A directory catalog is an optional directory database that can aggregate entries from multiple HCL Domino® directories into a single database. A directory catalog provides enterprise-wide directory access via a single database.

About this task

Directory catalogs are either client-based or server-based. Using a client-based condensed directory catalog, sometimes referred to as a mobile directory catalog, HCL Notes® users can access directory information for an enterprise offline, when not connected to the network. Servers use extended directory catalogs to look up information originating from a secondary Domino Directory.

Some of the questions to ask when planning directory catalogs are:

• Which documents and fields should be aggregated into a directory catalog? Which information you aggregate depends on the type and purpose of the of directory catalog.
• If your company uses multiple Domino directories, should you set up servers to use a directory catalog? The more Domino directories a company uses, the more benefit there is to aggregating the directories in an extended directory catalog used by servers.

  Note: In this release of Domino, using a condensed directory catalog on a server is no longer supported. If you created condensed directory catalogs and are using them on servers running earlier releases, they will continue to operate, but are not recommended.

• Do you want to use a server-based directory catalog for client authentication? If so, how you enable the use of the directory catalog for this purpose depends on the type of server-based directory catalog you use.
• If you plan to use a condensed directory catalog on clients' machines, how should the entries be sorted? You should sort a condensed directory catalog according to how users typically enter names when addressing mail, so that type-ahead addressing can find the names.

Related concepts
Directory catalogs
Planning to set up directory catalogs
Planning directory services in a multiple-directory environment
Directory services terms

Related tasks
Comparison of directory catalogs and directory assistance