ALUI "Native" vs LDAP user accounts

Question

Our existing setup syncs with AD to bring user accounts into the portal. We're expanding the functionality to allow public user accounts, but we're not sure the best way to implement. We would like users to have a single login to the portal which would then authenticate them against other applications automatically. Our current understanding of the Credential Vault suggests that this functionality is supported, but the details are not known or understood.
Should these public user accounts be created as "native" portal accounts, or LDAP accounts?
What are the advantages/disadvantages of using one method over the other?
Are there any other sources of information on using Credential Vault for integration with applications? General architecture and workflow information would also be helpful.

Answer 1

In general, you're better off using AD, especially if your other applications use AD, because then at least the user names will match.
There are many many different ways to pass credentials to backend applications -- you can use a PEI, a custom SSO integration or the credential vault. None of these is dependent on having your users sync'd from AD -- it's just that if you DON'T sync your users, it's often hard to tell how to match a Plumtree portal account with a backend system's corresponding account.
This page has some somewhat helpful information about the credential vault:
http://edocs.bea.com/alui/ali/docs61/admin/content.html#wp1068049
The cruel reality of this situation is that every backend application that you try to integrate into the portal will have a different way of authenticating users, so each application will probably require a different credential-passing architecture. Some may work with the credential vault while others may require native code (PEI or SSO) with perhaps remote code as well.
If you'd like to share more on the forums about what you're trying to integrate, we can perhaps provide some more specific guidance. Alternatively, you're welcome to contact us offline.
HTH,
Chris Bucchere | bdg | [email protected] | http://www.thebdgway.com
Edited by bucchere at 01/27/2007 9:37 AM