The LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) - Technical Specification
RFC 2849
| Document | Type |
RFC - Proposed Standard
(June 2000; Errata)
Was draft-good-ldap-ldif (individual)
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|---|---|---|---|
| Last updated | 2013-03-02 | ||
| Stream | IETF | ||
| Formats | plain text pdf html bibtex | ||
| Stream | WG state | (None) | |
| Document shepherd | No shepherd assigned | ||
| IESG | IESG state | RFC 2849 (Proposed Standard) | |
| Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
| Telechat date | |||
| Responsible AD | (None) | ||
| Send notices to | (None) | ||
Network Working Group G. Good Request for Comments: 2849 iPlanet e-commerce Solutions Category: Standards Track June 2000 The LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) - Technical Specification Status of this Memo This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved. Abstract This document describes a file format suitable for describing directory information or modifications made to directory information. The file format, known as LDIF, for LDAP Data Interchange Format, is typically used to import and export directory information between LDAP-based directory servers, or to describe a set of changes which are to be applied to a directory. Background and Intended Usage There are a number of situations where a common interchange format is desirable. For example, one might wish to export a copy of the contents of a directory server to a file, move that file to a different machine, and import the contents into a second directory server. Additionally, by using a well-defined interchange format, development of data import tools from legacy systems is facilitated. A fairly simple set of tools written in awk or perl can, for example, convert a database of personnel information into an LDIF file. This file can then be imported into a directory server, regardless of the internal database representation the target directory server uses. The LDIF format was originally developed and used in the University of Michigan LDAP implementation. The first use of LDIF was in describing directory entries. Later, the format was expanded to allow representation of changes to directory entries. Good Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 2849 LDAP Data Interchange Format June 2000 Relationship to the application/directory MIME content-type: The application/directory MIME content-type [1] is a general framework and format for conveying directory information, and is independent of any particular directory service. The LDIF format is a simpler format which is perhaps easier to create, and may also be used, as noted, to describe a set of changes to be applied to a directory. The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "MAY", "SHOULD", and "SHOULD NOT" used in this document are to be interpreted as described in [7]. Definition of the LDAP Data Interchange Format The LDIF format is used to convey directory information, or a description of a set of changes made to directory entries. An LDIF file consists of a series of records separated by line separators. A record consists of a sequence of lines describing a directory entry, or a sequence of lines describing a set of changes to a directory entry. An LDIF file specifies a set of directory entries, or a set of changes to be applied to directory entries, but not both. There is a one-to-one correlation between LDAP operations that modify the directory (add, delete, modify, and modrdn), and the types of changerecords described below ("add", "delete", "modify", and "modrdn" or "moddn"). This correspondence is intentional, and permits a straightforward translation from LDIF changerecords to protocol operations. Formal Syntax Definition of LDIF The following definition uses the augmented Backus-Naur Form specified in RFC 2234 [2]. ldif-file = ldif-content / ldif-changes ldif-content = version-spec 1*(1*SEP ldif-attrval-record) ldif-changes = version-spec 1*(1*SEP ldif-change-record) ldif-attrval-record = dn-spec SEP 1*attrval-spec ldif-change-record = dn-spec SEP *control changerecord version-spec = "version:" FILL version-number Good Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 2849 LDAP Data Interchange Format June 2000 version-number = 1*DIGIT ; version-number MUST be "1" for the ; LDIF format described in this document. dn-spec = "dn:" (FILL distinguishedName / ":" FILL base64-distinguishedName)Show full document text