Book Image

Mastering OpenLDAP: Configuring, Securing and Integrating Directory Services

Book Image

Mastering OpenLDAP: Configuring, Securing and Integrating Directory Services

Overview of this book

This book is the ideal introduction to using OpenLDAP for Application Developers and will also benefit System Administrators running OpenLDAP. It prepares the reader to build a directory using OpenLDAP, and then employ this directory in the context of the network, taking a practical approach that emphasizes how to get things done. On occasion, it delves into theoretical aspects of LDAP, but only where understanding the theory helps to answer practical questions. The reader requires no knowledge of OpenLDAP, but even readers already familiar with the technology will find new things and techniques. This book is organized into three major sections: the first section covers the basics of LDAP directory services and the OpenLDAP server; the second focuses on building directory services with OpenLDAP; in the third section of the book, we look at how OpenLDAP is integrated with other applications and services on the network. This book not only demystifies OpenLDAP, but gives System Administrators and Application Developers a solid understanding of how to make use of OpenLDAP's directory services.The OpenLDAP directory server is a mature product that has been around (in one form or another) since 1995. It is an open-source server that provides network clients with directory services. All major Linux distributions include the OpenLDAP server, and many major applications, both open-source and proprietary, are directory aware and can make use of the services provided by OpenLDAP.The OpenLDAP directory server can be used to store organizational information in a centralized location, and make this information available to authorized applications. Client applications connect to OpenLDAP using the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and can then search the directory and (if they have appropriate access) modify and manipulate records. LDAP servers are most frequently used to provide network-based authentication services for users; but there are many other uses for an LDAP server, including using the directory as an address book, a DNS database, an organizational tool, or even as a network object store for applications.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Mastering OpenLDAP
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
Preface
Index

Using the Utilities to Prepare the Directory


So far in this chapter we have looked at the server operations, and created an LDIF file representing our initial directory information tree. In the remainder of this chapter we are going to look at two groups of tools. In this part we are going to look at the OpenLDAP utilities. In the next part we will look at the OpenLDAP clients.

Unlike the OpenLDAP clients, the utilities do not use the LDAP protocol to connect to a server and perform directory operations. Instead they work on a lower level, interacting directly with OpenLDAP directories and data files. The OpenLDAP suite includes eight utilities that perform administrative tasks. We will look at these tools as we go through the process of creating, loading, and verifying directory data.

The aim of this section is to explain the basic use of these utilities. Each utility has a handful of command-line flags that can be used to further modify the behavior of the utility. We will see some of...