There are 2 ways to embed Penrose into your Java application.

Penrose Service

Penrose service is the very basic virtual directory functionality. If you only need the mapping service you can just instantiate Penrose object.

PenroseConfig penroseConfig = ...

Penrose penrose = new Penrose(penroseConfig);

Penrose Server

Penrose server is Penrose service plus other services such as LDAP and JMX. If you need those services you will need to instantiate PenroseServer object.

PenroseConfig penroseConfig = ...

PenroseServer penroseServer = new PenroseServer(penroseConfig);
Penrose penrose = penroseServer.getPenrose();

This will allow you to accept LDAP requests from LDAP clients. You can also manage your Penrose instance through Penrose Studio via the JMX service.