?"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "cullumsmith", "context": "runs own domain controllers", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47061621", "date": "2026-02-18"}, {"by": "marenkay", "context": "homelab / self-hosting since 2004", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46310898", "date": "2025-12-18"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["directory service", "directory and dns backend", "directory service for all services"], "compared": [{"slug": "powerdns", "name": "PowerDNS", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47059520", "title": "Native FreeBSD Kerberos/LDAP with FreeIPA/IDM", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46310562", "title": "Ask HN: Self-hosted AD/Entra ID alternative that works with Windows and Linux?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 752985937, "item_id": 47061621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47061621", "by": "cullumsmith", "date": "2026-02-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I run: OpenLDAP, an MIT Kerberos KDC, and a PowerDNS server.", "excerpt": "PowerDNS is an open-source DNS server that lets you store your DNS configuration in a variety of different backends, one of which is LDAP. For each of my \"domain controllers, I run: OpenLDAP, an MIT Kerberos KDC, and a PowerDNS server. The KDC and PowerDNS both get their data from LDAP on 127.0.0.1, and LDAP changes are synchronized between all the nodes. This is convenient because you don't have to synchronize zone ", "context": "runs own domain controllers", "use_case": "directory service", "switched_from": "", "story": "Native FreeBSD Kerberos/LDAP with FreeIPA/IDM"}, {"id": 752966144, "item_id": 47060384, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47060384", "by": "cullumsmith", "date": "2026-02-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "opted for a stack of OpenLDAP / MIT Kerberos / PowerDNS on my \"domain controllers.\"", "excerpt": "Nice. I run a very similar setup, but opted for a stack of OpenLDAP / MIT Kerberos / PowerDNS on my \"domain controllers.\" OpenLDAP does multimaster replication and is the backend for DNS records and the Kerberos database. The hardest part was figuring out OpenLDAPs configuration syntax, especially the correct ldif incantations for things like nested group memberOf= queries, schemas, and ACLs. It's somewhat inscrutabl", "context": "runs a home FreeBSD setup", "use_case": "directory and DNS backend", "switched_from": "", "story": "Native FreeBSD Kerberos/LDAP with FreeIPA/IDM"}, {"id": 740974368, "item_id": 46310898, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46310898", "by": "marenkay", "date": "2025-12-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I wish I could stick with LDAP forever, it just worked. But no. My first setup in 2004 was OpenLDAP all the way for every service.", "excerpt": "Honestly, I wish I could stick with LDAP forever, it just worked. But no. My first setup in 2004 was OpenLDAP all the way for every service. I am moving to a new server over Christmas, thanks for telling though :-)", "context": "homelab / self-hosting since 2004", "use_case": "directory service for all services", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Self-hosted AD/Entra ID alternative that works with Windows and Linux?"}]}