This manual page provides a basic description of LDIF. A formal specification of LDIF is published in RFC 2849.
LDIF entry records are used to represent directory entries. The basic form of an entry record is:
dn:: : :: :< ...
The value may be specified as UTF-8 text or as base64 encoded data, or a URI may be provided to the location of the attribute value.
A line may be continued by starting the next line with a single space or tab, e.g.,
dn: cn=Barbara J Jensen,dc=exam ple,dc=com
Lines beginning with a sharp sign ('#') are ignored.
Multiple attribute values are specified on separate lines, e.g.,
cn: Barbara J Jensen cn: Babs Jensen
If an value contains a non-printing character, or begins
with a space or a colon ':', the
If the attribute value is located in a file, the
Multiple entries within the same LDIF file are separated by blank
lines.
dn: cn=Bjorn J Jensen,dc=example,dc=com
cn: Bjorn J Jensen
cn: Bjorn Jensen
objectclass: person
sn: Jensen
dn: cn=Jennifer J Jensen,dc=example,dc=com
cn: Jennifer J Jensen
cn: Jennifer Jensen
objectclass: person
sn: Jensen
jpegPhoto:: /9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAAAAAQABAAD/2wBDABALD
A4MChAODQ4SERATGCgaGBYWGDEjJR0oOjM9PDkzODdASFxOQ
ERXRTc4UG1RV19iZ2hnPk1xeXBkeFxlZ2P/2wBDARESEhgVG
...
Note that the description in Barbara Jensen's entry is
read from file:///tmp/babs and the jpegPhoto in Jennifer
Jensen's entry is encoded using base 64.
Finally, the change information itself is given, the format of which
depends on what kind of change was specified above. For a _c_h_a_n_g_e_t_y_p_e
of _m_o_d_i_f_y, the format is one or more of the following:
Or, for a replace modification:
If no _a_t_t_r_i_b_u_t_e_t_y_p_e lines are given to replace,
the entire attribute is to be deleted (if present).
Or, for a delete modification:
If no _a_t_t_r_i_b_u_t_e_t_y_p_e lines are given to delete,
the entire attribute is to be deleted.
For a _c_h_a_n_g_e_t_y_p_e of _a_d_d, the format is:
For a _c_h_a_n_g_e_t_y_p_e of _m_o_d_r_d_n or _m_o_d_d_n,
the format is:
where a value of 1 for deleteoldrdn means to delete the values
forming the old rdn from the entry, and a value of 0 means to
leave the values as non-distinguished attributes in the entry.
The newsuperior line is optional and, if present, specifies the
new superior to move the entry to.
For a _c_h_a_n_g_e_t_y_p_e of _d_e_l_e_t_e, no additional information
is needed in the record.
Note that attribute values may be presented using base64 or in
files as described for entry records. Lines in change records
may be continued in the manner described for entry records as
well.
dn: cn=Babs Jensen,dc=example,dc=com
changetype: modify
add: givenName
givenName: Barbara
givenName: babs
-
replace: description
description: the fabulous babs
-
delete: sn
sn: jensen
-
dn: cn=Babs Jensen,dc=example,dc=com
changetype: modrdn
newrdn: cn=Barbara J Jensen
deleteoldrdn: 0
newsuperior: ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
dn: cn=Barbara J Jensen,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
changetype: delete
include: file:///tmp/example.com.ldif
dn: dc=example,dc=org
objectclass: domain
dc: example
This feature is not part of the LDIF specification in RFC 2849 but
is expected to appear in a future revision of this spec. It is supported
by the
ldapadd(1)
ldapmodify(1)
and
slapadd(8)
commands.
"LDAP Data Interchange Format," Good, G., RFC 2849.
cn:: IGJlZ2lucyB3aXRoIGEgc3BhY2U=
cn:< file:///tmp/value
Other URI schemes (ftp,http) may be supported as well.
ENTRY RECORD EXAMPLE
Here is an example of an LDIF file containing three entries.
dn: cn=Barbara J Jensen,dc=example,dc=com
cn: Barbara J Jensen
cn: Babs Jensen
objectclass: person
description:< file:///tmp/babs
sn: Jensen
CHANGE RECORDS
LDIF change records are used to represent directory change requests.
Each change record starts with line indicating the distinguished
name of the entry being changed:
dn:
changetype: <[modify|add|delete|modrdn]>
add:
replace:
delete:
newrdn:
CHANGE RECORD EXAMPLE
The following sample LDIF file contains a change record
of each type of change.
dn: cn=Babs Jensen,dc=example,dc=com
changetype: add
objectclass: person
objectclass: extensibleObject
cn: babs
cn: babs jensen
sn: jensen
INCLUDE STATEMENT
The LDIF parser has been extended to support an
include
statement for referencing other LDIF files. The
include
statement must be separated from other records by a blank line.
The referenced file is specified using a file: URI and all of its
contents are incorporated as if they were part of the original
LDIF file. As above, other URI schemes may be supported. For example:
dn: dc=example,dc=com
objectclass: domain
dc: example
SEE ALSO
ldap(3)
ldapsearch(1)
ldapadd(1)
ldapmodify(1)
slapadd(8)
slapcat(8)
slapd-ldif(5)
slapd.replog(5)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
OpenLDAP Software
is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project