diff --git a/phpgwapi/inc/class.ldap.inc.php b/phpgwapi/inc/class.ldap.inc.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..52a575a4b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/phpgwapi/inc/class.ldap.inc.php
@@ -0,0 +1,279 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * API - LDAP connection handling
+ *
+ * @link http://www.egroupware.org
+ * @author Lars Kneschke <l.kneschke@metaways.de>
+ * @author Ralf Becker <RalfBecker-AT-outdoor-training.de>
+ *
+ * @license http://opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php GPL - GNU General Public License
+ * @package api
+ * @subpackage ldap
+ * @version $Id$
+ */
+
+/**
+ * LDAP connection handling
+ * 
+ * Please note for SSL or TLS connections hostname has to be:
+ * - SSL: "ldaps://host"
+ * - TLS: "tls://host"
+ * Both require certificats installed on the webserver, otherwise the connection will fail!
+ */
+class ldap
+{
+	/**
+	* @var resource $ds holds the LDAP link identifier
+	*/
+	var $ds;
+
+	/**
+	* @var array $ldapServerInfo holds the detected information about the different ldap servers
+	*/
+	var $ldapServerInfo;
+
+	/**
+	 * the constructor for this class
+	 */
+	function __construct()
+	{
+		$this->restoreSessionData();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * escapes a string for use in searchfilters meant for ldap_search.
+	 *
+	 * Escaped Characters are: '*', '(', ')', ' ', '\', NUL
+	 * It's actually a PHP-Bug, that we have to escape space.
+	 * For all other Characters, refer to RFC2254.
+	 * @param $string either a string to be escaped, or an array of values to be escaped
+	 * @return ldapserverinfo|boolean
+	 */
+	function getLDAPServerInfo($_host)
+	{
+		if(is_a($this->ldapServerInfo[$_host], 'ldapserverinfo'))
+		{
+			return $this->ldapServerInfo[$_host];
+		}
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * escapes a string for use in searchfilters meant for ldap_search.
+	 *
+	 * Escaped Characters are: '*', '(', ')', ' ', '\', NUL
+	 * It's actually a PHP-Bug, that we have to escape space.
+	 * For all other Characters, refer to RFC2254.
+	 *
+	 * @param string|array $string either a string to be escaped, or an array of values to be escaped
+	 * @return string
+	 */
+	static function quote($string)
+	{
+		return str_replace(array('\\','*','(',')','\0',' '),array('\\\\','\*','\(','\)','\\0','\20'),$string);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * connect to the ldap server and return a handle
+	 *
+	 * @param $host ldap host
+	 * @param $dn ldap dn
+	 * @param $passwd ldap pw
+	 * @return resource|boolean resource from ldap_connect() or false on error
+	 */
+	function ldapConnect($host='', $dn='', $passwd='')
+	{
+		if(!function_exists('ldap_connect'))
+		{
+			/* log does not exist in setup(, yet) */
+			if(isset($GLOBALS['egw']->log))
+			{
+				$GLOBALS['egw']->log->message('F-Abort, LDAP support unavailable');
+				$GLOBALS['egw']->log->commit();
+			}
+
+			printf('<b>Error: LDAP support unavailable</b><br>',$host);
+			return False;
+		}
+		if(!$host)
+		{
+			$host = $GLOBALS['egw_info']['server']['ldap_host'];
+		}
+
+		if(!$dn)
+		{
+			$dn = $GLOBALS['egw_info']['server']['ldap_root_dn'];
+		}
+
+		if(!$passwd)
+		{
+			$passwd = $GLOBALS['egw_info']['server']['ldap_root_pw'];
+		}
+
+		if (($use_tls = substr($host,0,6) == 'tls://'))
+		{
+			$host = parse_url($host,PHP_URL_HOST);
+		}
+		// connects to ldap server
+		if(!$this->ds = ldap_connect($host))
+		{
+			/* log does not exist in setup(, yet) */
+			if(isset($GLOBALS['egw']->log))
+			{
+				$GLOBALS['egw']->log->message('F-Abort, Failed connecting to LDAP server');
+				$GLOBALS['egw']->log->commit();
+			}
+
+			printf("<b>Error: Can't connect to LDAP server %s!</b><br>",$host);
+			echo function_backtrace(1);
+			return False;
+		}
+
+		if(ldap_set_option($this->ds, LDAP_OPT_PROTOCOL_VERSION, 3))
+		{
+			$supportedLDAPVersion = 3;
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			$supportedLDAPVersion = 2;
+		}
+		if ($use_tls) ldap_start_tls($this->ds);
+
+		if(!isset($this->ldapServerInfo[$host]))
+		{
+			//error_log("no ldap server info found");
+			$ldapbind = @ldap_bind($this->ds, $GLOBALS['egw_info']['server']['ldap_root_dn'], $GLOBALS['egw_info']['server']['ldap_root_pw']);
+
+			$filter='(objectclass=*)';
+			$justthese = array('structuralObjectClass','namingContexts','supportedLDAPVersion','subschemaSubentry');
+
+			if(($sr = @ldap_read($this->ds, '', $filter, $justthese)))
+			{
+				if($info = ldap_get_entries($this->ds, $sr))
+				{
+					$ldapServerInfo = new ldapserverinfo();
+
+					$ldapServerInfo->setVersion($supportedLDAPVersion);
+
+					// check for naming contexts
+					if($info[0]['namingcontexts'])
+					{
+						for($i=0; $i<$info[0]['namingcontexts']['count']; $i++)
+						{
+							$namingcontexts[] = $info[0]['namingcontexts'][$i];
+						}
+						$ldapServerInfo->setNamingContexts($namingcontexts);
+					}
+
+					// check for ldap server type
+					if($info[0]['structuralobjectclass'])
+					{
+						switch($info[0]['structuralobjectclass'][0])
+						{
+							case 'OpenLDAProotDSE':
+								$ldapServerType = OPENLDAP_LDAPSERVER;
+								break;
+							default:
+								$ldapServerType = UNKNOWN_LDAPSERVER;
+								break;
+						}
+						$ldapServerInfo->setServerType($ldapServerType);
+					}
+
+					// check for subschema entry dn
+					if($info[0]['subschemasubentry'])
+					{
+						$subschemasubentry = $info[0]['subschemasubentry'][0];
+						$ldapServerInfo->setSubSchemaEntry($subschemasubentry);
+					}
+
+					// create list of supported objetclasses
+					if(!empty($subschemasubentry))
+					{
+						$filter='(objectclass=*)';
+						$justthese = array('objectClasses');
+
+						if($sr=ldap_read($this->ds, $subschemasubentry, $filter, $justthese))
+						{
+							if($info = ldap_get_entries($this->ds, $sr))
+							{
+								if($info[0]['objectclasses']) {
+									for($i=0; $i<$info[0]['objectclasses']['count']; $i++)
+									{
+										$pattern = '/^\( (.*) NAME \'(\w*)\' /';
+										if(preg_match($pattern, $info[0]['objectclasses'][$i], $matches))
+										{
+											#_debug_array($matches);
+											if(count($matches) == 3)
+											{
+												$supportedObjectClasses[$matches[1]] = strtolower($matches[2]);
+											}
+										}
+									}
+									$ldapServerInfo->setSupportedObjectClasses($supportedObjectClasses);
+								}
+							}
+						}
+					}
+					$this->ldapServerInfo[$host] = $ldapServerInfo;
+				}
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				$this->ldapServerInfo[$host] = false;
+			}
+			$this->saveSessionData();
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			$ldapServerInfo = $this->ldapServerInfo[$host];
+		}
+
+		if(!@ldap_bind($this->ds, $dn, $passwd))
+		{
+			if(isset($GLOBALS['egw']->log))
+			{
+				$GLOBALS['egw']->log->message('F-Abort, Failed binding to LDAP server');
+				$GLOBALS['egw']->log->commit();
+			}
+
+			printf("<b>Error: Can't bind to LDAP server: %s!</b> %s<br />",$dn,function_backtrace(1));
+			return False;
+		}
+
+		return $this->ds;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * disconnect from the ldap server
+	 */
+	function ldapDisconnect()
+	{
+		if(is_resource($this->ds))
+		{
+			ldap_unbind($this->ds);
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * restore the session data
+	 */
+	function restoreSessionData()
+	{
+		if (isset($GLOBALS['egw']->session))	// no availible in setup
+		{
+			$this->ldapServerInfo = (array) unserialize($GLOBALS['egw']->session->appsession('ldapServerInfo'));
+		}
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * save the session data
+	 */
+	function saveSessionData()
+	{
+		if (isset($GLOBALS['egw']->session))	// no availible in setup
+		{
+			$GLOBALS['egw']->session->appsession('ldapServerInfo','',serialize($this->ldapServerInfo));
+		}
+	}
+}