1. LDAP Namespace CNS 4650 Fall 2004 Rev. 2

2. What is a namespace? Different from XML, C++, Java, etc. Names permitted and used in a directory Can include (and usually) connected and potentially connected directories Usually defined on initial configuration of LDAP server

3. Namespace Can be meaningful or meaningless inside and outside of the directory Meaningful uid=jdoe,dc=acme,dc=com jdoe is meaningful, it describes a user Meaningless Randomly Generated number Specific to directory

4. Names in LDAP Every object name must be unique Not just user objects! Uniqueness is based upon placement in directory

5. Hierarchical Namespace Names are hierarchical Name relative to location in directory Only portion of name unique under common parent entry Different from flat namespace

6. DIT Functions Allows namespace to be unique across enterprises Can be distributed Facilitates security

7. DIT Functions Allows namespace to be unique across enterprises Can be distributed Facilitates security

8. Distinguished Names Fully qualified name of an LDAP object Two pieces RDN (Relative Distinguished Name) The base Similar to a primary key in database terminology Example: uid=jdoe,dc=acme,dc=com

9. Relative Distinguished Name RDN is one of the attributes of the object cn, uid Best choice is a unique and unchanging attribute Attribute that every object contains Multivalued RDNs uid=jdoe+ou=Sales Examples: uid=jdoe, cn=John, cn=John Doe

10. The base Parents containers of objects Objects cannot exist without parents Parent containers are also objects or valid entries Pieces of DN are separated by commas Whitespace before or after commas does not matter Examples: dc=acme,dc=com dc=acme, dc=com ou=sales,dc=acme,dc=com

11. Build Namespace Walk name or tree in reverse LDAP and X.500 are opposite

12. Examples (LDAP and X.500) LDAP uid=jdoe,ou=engr,dc=acme,dc=com cn=printer,ou=sales,dc=acme,dc=com X.500 o=com,ou=acme,ou=engr,uid=jdoe o=com,ou=acme,ou=sales,cn=printer

13. Root Namespace Traditional Organizational, Organizational Unit “o”, “ou” Domain Component DNS name parsed “dc”

14. Root Namespace Traditional Organizational, Organizational Unit “o”, “ou” Domain Component DNS name parsed “dc”