Windchill obtains information from LDAP directory services about both users and groups as well as system infrastructure. This includes Info*Engine configuration information as well as information about Windchill task delegates and information repositories.

Windchill uses standards-based directory service APIs to communicate with LDAP directory services. Theoretically, therefore, Windchill can access and interact with any directory service that implements the Internet-standard LDAP Version 3 protocol. Differences do exist between different LDAP-based directory products. For example, the scalability, performance characteristics, and extended schema supported by various LDAP directory implementations differ, so Windchill imposes some restrictions on the directory solutions that it supports.

Windchill includes and requires a bundled LDAP directory server named the Windchill Directory Server. The Windchill Directory Server satisfies all of the directory service requirements for Windchill, and can hold information about Windchill users and groups, as well as all of the directory-based infrastructure information for Windchill. In fact, Windchill requires that its infrastructure information be held by the Windchill Directory Server. On the other hand, Windchill allows information about users and groups to be held in another LDAP directory if desired.

Thus, Windchill can be configured to interact with multiple LDAP directory servers simultaneously. At least one of these must be the Windchill Directory Server, and the Windchill Directory Server must contain all of the directory-based infrastructure information for Windchill (for example, Info*Engine configuration properties and Windchill Federation configuration information). Windchill can obtain information about users and groups from any LDAP directory service that complies with Internet LDAP Version 3 standards, including, but not limited to, the Windchill Directory Server. Because Windchill must have the ability to update Windchill group and organization information, this information must be stored in an LDAP server, such as the Windchill Directory Server, that provides full access to Windchill.