LDAP-UX Client Services B.05.00 Administrator's Guide

7.5 Schema extension utility
7.5.1 Overview
A directory schema is a collection of attribute type definitions, object class definitions and other
information supported by a directory server. Schema controls the type of data that can be stored
in a directory server. Although there are some recommended schemas that came originally from
the X.500 standards, mostly for representing individuals and organizations, there is no universal
schema standard in place for every possible application. Also, there is no standard method for
installing the schema definition on a directory server. To support a particular schema definition,
LDAP developers are required to manually create schema definition files in the specific format
tailored for each version of a supported directory server. They also have to create a custom install
program for each variety of directory servers.
To address these issues, LDAP-UX Client Services supports the schema extension utility. This
tool queries the current status of the LDAP schema on an LDAP directory server and extends
the LDAP server schema with new schema definitions. This tool allows creation of a schema
definition in a general format, that can be installed on a number of different directory servers
types (such as HP-UX Directory Server, Red Hat Directory Server, Windows Active Directory
Server, and so forth). A user with valid directory server administration privileges can use this
tool to query and extend schema definitions stored in an XML schema definition file into the
LDAP directory server.
7.5.1.1 Benefits of the schema extension tool
The schema extension tool provides the following benefits:
• Assists application developers to easily install their application schemas to the LDAP directory
server.
• Supports automated schema integration into the directory server environment.
• Extends the LDAP directory server schema with new schema definitions dynamically using
the schema extension tool, or stores schema extension instructions in the specified file (usually
in LDIF format) so the schema can be extended into the directory server manually.
• Reduces user effort in schema extension.
• Simplifies schema management.
7.5.2 How the schema extension utility works
The schema extension utility, /opt/ldapux/bin/ldapschema, automatically maps a custom
schema definition in a general purpose format to the schema definition format required by the
specific LDAP directory server. The HP-UX Directory Server, Redhat Directory Server, and
Windows Active Directory Server (ADS) are fully supported by the ldapschema tool.
The schema extension utility extends the LDAP directory server with new object classes and
attribute types specified in a schema definition file. This utility extends only object classes and
attribute types that are not yet defined in a Directory Server schema. No new matching rules or
syntaxes can be installed on a Directory Server using this tool. If any attribute types specified in
the new schema definition use matching rules or syntaxes that are not defined in the LDAP
directory server, the schema extension tool maps these attribute types using alternate matching
rules and syntaxes the directory server supports. If no alternate matching rule or syntax is found
on an LDAP directory server, the default substitute matching rule or syntax will be used instead.
See Section 7.5.7 (page 315) for details.
The schema definitions are stored in an XML format file. This allows you to specify a general
schema definition that can be extended on different types and versions of directory servers. See
Section 7.5.4 (page 305), Section 7.5.4.2 (page 307) and Section 7.5.4.4 (page 309) for details.
For this release of LDAP-UX Client Services, the setup tool has not been integrated with
ldapschema. You will continue to use the setup tool to extend the directory server schema
298 Command and tool reference