attribute instead of the uid attribute if the enterprise does not assign employee numbers or user IDs for temporary or contract employees.

•employeeNumber

For employees of the inetOrgPerson object class, consider using an employer assigned attribute value such as employeeNumber.

Whatever is used for an attribute-data pair for person entry RDNs, make sure that they are unique, permanent values. Person entry RDNs should also be readable. For example, uid=bjensen, dc=example, dc=com is preferable to uid=b12r56A, dc=example,dc=com because recognizable DNs simplify some directory tasks, such as changing directory entries based on their distinguished names. Also, some directory client applications assume that the uid and cn attributes use human-readable names.

Considerations for person entries in a hosted environment If a person is a subscriber to a service, the entry should be of object class inetUser, and the entry should contain the uid attribute. The attribute must be unique within a customer subtree.

If a person is part of the hosting organization, represent them as an inetOrgPerson with the nsManagedPerson object class.

Placing person entries in the dit The following are some guidelines for placing person entries in the directory tree:

•People in an enterprise should be located in the directory tree below the organization's entry.

•Subscribers to a hosting organization need to be below the ou=people branch for the hosted organization.

4.2.3.2Naming group entries

There are four main ways to represent a group:

•A static group explicitly defines is members. The groupOfNames or groupOfUniqueNames object classes contain values naming the members of the group. Static groups are suitable for groups with few members, such as the group of directory administrators. Static groups are not suitable for groups with thousands of members.

Static group entries must contain a uniqueMember attribute value because uniqueMember is a mandatory attribute of the groupOfUniqueNames object. This object class requires the cn attribute, which can be used to form the DN of the group entry.

Group membership is determined by the member attribute on the group entry, but group membership for all groups is reflected in the user's entry in the memberOf attribute. The name of every group to which a user belongs is listed as a memberOf attribute. The values of those memberOf attributes are managed by the Directory Server.

•A dynamic group uses an entry representing the group with a search filter and subtree. Entries matching the filter are members of the group.

•Roles unify the static and dynamic group concept. See “Grouping directory entries” for more information.

In a deployment containing hosted organizations, we recommend using the groupOfUniqueNames object class to contain the values naming the members of groups used in directory administration. In a hosted organization, we also recommend that group entries used for directory administration be located under the ou=Groups branch.

4.2.3.3 Naming organization entries

The organization entry name, like other entry names, must be unique. Using the legal name of the organization along with other attribute values helps ensure the name is unique, such as o=example_a+st=Washington, o=ISP,c=US.

Trademarks can also be used, but they are not guaranteed to be unique.

4.2 Designing the directory tree

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