LDAP in Apple Mail

Using the University LDAP Directory to find email addresses using Apple Mail

Note. The University LDAP Directory is only available to mail clients on computers on the Cambridge network. If you are away from Cambridge and wish to use the University LDAP Directory then you will need to use the VPN service so that your computer appears to be on the Cambridge network. Alternatively you can use Hermes Webmail.

If you would like to check that Apple Mail is correctly set up for accessing Hermes, please see the page on configuring Apple Mail for Hermes

Configuring LDAP for Apple Mail

iOS, MacOS 10.7 and later

For users running iOS and 10.7 (Lion) and later, a configuration file can be used to enable Lookup in Mail.

• Download the .mobileconfig file.
• Double click it to start the installation procedure.
• At the Install prompt select Continue. To see the full details select Show Profile.
• Leave Username and Password blank and then select Install.
• Once the profile has been installed System Preferences will show a profile summary.
• Quit System Preferences when done.

If you need to remove the profile, open System Preferences from Applications and pick Profiles. Select the Lookup profile and then select the minus symbol.

MacOS 10.4 to 10.6

• From the Mail drop down menu select Preferences
• Select Composing
• Tick Automatically complete addresses
• Select Configure LDAP
• Select +
• In the Name field enter a suitable name, e.g. University directory to make it easy to recognize
• In the Server field type ldap.lookup.cam.ac.uk
• In the Search base type ou=people,o=University of Cambridge,dc=cam,dc=ac,dc=uk (be sure to type it exactly as it appears on this page)
• The University LDAP server supports secure LDAP connections. Use of secure connections is good practice to secure the personal data provided by the service. To set this:-
  • Mac OS 10.5 and above
    Tick the Use SSL box, leave the port number set to 636.
  • Mac OS X earlier than 10.5 'Leopard'
    Tick the Use SSL box. Now change the port number back to 389 - do not use 636 as the port number.
• Select Save
• Ensure that the Active box is ticked and then select Done

For Mac OS 10.5 restart Apple Mail completely. Do not just shut the window and open it again but do a proper quit via Mail -> Quit Mail or use <apple key (aka command key)> + Q on the keyboard, then wait for Mail to shut down then start it again.

Using the LDAP Directory to find an address

• Select File -> New Message
• In the To: field start typing the family name (or partial name) of the person you want to search for. Where possible use 4 or more characters as this will make the search more efficient
• If the search returns just the right person the name and address will be added to the recipients of your email. If the search returns a list of names, scroll down until you highlight the correct name which will then be added
• Repeat this procedure until you have added all the recipients to your message.

Note that if you have configured LDAP access in Mail you will find that the MacOS Address book can also access information from the LDAP directory. Once you have the Address Book open, click on Directories and type the name in the search field. To add someone to your personal Address Book, drag the card from the search result column to All in the Group column.

For more details on selecting and using LDAP settings see the online help for Mail or the Address Book.