What is an LDAP server and can it be used for the cloud version of JIRA service desk?

[Fahad Akhtar]

I am watching the JIRA Server Administration Part 1: Getting up and Running course on Atlassian University and the video did not explain what the LDAP server is. Please explain what the LDAP server is used for. Thank you. 

[Petter Gonçalves]

Hello Fahad,

Thank you for reaching out.

An LDAP directory/server is a collection of data about users and groups. LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is an Internet protocol that web applications can use to look up information about those users and groups from the LDAP server.

In Jira Server, you can integrate LDAP Server for authentication, user and group management, as you can see in the documentation below:

- Connecting JIRA to an LDAP directory

Unfortunately, LDAP/AD integration is natively only available with self-hosted (Server and Data Center) editions, however, we have a feature request to get it implemented in JIRA Service desk Cloud:

- Organization LDAP integration

Feel free to vote and watch the suggestion to increase its priority and also receive notifications about any updates.

As a workaround, you can try  Secure access add-on by OneLogin to connect AD to Atlassian Cloud, however, I'm not sure if this would work with JIRA SD organizations.

To check what kind of authentication and user management integration can be used in JIRA Cloud, you can check the documentation below:

- Atlassian Cloud: Authentication - SAML SSO, G Suite and Atlassian account

Let me know if this information helps.