Red Hat Directory Server 8.0 Configuration, Command, and File Reference

Core Server Configuration Reference
The configuration information for Red Hat 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.
1. Server Configuration - Overview
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 of 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.
Chapter 2.
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