ZCS Administrator Guide 7.2.1

Open Source Edition

Company Directory/GAL

A company directory is a company-wide listing of users, usually within the organization itself, that is available to all users of the email system. Sometimes called “white pages” or global address list (GAL), Zimbra uses the company directory to look up user addresses from within the company.

For each domain used in Zimbra, you can choose from the following GAL search options:

Use an external LDAP server for the GAL

Use the Zimbra implementation in OpenLDAP

Include both external LDAP server and OpenLDAP in GAL searches

GAL Searches in Zimbra Client

The Zimbra client can search the GAL. The GAL search returns a list of directory entries that match the user’s search.

When the user supplies a name to search for, that name is turned into an LDAP search filter similar to the following example:

 

(|(cn = %s*)(sn=%s*)(gn=%s*)(mail=%s*)) (zimbraMailDeliveryAddress = %s*) (zimbraMailAlias=%s*) (zimbraMailAddress = %s*)

The string “%s” is replaced with the name the user is searching for.

GAL Attributes in Zimbra

Two possible sources for GAL information are the Zimbra server and the Active Directory server. The relevant LDAP/Active Directory fields are referenced in the Zimbra schema under the same names as listed in the Active Directory schema.

Attributes Mapped to Zimbra Contact table maps generic GAL search attributes to their Zimbra contact fields.

 

Attributes Mapped to Zimbra Contact

Standard LDAP Attribute	Zimbra Contact Field
co	workCountry
company	Company
givenName/gn	firstName
sn	lastName
cn	fullName
initials	initials
l	workCity
street, streetaddress	workStreet
postalCode	workPostalCode
telephoneNumber	workPhone
st	workState
title	jobTitle
mail	email
objectClass	Not currently mapped

Zimbra GAL Search Parameters

Like authentication, GAL is configured on a per-domain basis. From the administration console, you can run the GAL Configuration Wizard to configure the domain’s attributes.

Modifying Attributes

The OpenLDAP directory should not be modified directly. Any additions, changes and deletions are made through the Zimbra administration console or from the CLI utility for provisioning, zmprov.

Users modify attributes for their entry (accounts) in the OpenLDAP directory when they change their options from the Zimbra Web Client.

Administrators can also modify LDAP attributes using the command-line tools described in Appendix A Command-Line Utilities.

Important: Do not use any LDAP browsers to change the Zimbra LDAP content.