Connect to another network account server

You can connect your server to a network account server (also known as a directory server), which gives users on the network account server access to Wiki service and shared group folders.

Your server can connect to an Open Directory server with OS X Server installed.

Your server can also connect to a Windows Active Directory server or to a third-party LDAP server. If your server connects to an LDAP server, you might need to use the Directory Utility app to change your server’s LDAP server mappings.

If your server is connected to a network account server, groups on your server can include users and groups from that server. People with user accounts on other network account servers don’t have user accounts on your server and can only access wiki services unless you grant them access to other services. By default, they can access the group’s shared folder and wikis that the group has permission to view.

For information about setting up your server to host network accounts, see Host network accounts.

Choose Apple menu > System Preferences.
Click Users & Groups, then click Login Options (below the users list).
The button is labeled Join if you haven’t already connected to a network account server. It’s labeled Edit if you already have an existing connection.
If you clicked Edit, click Add .
Type the name or IP address of a network account server in the Server field, or choose one from the Server pop-up menu.
Click OK.
- For an Open Directory server, you can enter the name and password of a standard user account; you don’t need to use a directory administrator account. Depending on the network account server settings, you might be able to connect without authentication by leaving these fields blank, although this is less secure.
- For an Active Directory server, you can enter the name and password of an Active Directory administrator account or a standard user account that has the “Add workstations to domain” privilege.
To add another server connection, click Add , then repeat steps 3 and 4.

You can also disconnect from network account servers using System Preferences. For information about joining network account servers in System Preferences, see System Preferences Help.

For more advanced network account server connections configuration settings, see Directory Utility Help. To open Directory Utility, choose Tools > Directory Utility in the Server app menu bar.