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Section 15.5:OpenLDAP 2.0 Enhancements
15.4 LDAP Terminology
An entry is one unit in an LDAP directory. An entry is identified or referenced by its unique Distin-
guished Name (DN).
An entry has attributes, which are pieces of information directly associated with the entry. For ex-
ample, an organization could be an LDAP entry. Attributes associated with the organization might be
its fax number, its address, and so on. People can also be entries in the LDAP directory. Common
attributes for people include their telephone numbers and their e-mail addresses.
Certain attributes are required, while other attributes are optional. An objectclass sets which attributes
are required and which are optional. Objectclass definitions are found in various schema files, located
in the /etc/openldap/schema directory.
The LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) is an ASCII text format for LDAP entries. Files that
import or export data to and from LDAP servers must be in LDIF format. An LDIF entry looks like
this:
[< id >]
dn: < distinguished name >
< attrtype >: < attrvalue >
< attrtype >: < attrvalue >
< attrtype >: < attrvalue >
An entry can contain as many < attrtype >:
cates that the entry is finished and that another entry is about to begin.
Your < attrtype > and < attrvalue > pairs must be defined in a schema
before they can be used. You cannot simply define them in an LDIF file and
expect an LDAP server without corresponding data in its schema files to be
able to use this information.
Everything enclosed within < > is variable and can be set by you when you add an LDAP entry, with
the exception of the < id >. The < id > is a number normally set by the LDAP tools when you add an
entry, and you will probably never need to manually set one.
15.5 OpenLDAP 2.0 Enhancements
OpenLDAP 2.0 represents a major upgrade for the application, bringing with it:
< attrvalue > pairs as needed. A blank line indi-
CAUTION
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