LDAP-UX Client Services B.05.00 with Microsoft Windows Active Directory Server Administrator's Guide (obsolete beyond B.05.00)

6 Administering LDAP-UX Client Services
This chapter describes administrative procedures that will be used to keep clients operating efficiently
and when expanding the computing environment.
6.1 Using the LDAP-UX client daemon
This section contains the following information:
• Overview of ldapclientd daemon operation.
• Command line syntax and options for the ldapclientd command.
• Configurable parameters and syntax in the ldapclientd configuration file ldapclientd.conf.
6.1.1 Overview
The LDAP-UX client daemon is the central process that enables HP-UX to interact with directory
servers. To perform this role, the daemon executes the following tasks:
• Receives requests from properly configured applications and services.
• Generates connections and requests to the configured directory server.
• Returns appropriate reply to requesting application or service.
In addition to the basic tasks of enabling authentication for applications and services, the client
supports the following features:
• Supports Multiple Domains: The client daemon enables LDAP-UX to use multiple domains for
directory servers like Active Directory Server (ADS). The daemon also allows PAM Kerberos
to authenticate POSIX users stored in multiple domains; supports multiple domains in the
Windows 2003 R2/2008 Active Directory Server (ADS).
• Supports X.500 group membership.
• Automatic Profile Downloading: This feature updates the LDAP client configuration profile by
downloading a newer copy from the directory server when the profile TTL (Time To Live)
configuration value expires.
• Manages the remote LP printer configuration: The client daemon automatically searches for
certain printer objects configured in the LDAP server and executes lpshut, lpadmin and
lpsched commands to add, modify, and remove printers accordingly for the local system.
By default, the LDAP printer configurator is enabled.
By default, ldapclientd starts at system boot time. The client daemon can be launched manually
or controlled while it is running by executing the ldapclientd command. For detailed information
on the available parameters and syntax for the ldapclientd command, see Section 6.1.4
(page 85) for details.
6.1.2 Client daemon performance
Performance (client response time) is improved by the following techniques:
• Reuse of connections to the directory server: This feature improves performance by reducing
the overhead associated with opening and closing bindings to the directory server and
significantly reduces network traffic and server load.
• Enabling the client cache: Enabling the cache will allow the client to cache the reply information
retrieved for the following service data:
◦ passwd
◦ group
6.1 Using the LDAP-UX client daemon 83