Appendix B. LDAP Data Interchange Format
Red Hat Directory Server (Directory Server) uses the LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) to describe a directory and directory entries in text format. LDIF is commonly used to build the initial directory database or to add large numbers of entries to the directory all at once. In addition, LDIF is also used to describe changes to directory entries. For this reason, most of Directory Server's command-line utilities rely on LDIF for either input or output.
Because LDIF is a text file format, LDIF files can be created using virtually any language. All directory data is stored using the UTF-8 encoding of Unicode. Therefore, the LDIF files created must also be UTF-8 encoded.
For information on using LDIF to modify directory entries, see Chapter 3, Managing Directory Entries.
B.1. About the LDIF File Format
LDIF consists of one or more directory entries separated by a blank line. Each LDIF entry consists of an optional entry ID, a required distinguished name, one or more object classes, and multiple attribute definitions.
The LDIF format is defined in RFC 2849, The LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF). Directory Server is compliant with this standard.
The basic form of a directory entry represented in LDIF is as follows:
dn: distinguished_name objectClass: object_class objectClass: object_class ... attribute_type[;subtype]:attribute_value ...
- Every LDIF entry must have a DN and at least one object class definition.
- Include any attributes required by the object classes defined for the entry.
- All other attributes and object classes are optional.
- Object classes and attributes can be specified in any order.
- The space after the colon is optional.
Table B.1, “LDIF Fields” describes the LDIF fields shown in the previous definition.
| Field | Definition |
|---|---|
| [id] | Optional. A positive decimal number representing the entry ID. The database creation tools generate this ID automatically. Never add or edit this value yourself. |
| dn: distinguished_name | Specifies the distinguished name for the entry. |
| objectClass: object_class | Specifies an object class to use with this entry. The object class identifies the types of attributes, or schema, allowed and required for the entry. See the Red Hat Directory Server 11 Configuration, Command, and File Reference for a list of standard object classes and Chapter 12, Managing the Directory Schema for information on customizing the schema. |
| attribute_type | Specifies a descriptive attribute to use with the entry. The attribute should be defined either in the schema. See the Red Hat Directory Server 11 Configuration, Command, and File Reference for a list of standard attributes and Chapter 12, Managing the Directory Schema for information on customizing the schema. |
| [subtype] | Optional. Specifies subtype, language, binary, or pronunciation. Use this tag to identify the language in which the corresponding attribute value is expressed or whether the attribute value is binary or a pronunciation of an attribute value. For a complete list of the supported subtypes tags, see Table D.1, “Supported Language Subtypes”. |
| attribute_value | Specifies the attribute value to be used with the attribute type. |
Note
The LDIF syntax for representing a change to an entry in the directory is different from the syntax described in Table B.1, “LDIF Fields”. For information on using LDIF to modify directory entries, see Chapter 3, Managing Directory Entries.
