View Source: LDAP - Waikato Linux Users Group

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An [Acronym] for __L__ightweight __D__irectory __A__ccess __P__rotocol.

A [Protocol] for accessing hierarchical data. Kinda like [SQL] except it has "fixed" schemata (you can define your own, but not quite as easily as you do in [SQL]) and it's for HierarchicalDataBase~s rather than RelationalDataBase~s. It is often used for directories, so [LDAP] implementations are commonly optimised for reading much more than for modifying/inserting data.

Products which speak [LDAP] include the [Free] [OpenLDAP], NetWare's [NDS], and MicrosoftCorporation's ActiveDirectory.

Definitions of terms:
;BASEDN:This is the base of your ldap tree.  Often it's made up from your domain name (if your domain name is foo.example.org then your basedn is often dc=foo,dc=example,dc=org), or from your organisation name (ou=''organisationname'',c=''ISO country code'').
;BINDDN:This is the "username" you bind to the ldap tree as.  Often cn=''<username>'',ou=Users,''<BASEDN>''

When trying to use ldapsearch(1) try:
<pre>
 ldapsearch -x -h ''ldapservername'' -B ''binddn'' -W -b ''basedn''
</pre>
This can often be simplified and defaults provided in <tt>/etc/ldap/ldap.conf</tt> or <tt>/etc/openldap/ldap.conf</tt>

<?plugin OldStyleTable
|^__Short name__|^__Long name__|^__Use__
|cn|commonName|A common ("readable") name of a resource
|ou|organisationalUnit|Some unit (or grouping).
|uid|userId|A username
?>


See also:
* [LDAPNotes]
* [LDAPURLs]
* [LDAPAuthentication]
* OpenLdapAccessControls
* ''[LDAP] System Adminstration'', available to [WLUG] members from the [WlugLibrary:15]
* DanielLawson, our local [LDAP] guru. If you've got the problem, he's got the solution. :)

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CategoryProtocols
Last edited on Wednesday, June 22, 2005 1:49:40 pm by JohnMcPherson
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