Directory Services

Purpose

Active Directory™ is the directory service used in Microsoft® Windows® 2000 and is the foundation of Windows 2000 distributed networks. The Active Directory APIs provide access to the data stored in the directory.

Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) is a set of COM interfaces used to access the capabilities of directory services from different network providers in a distributed computing environment, to present a single set of directory service interfaces for managing network resources. Administrators and developers can use ADSI services to enumerate and manage the resources in a directory service, no matter which network environment contains the resource.

ADSI makes it easier to perform common administrative tasks, such as adding new users, managing printers, and locating resources throughout the distributed computing environment.

The Microsoft Exchange Server directory can be accessed using ADSI interfaces. With the ADSI interfaces, you can use high-level tools such as Microsoft Visual Basic®, Java, C, or Microsoft Visual C++® to create directory-enabled applications. With ADSI you need not be concerned about underlying differences between various directory implementations or namespaces because, in the provider-based model that ADSI supports, ADSI can serve as the interface to a number of directory services, accessing each one through its own provider.

This means that you can build applications that use a single point of access to multiple directories in the network environment, whether those directories are based on the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), Novell Directory Services (NDS), or the Microsoft Windows NT® version 4.0 Security Account Manager (NTDS).

Where Applicable

Network Administrators will use directory services to automate common administrative tasks, such as adding users and groups, managing printers, and setting permissions on network resources.

Independent Software Vendors and end user developers will use directory services to "directory enable" their products and applications. Services can publish themselves in a directory, clients can use the directory to find the services, and both can use the directory to find and manipulate other objects of interest. Because Active Directory Service Interfaces are independent of the underlying directory services, directory-enabled products and applications will operate successfully in multiple network and directory environments.

Developer Audience

You can write Active Directory and ADSI client applications in many languages. For the majority of administrative tasks, ADSI defines interfaces and objects accessible from Automation-compliant languages like Visual Basic, Visual Basic Scripting Edition (VBScript), and to the more performance and efficiency-conscious languages such as C and C++. A good foundation in COM programming is useful to the ADSI programmer.

Run-time Requirements

Active Directory runs on Windows 2000. However, client applications may be written on and run on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 2000. There are client components available for all these operating systems available on the MSDN™ web site. In addition, developers will want the ADSI SDK, also available on the MSDN web site.

See Also

The Component Object Model

COM Clients and Servers

Programming Guide for Active Directory

Start page for Active Directory.

Programming Guide for Active Directory Services Interfaces

Start page for ADSI.

Programming Guide for ADSI Exchange

Start page for ADSI Exchange.

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