An entry is one unit in an LDAP directory. An
entry is identified or referenced by its unique Distinguished
Name (DN).
An entry has attributes, which are pieces of
information directly associated with the entry. For example, 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>:
<attrvalue> pairs as needed. A blank line
indicates that the entry is finished and that another entry is about to
begin.
 | Caution |
|---|
| | 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.
