The MLDAP ESM Module uses an LDAP client library, also called a provider, to communicate with an LDAP server.
The MLDAP ESM Module uses the Micro Focus LDAP library to provide a common API to LDAP providers. The ESM Module tells MLDAP what LDAP provider library to load and call. Micro Focus does not supply an LDAP provider library of our own. On Windows, the default provider is the one Microsoft includes with the operating system. On Unix, we bundle the OpenLDAP open source client library as the default provider.
You can also configure the ESM Module to use a different provider library by setting the provider option in the Security Manager configuration.
The LDAP server maintains a directory (sometimes called a repository) of security, configuration, and other data. Micro Focus does not supply its own LDAP server, but we do bundle the Microsoft ADAM (Active Directory / Application Mode) server on Windows.
This documentation assumes you already have an LDAP provider library installed on the system where you're using the MLDAP ESM Module, and an LDAP server available on your network. If not, you can contact your operating system vendor or try the free OpenLDAP implementation from http://www.openldap.org.