HP UX Identity Security Software manual Overview of the Directory Server configuration

2 Core server configuration reference

The configuration information for the HP-UX Directory Server is stored as LDAP entries within the directory itself. Therefore, changes to the server configuration must be implemented through the use of the server itself rather than by simply editing configuration files. The principal advantage of this method of configuration storage is that it allows a directory administrator to reconfigure the server using LDAP while it is still running, thus avoiding the need to shut the server down for most configuration changes.

This chapter gives details on how the configuration is organized and how to alter it. The chapter also provides an alphabetical reference for all attributes.

2.1 Overview of the Directory Server configuration

When the Directory Server is set up, its default configuration is stored as a series of LDAP entries within the directory, under the subtree cn=config. When the server is started, the contents of the cn=config subtree are read from a file (dse.ldif) in LDIF format. This dse.ldif file contains all the server configuration information. The latest version of this file is called dse.ldif, the version prior to the last modification is called dse.ldif.bak, and the latest file with which the server successfully started is called dse.ldif.startOK.

Many of the features of the Directory Server are designed as discrete modules that plug into the core server. The details of the internal configuration for each plug-in are contained in separate entries under cn=plugins,cn=config. For example, the configuration of the Telephone Syntax Plug-in is contained in this entry:

cn=Telephone Syntax,cn=plugins,cn=config

Similarly, database-specific configuration is stored under cn=ldbm database,cn=plugins,cn=config for local databases and cn=chaining database,cn=plugins,cn=config for database links.

The following diagram illustrates how the configuration data fits within the cn=config directory information tree.

Figure 2-1 Directory information tree showing configuration data

2.1.1 LDIF and schema configuration files

The Directory Server configuration data is automatically output to files in LDIF format that are located in the /etc/opt/dirsrv/slapd-instance_namedirectory. Thus, if a server identifier is phonebook, then for a Directory Server, the configuration LDIF files are all stored under /etc/opt/dirsrv/slapd-phonebook.

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