About Distinguished Names

To enable directory server integration in HCL® Marketing Software, you must determine the Distinguished Name (DN) for a user and for groups. The DN of an object on the directory server is the complete path through the directory server tree structure to that object.

DNs are made up of these components:

  • Organizational Unit (OU). This attribute is used to specify a namespace based on organizational structure. An OU is usually associated with a user-created directory server container or folder.

  • Common Name (CN). This attribute represents the object itself within the directory server.

  • Domain Component (DC). A Distinguished Name that uses DC attributes has one DC for every domain level below root. In other words, there is a DC attribute for every item separated by a dot in the domain name.

Use your directory server's Administration console to determine an object's Distinguished Name.