OpenDJ is a free, open source Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol is an application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an Internet Protocol network...

 (LDAPv3) and Directory Service Markup Language

Directory Service Markup Language

Directory Services Markup Language is a representation of directory service information in an XML syntax.The DSML version 1 effort was announced by creator Bowstreet on July 12, 1999. Initiative supporters include AOL-Netscape, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, Novell, Microsoft, and IBM...

 (DSMLv2) compliant directory service written in the Java programming language. OpenDJ began as a fork

Fork (software development)

In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...

 of the OpenDS

OpenDS

OpenDS Software is a free, open source directory service, written in Java, and developed as part of the OpenDS project. OpenDS Software implements a wide range of Lightweight Directory Access Protocol and related standards, including full compliance with LDAPv3 but also support for Directory...

 code base, which originated in 2005 as an internal project at Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...

 started by Neil A. Wilson, and later grew into an open source project, maintained by Oracle Corporation

Oracle Corporation

Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...

 following Oracle's acquisition of Sun. OpenDJ source code is available under the Common Development and Distribution License

Common Development and Distribution License

Common Development and Distribution License is a free software license, produced by Sun Microsystems, based on the Mozilla Public License , version 1.1....

 (CDDL).

History

OpenDJ began after the acquisition of Sun Microsystems by Oracle. At that time, Oracle announced that Sun OpenDS Standard Edition was not seen as a strategic product, although the investment on the OpenDS source code would continue. Sun had supported commercial versions of Sun OpenDS Standard Edition since version 1.0 in 2008.

Mid-September 2010, Ludovic Poitou, then OpenDS community leader and co-project owner, left Oracle for ForgeRock.

In October 2010, Oracle provided an OpenDS 2.2.1 update to the community with several fixes.

In December 2010, ForgeRock released OpenDJ 2.4.0 including fixes and support for new features like Collective Attributes, Microsoft Active Directory Permissive Modification Control, and multiple objectclass inheritance.

In late January 2011 Matthew Swift, previously "responsible for the core server" of the OpenDS project joined ForgeRock to work on OpenDJ as product architect. Starting in mid-February 2011, ForgeRock began to build an "OpenDJ product suite, comprising an open source LDAP Directory Server, client tools, and LDAP SDK" as a Maven

Apache Maven

Maven is a build automation and software comprehension tool. While primarily used for Java programming, it can also be used to build and manage projects written in C#, Ruby, Scala, and other languages. Maven serves a similar purpose to the Apache Ant tool, but it is based on different concepts and...

project, with the tools and SDK modules appearing first.

On February 19, 2011 Clayton Donley, Sr. Director, Development in Oracle Identity Management, insisted "that the bulk of the commits to this code base have been and continue to be made by people that remain employed by Oracle."

Roadmap

ForgeRock posted an OpenDJ roadmap through release 4, targeted for Q3 2013.

• OpenDJ 2.4, released December 2010, provided improvements corresponding to many of those defined, but not yet scheduled for OpenDS 2.4
• OpenDJ 2.5 is to focus on integration with other services, attribute encryption, native packages for Linux, and the LDAP client SDK.
• OpenDJ 3.0 is expected to include basic directory proxy services, but the support for LDAP Transactions that was originally planned was dropped due to the incompatibility with the lose consistency model of LDAP.
• OpenDJ 3.1 and 3.2 are slated to include enhanced directory proxy services.
• OpenDJ 4.0 is expected to introduce virtual directory services, and a web-based management console.