Net::LDAP::FAQ(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Net::LDAP::FAQ(3)NAMENet::LDAP::FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions about Net::LDAP
SYNOPSIS
perldoc Net::LDAP::FAQDESCRIPTION
This document serves to answer the most frequently asked questions on
both the perl-ldap Mailing List and those sent to Graham Barr.
The latest version of this FAQ can be found at
http://ldap.perl.org/FAQ.html
GENERAL
What is perl-ldap?
perl-ldap is the distribution name. The perl-ldap distribution contains
the Net::LDAP modules.
Why another Perl LDAP implementation?
perl-ldap's goal is to be as portable as possible. It does this by
being implemented completely in Perl. So basically anywhere that Perl
runs perl-ldap will run. This is not true for other implementations
which require a C compiler.
Where can I get it?
Perl-ldap is available from CPAN. You can find the released versions
at:
http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl-ldap/
Is there a web page for perl-ldap?
Yes there is at http://ldap.perl.org/
Is there a mailing list?
Yes there is at perl-ldap@perl.org
You can subscribe to this list by mailing perl-ldap-subscribe@perl.org
Is the mailing list archived?
Yes, at http://nntp.perl.org/group/perl.ldap
Archives with messages before we switched to using perl.org can be
found at
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=perl-ldap-dev
There is also an archive of the perl-ldap mailing list at
http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/mailing-lists/perl-ldap/
which also has messages from before the move.
Is there any online documentation?
Yes. perl-ldap has online documentation at
http://ldap.perl.org/
which will have the latest documentation available.
Is there a public repository?
Yes, there is a public Git repository at
https://github.com/perl-ldap/perl-ldap
Can I get perl-ldap from the public Git repository?
Yes, anyone can pull perl-ldap from the public Git repository on
GitHub.
There are several ways this can be done - see below.
CPAN
You can download it from CPAN by following the "Download" link on:
http://search.cpan.org/dist/perl-ldap/
Example;
http://search.cpan.org/CPAN/authors/id/M/MA/MARSCHAP/perl-ldap-0.44.tar.gz
Git - fork on GitHub
If you have an account on Github (there's a free variant), you can
easily fork the perl-ldap respository on GitHub. When logged on to
GitHub, navigate to the perl-ldap repository
https://github.com/perl-ldap/perl-ldap
and simply click on the "Fork" button near the top-right corner.
Git - clone repository
You can download latest development version of perl-ldap from
GitHub by cloning the repsoitory using the command:
git clone https://github.com/perl-ldap/perl-ldap.git
This command will create a directory named 'perl-ldap' in your
current directory containing a local clone of the repository.
Keeping your local repository in sync with perl-ldap's GitHub
repository is easy:
cd perl-ldap
git pull
Web page
Most of the time there is a URL link on the perl-ldap home page on
ldap.perl.org that points to the latest released version of perl-
ldap. Due to the fact that humans must update the web page to
point to a new release it sometimes does not get updated as quickly
as it should.
What is Git?
Git (see http://git-scm.com) is a distributed version control system
designed to keep track of source changes made by groups of developers
working on the same files, allowing them to stay in sync with each
other as each individual chooses.
LDAP AND DIRECTORY TERMINOLOGY.
In order to help the user understand the perl-ldap module better some
key LDAP terminology is defined here.
What is a directory?
A directory is a special purpose hierarchical database that usually
contains typed information such as text strings, binary data, or X.509
certificates.
What is LDAP?
LDAP stands for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. The word
Protocol is the key word in the definition given in the preceding
sentence, LDAP is NOT hardware or software. It is a protocol that
defines how a client and server will communicate with one another.
The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol is defined in a series of
Requests For Comments, better known as RFCs. The RFCs can be found on
the Internet at http://www.ietf.org/ (the master repository) and many
other places. There's a link to all the LDAP-related RFCs at perl-
ldap's web site, http://ldap.perl.org/rfc.html. Some of the more
important RFC numbers are RFC 4510 - 4519 for LDAP (previously called
LDAPv3) and the historic RFC 1777 for LDAPv2.
What is a LDAP Directory?
In the strictest terms of the definition there is no such thing as a
LDAP directory. To be practical about this situation every day
directory professionals refer to their directory as " a LDAP directory"
because it is easy to say and it does convey the type of protocol used
to communicate with their directory. Using this definition a LDAP
directory is a directory whose server software conforms to the
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol when communicating with a client.
What is an Entry?
The traditional directory definition of a directory object is called an
Entry. Entries are composed of attributes that contain the information
to be recorded about the object.
(An entry in LDAP is somewhat analogous to a record in a table in an
SQL database, but don't get too hung up about this analogy!)
Entries are held in an upside-down tree structure. Entries can
therefore contain subordinate entries, and entries must have one direct
superior entry.
Entries with subordinate entries are called 'non-leaf' entries.
Entries without subordinate entries are called 'leaf' entries.
An entry's direct superior entry is called the entry's 'parent'.
'Non-leaf' entries are also said to have 'child' entries.
What is an attribute?
The entry(s) in a directory are composed of attributes that contain
information about the object. Each attribute has a type and can
contain one or more values.
For example:
cn=Road Runner
is an attribute with a type named "cn", and one value.
Each attribute is described by a 'syntax' which defines what kind of
information can be stored in the attributes values. Trying to store a
value that doesn't conform to the attribute's syntax will result in an
error.
For example:
jpegPhoto=unknown
is not permitted by the directory, because jpegPhotos may only contain
JPEG-formatted images.
Most syntaxes used in LDAP however describe text strings rather than
binary objects (like JPEGs or certificates.)
In LDAPv3 most of these syntaxes support Unicode encoded using UTF-8.
Because the Net::LDAP modules do not change the strings that you pass
in as attribute values (they get sent to the LDAP server as-is) to use
accented characters you simply need to encode your strings in UTF-8.
There are modules on CPAN that will help you here.
Note that LDAPv2 servers used something called T.61 instead of Unicode
and UTF-8. Most servers do not implement T.61 correctly, and it is
recommended that you use LDAPv3 instead.
Attributes may also be searched. The algorithms used to perform
different kinds of searches are described by the attribute's 'matching
rules'. Some matching rules are case-sensitive and some are case-
insensitive, for example. Sometimes matching rules aren't defined for
a particular attribute: there's no way to search for jpegPhotos that
contain a substring!
You can examine all of a server's attribute definitions by reading the
schema from the server.
What is an object class?
An object class is the name associated with a group of attributes that
must be present in an entry, and the group of attributes that may also
be present in an entry.
Object classes may be derived (subclassed) from other object classes.
For example the widely used 'inetOrgPerson' object class is derived
from 'organizationalPerson', which is itself derived from 'person'
which is itself derived from 'top'.
Every entry has an attribute called 'objectClass' that lists all the
names of object classes (and their superclasses) being used with the
entry.
You can examine all of a server's objectclass definitions by reading
the schema from the server.
What is a Distinguished Name (DN)?
Every entry in a directory has a Distinguished Name, or DN. It is a
unique Entry identifier throughout the complete directory. No two
Entries can have the same DN within the same directory.
Examples of DNs:
cn=Road Runner, ou=bird, dc=cartoon, dc=com
ou=bird, dc=cartoon, dc=com
dc=cartoon, dc=com
dc=com
What is a Relative Distinguished Name?
Every DN is made up of a sequence of Relative Distinguished Names, or
RDNs. The sequences of RDNs are separated by commas (,). In LDAPv2
semi-colons (;) were also allowed. There can be more than one
identical RDN in a directory, but they must have different parent
entries.
Technically, an RDN contains attribute-value assertions, or AVAs. When
an AVA is written down, the attribute name is separated from the
attribute value with an equals (=) sign.
Example of a DN:
cn=Road Runner,ou=bird,dc=cartoon,dc=com
RDNs of the proceeding DN:
RDN => cn=Road Runner
RDN => ou=bird
RDN => dc=cartoon
RDN => dc=com
RDNs can contain multiple attributes, though this is somewhat ususual.
They are called multi-AVA RDNs, and each AVA is separated in the RDN
from the others with a plus sign (+).
Example of a DN with a multi-AVA RDN:
cn=Road Runner+l=Arizona,ou=bird,dc=cartoon,dc=com
Where is an entry's name held?
Entries do not contain their DN. When you retrieve an entry from a
search, the server will tell you the DN of each entry.
On the other hand, entries do contain their RDN. Recall that the RDN is
formed from one or more attribute-value assertions (AVAs); each entry
must contain all the attributes and values in the RDN.
For example the entry:
cn=Road Runner+l=Arizona,ou=bird,dc=cartoon,dc=com
must contain a 'cn' attribute containing at least the value "Road
Runner", and an 'l' attribute containing at least the value "Arizona".
The attributes used in the RDN may contain additional values, but the
entry still only has one DN.
What is a search base?
A search base is a Distinguished Name that is the starting point of
search queries.
Example of a DN:
cn=Road Runner,ou=bird,dc=cartoon,dc=com
Possible search base(s) for the proceeding DN:
Base => cn=Road Runner,ou=bird,dc=cartoon,dc=com
Base => ou=bird,dc=cartoon,dc=com
Base => dc=cartoon,dc=com
Base => dc=com
Setting the search base to the lowest possible branch of the directory
will speed up searches considerably.
What is the difference between a LDAP server and a relational database?
The most basic difference is that a directory server is a specialized
database designed to provide fast searches. While a relational database
is optimized for transactions (where a series of operations is counted
as 1, thus if one of the steps fails, the RDBMS can roll-back to the
state it was in before you started).
Directories also typically are hierarchical in nature (RDBMS is
typically flat, but you can implement a hierarchy using tables and
queries), networkable, distributed and replicated.
LDAP provides an open-standard to a directory service.
Typically we use LDAP for email directories (all popular email clients
provide an LDAP client now) and authorization services (authentication
and access control).
You could use a RDBMS for these types of queries but there's no set
standard, in particular over TCP/IP to connect to databases over the
network. There's language specific protocols (like Perl's DBI and
Java's JDBC) that hide this problem behind an API abstraction, but
that's not a replacement for a standard access protocol.
LDAP is starting to be used on roles traditionally played by RDBMS in
terms of general data management because it's easier to setup a LDAP
server (once you understand the basic nomenclature) and you don't need
a DBA to write your queries and more importantly all LDAP servers speak
the same essential protocol, thus you don't have to fuss with a
database driver trying to connect it to the Internet. Once you have an
LDAP server up and running, it's automatically available over the 'net.
It's possible to connect to a LDAP server from a variety of mechanisms,
including just about every possible programming language.
More information on this topic can be found on the following URLs;
http://www.openldap.org/faq/data/cache/378.html
http://www.isode.com/whitepapers/ic-6055.html
What is the difference between a ldap reference and a ldap referral?
A referral is returned when the entire operation must be resent to
another server.
A continuation reference is returned when part of the operation must be
resent to another server.
See RFC 4511 section 4.5.3 for more details.
perl-ldap INSTALLATION
How do I install perl-ldap?
To install the modules that are in the perl-ldap distribution follow
the same steps that you would for most other distributions found on
CPAN, that is
# replace 0.44 with the version you have
gunzip perl-ldap-0.44.tar.gz
tar xvf perl-ldap-0.44.tar
cd perl-ldap-0.44
perl Makefile.PL
make
make test
make install
But I do not have make, how can I install perl-ldap?
Well as luck would have it the modules in perl-ldap do not do anything
complex, so a simple copy is enough to install. First run
perl -V
This will output information about the version of Perl you have
installed. Near the bottom you will find something like
@INC:
/usr/local/lib/perl/5.8.3
/usr/local/share/perl/5.8.3
/usr/lib/perl5
/usr/share/perl5
/usr/lib/perl/5.8.3
/usr/share/perl/5.8.3
/usr/local/lib/site_perl
This is a list of directories that Perl searches when it is looking for
a module. The directory you need is the site_perl directory, but
without the system architecture name, in this case it is
"/usr/local/lib/site_perl". The files required can then be installed
with
# replace 0.44 with the version you have
gunzip perl-ldap-0.44.tar.gz
tar xvf perl-ldap-0.44.tar
cd perl-ldap-0.44/lib
cp * /usr/local/lib/site_perl
How can I load perl-ldap into an ActiveState Perl installation?
There are several ways that perl-ldap can be installed into an
ActiveState Perl tree.
1. The ActiveState ppm command can be used to install perl-ldap. When
a new version of perl-ldap is released, it takes ActiveState a
period of time to get the new release into the ActiveState ppm
system.
2. If the user has nmake installed, the user can do a normal Perl
module install using nmake instead of make.
3. If the user does not have nmake or make, the user can install perl-
ldap using the install-nomake script by issuing the following
command.
perl install-nomake
The install-nomake script can be used on any system that does not
have make installed.
What other modules will I need?
perl-ldap does use other modules. Some are required, but some are
optional (ie required to use certain features)
Convert::ASN1
This module is required for perl-ldap to work.
You can obtain the latest release from
http://search.cpan.org/search?module=Convert::ASN1
Authen::SASL
This module is optional. You only need to install Authen::SASL if
you want to use the SASL authentication method.
You can obtain the latest release from
http://search.cpan.org/search?module=Authen::SASL
Digest::MD5
This module is optional. It also requires a C compiler when
installing. You only need to install Digest::MD5 if you want to
use the SASL DIGEST-MD5 authentication method.
You can obtain the latest release from
http://search.cpan.org/search?module=Digest::MD5
URI::ldap
This module is optional. You only need to install URI::ldap if you
are going to need to parse ldap referrals. Net::LDAP does not do
this automatically yet, so this module is not used by perl-ldap.
You can obtain the latest release from
http://search.cpan.org/search?module=URI::ldap
OpenSSL and IO::Socket::SSL for Net::LDAPS
If you want to use Net::LDAP::LDAPS you will need this module and
the OpenSSL software package.
You can obtain the latest release of IO::Socket::SSL from
http://search.cpan.org/search?module=IO::Socket::SSL
You can obtain the latest release of OpenSSL from
http://www.openssl.org/
If you are using a Linux system, many of the distributions have RPM
packages that you can install. Use your favorite web search engine
to find the package that you need.
XML::SAX and XML::SAX::Writer
If you want to use Net::LDAP::DSML you will need these modules.
You can obtain the latest releases from
http://search.cpan.org/search?module=XML::SAX
http://search.cpan.org/search?module=XML::SAX::Writer
ResourcePool::Factory::Net::LDAP
If you want to use failover the ResourcePool::Factory::Net::LDAP
Perl module provides methods to do this.
You can obtain the latest release from
http://search.cpan.org/search?module=ResourcePool::Factory::Net::LDAP
USING NET::LDAP
How do I connect to my server?
The connection to the server is created when you create a new Net::LDAP
object, e.g.
$ldap = Net::LDAP->new($server);
Net::LDAP->new sometimes returns undef, why?
The constructor will return undef if there was a problem connecting to
the specified server. Any error message will be available in $@
What is the proper format of the bind DN?
The DN used to bind to a directory is a FULLY QUALIFIED DN. The exact
structure of the DN will depend on what data has been stored in the
server.
The following are valid examples.
uid=clif,ou=People,dc=umich,dc=edu
cn=directory manager,ou=admins,dc=umich,dc=edu
In some servers the following would be a valid fully qualified DN of
the directory manager.
cn=directory manager
How can I tell when the server returns an error, bind() always returns
true?
Most methods in Net::LDAP return a Net::LDAP::Message object, or a sub-
class of that. This object will hold the results from the server,
including the result code.
So, for example, to determine the result of the bind operation.
$mesg = $ldap->bind( $dn, password => $passwd );
if ( $mesg->code ) {
# Handle error codes here
}
How can I set the LDAP version of a connection to my ldap server?
This is done by adding the version option when connecting or binding to
the LDAP server.
For example;
$ldap = Net::LDAP->new( $server, version => 3 );
or
$mesg = $ldap->bind( $dn, password => $passwd, version => 3 );
Valid version numbers are 2 and 3. As of perl-ldap 0.27 the default
LDAP version is 3.
I did a search on my directory using the 'search' method. Where did the
results go?
Your search results are stored in a 'search object'. Consider the
following:
use Net::LDAP;
$ldap = Net::LDAP->new('ldap.acme.com') or die "$@";
$mesg = $ldap->search(
base => "o=acme.com",
filter => "uid=jsmith",
);
$mesg is a search object. It is a reference blessed into the
Net::LDAP::Search package. By calling methods on this object you can
obtain information about the result and also the individual entries.
The first thing to check is if the search was successful. This is done
with with the method $mesg->code. This method will return the status
code that the server returned. A success will yield a zero value, but
there are other values, some of which could also be considered a
success. See Net::LDAP::Constant
use Net::LDAP::Util qw(ldap_error_text);
die ldap_error_text($mesg->code)
if $mesg->code;
There are two ways in which you can access the entries. You can access
then with an index or you can treat the container like a stack and
shift each entry in turn. For example
# as an array
# How many entries were returned from the search
my $max = $mesg->count;
for( my $index = 0 ; $index < $max ; $index++) {
my $entry = $mesg->entry($index);
# ...
}
# or as a stack
while( my $entry = $mesg->shift_entry) {
# ...
}
In each case $entry is an entry object. It is a reference blessed into
the Net::LDAP::Entry package. By calling methods on this object you can
obtain information about the entry.
For example, to obtain the DN for the entry
$dn = $entry->dn;
To obtain the attributes that a given entry has
@attrs = $entry->attributes;
And to get the list of values for a given attribute
@values = $entry->get( 'sn' );
And to get the first of the values for a given attribute
$values = $entry->get( 'cn' );
One thing to remember is that attribute names are case insensitive, so
'sn', 'Sn', 'sN' and 'SN' are all the same.
So, if you want to print all the values for the attribute 'ou' then
this is as simple as
foreach ($entry->get_value( 'ou' )) {
print $_,"\n";
}
Now if you just want to print all the values for all the attributes you
can do
foreach my $attr ($entry->attributes) {
foreach my $value ($entry->get_value($attr)) {
print $attr, ": ", $value, "\n";
}
}
How do I limit the scope of a directory search?
You limit the scope of a directory search by setting the scope
parameter of search request. Consider the following:
use Net::LDAP;
$ldap = Net::LDAP->new('ldap.acme.com') or die "$@";
$mesg = $ldap->search(
base => "o=acme.com",
scope => 'sub',
filter => "uid=jsmith",
);
Values for the scope parameter are as follows.
base
Search only the base object.
one Search the entries immediately below the base object.
sub Search the whole tree below the base object. This is the default.
GETTING SEARCH RESULTS
There are two ways of retrieving the results of a requested LDAP
search; inline and by using a callback subroutine.
USING THE INLINE APPROACH
Using the inline approach involves requesting the data and then waiting
for all of the data to be returned before the user starts processing
the data.
Example:
use Net::LDAP;
$ldap = Net::LDAP->new('ldap.acme.com') or die "$@";
$mesg = $ldap->search(
base => "o=acme.com",
scope => 'sub',
filter => "sn=smith",
);
#
# At this point the user can get the returned data as an array
# or as a stack.
# In this example we will use an array
# How many entries were returned from the search
my $max = $mesg->count;
for( my $index = 0 ; $index < $max ; $index++)
{
my $entry = $mesg->entry($index);
my $dn = $entry->dn; # Obtain DN of this entry
@attrs = $entry->attributes; # Obtain attributes for this entry.
foreach my $var (@attrs)
{
#get a list of values for a given attribute
$attr = $entry->get_value( $var, asref => 1 );
if ( defined($attr) )
{
foreach my $value ( @$attr )
{
print "$var: $value\n"; # Print each value for the attribute.
}
}
}
}
As you can see the example is straightforward, but there is one
drawback to this approach. You must wait until all entries for the
request search to be returned before you can process the data. If
there several thousand entries that match the search filter this could
take quite a long time period.
USING THE CALLBACK SUBROUTINE APPROACH
Using the callback approach involves requesting the data be sent to a
callback subroutine as each entry arrives at the client.
A callback is just a subroutine that is passed two parameters when it
is called, the mesg and entry objects.
Example:
use Net::LDAP;
$ldap = Net::LDAP->new('ldap.acme.com') or die "$@";
$mesg = $ldap->search(
base => "o=acme.com",
scope => 'sub',
filter => "sn=smith",
callback => \&callback,
);
#
# At this point the user needs to check the status of the
# ldap search.
#
if ( $mesg->code )
{
$errstr = $mesg->code;
print "Error code: $errstr\n";
$errstr = ldap_error_text($errstr);
print "$errstr\n";
}
sub callback
{
my ( $mesg, $entry) = @_;
#
# First you must check to see if something was returned.
# Last execution of callback subroutine will have no
# defined entry and mesg object
#
if ( !defined($entry) )
{
print "No records found matching filter $match.\n"
if ($mesg->count == 0) ; # if mesg is not defined nothing will print.
return;
}
my $dn = $entry->dn; # Obtain DN of this entry
@attrs = $entry->attributes; # Obtain attributes for this entry.
foreach my $var (@attrs)
{
#get a list of values for a given attribute
$attr = $entry->get_value( $var, asref => 1 );
if ( defined($attr) )
{
foreach my $value ( @$attr )
{
print "$var: $value\n"; # Print each value for the attribute.
}
}
}
#
# For large search requests the following 2 lines of code
# may be very important, they will reduce the amount of memory
# used by the search results.
#
# If the user is not worried about memory useage then the 2 lines
# of code can be omitted.
#
$mesg->pop_entry;
} # End of callback subroutine
As you can see the example is straightforward and it does not waste
time waiting for all of the entries to be returned. However if the
pop_entry method is not used the callback approach can allocate a lot
of memory to the search request.
USING NET::LDAPS
Using an SSL network connection, how do I connect to my server?
This class is a subclass of Net::LDAP so all the normal Net::LDAP
methods can be used with a Net::LDAPS object; see the documentation for
Net::LDAP to find out how to query a directory server using the LDAP
protocol.
The connection to the server is created when you create a new
Net::LDAPS object, e.g.
$ldaps = Net::LDAPS->new($server,
port => '10000',
verify => 'require',
capath => '/usr/local/cacerts/',
);
Starting with version 0.28 perl-ldap also supports URIs in the new
method. So, the above can also be expressed as:
$ldaps = Net::LDAP->new("ldaps://$server",
port => '10000',
verify => 'require',
capath => '/usr/local/cacerts/',
);
There are additional options to the new method with LDAPS URIs and the
LDAPS new method and several additional methods are included in the
LDAPS object class.
For further information and code examples read the LDAPS module
documentation; perldoc Net::LDAPS
USING LDAP GROUPS.
What are LDAP groups?
LDAP groups are object classes that contain an attribute that can store
multiple DN values. Two standard object classes are 'groupOfNames'
(which has a 'member' attribute) and 'groupOfUniqueNames' (which has a
'uniqueMember' attribute.)
According to the RFCs a group can be a member of another group, but
some LDAP server vendors restrict this flexibility by not allowing
nested groups in their servers.
Two scripts for working with groups are available in the contrib
directory. They are isMember.pl and printMembers.pl.
How do you format a filter to search for entries whose 'member' attribute
has a particular value?
Asking for (member=*) is OK - the directory uses the equality matching
rule which is defined for the member attribute.
Asking for (member=c*) is not OK - there is no defined substring
matching rule for the member attribute. That's because the member
values are *not* strings, but distinguished names. There is no
substring matching rule for DNs, see RFC 4519 section 2.7.
What you have to do is get the results of (member=*) and then select
the required results from the returned values. You need to do this
using knowledge of the string representation of DNs defined in RFC
4514, which is important because the same DN can have different string
representations. So you need to perform some canonicalization if you
want to be correct.
USING DSML.
How can I access DSML features from perl-ldap?
Directory Service Markup Language (DSML) is the XML standard for
representing directory service information in XML.
Support for DSML is included in perl-ldap starting with version .20.
At the moment this module only reads and writes DSML entry entities. It
cannot process any schema entities because schema entities are
processed differently than elements.
Eventually this module will be a full level 2 consumer and producer
enabling you to give you full DSML conformance.
The specification for DSML is at http://www.oasis-open.org/specs/
For further information and code examples read the DSML module
documentation; perldoc Net::LDAP::DSML
USING CONTROLS AND VIRTUAL LISTS.
How do I access the Control features?
Support for LDAP version 3 Control objects is included in perl-ldap
starting with version .20.
For further information and code examples read the Control module
documentation; perldoc Net::LDAP::Control
How do I access the Virtual List features?
Support for Virtual Lists is included in perl-ldap starting with
version .20.
For further information and code examples read the Control module
documentation; perldoc Net::LDAP::Control
GENERAL QUESTIONS.
Are there any other code examples.
Yes, there is an Examples pod file. To view the pod do the following
command; perldoc Net::LDAP::Examples
There is user contributed software in the contrib directory that is
supplied with the perl-ldap distribution. This is an excellent source
of information on how to use the perl-ldap module.
Are there any performance issues with perl-ldap?
In the vast majority of use cases (one user has suggested 9 out of 10)
there are no performance issues with perl-ldap.
Where you may wish to use perl-ldap to perform, for example, a very
large number of queries (e.g. 10,000) in succession you may find a
noticeable performance difference between perl-ldap and non pure-Perl
modules. This is not because of perl-ldap itself but because of the
pure-Perl Convert::ASN1 module that it depends on.
You should make up your own mind, based upon your own situation
(performance requirements, hardware etc.) as to whether you should use
perl-ldap or not. The figures quoted in this answer are only
indicative, and will differ for different people.
Can I contribute Perl scripts that use perl-ldap to the contrib section?
Any one can submit a Perl script that uses perl-ldap for inclusion in
the contrib section. The perl-ldap maintainers will determiner if the
script will be included and will do the initial check in of the script
to the Git repository at https://github.com/perl-ldap/perl-ldap.
There are a couple of requirements for consideration.
You must supply a one line description of your script to be included in
the contrib README file.
Inside the script will be the pod documentation for the script. No
auxiliary documentation will be allowed. For examples of how to do
this see the tklkup script currently in the contrib section.
Is it possible to get a complete entry, DN and attributes without
specifying the attributes name?
Yes, just specify you want a list of no attributes back. The RFC says
that this tells the server to return all readable attributes back
(there may be access controls to prevent some from being returned.)
So in the search method, just set (for LDAPv2):
attrs => [ ]
If you are using LDAPv3, you can specify an attribute called "*"
instead, which lets you ask for additional (i.g. operational)
attributes in the same search.
attrs => [ "*" ]
To get all operational attributes in a search, some servers allow the
use of the "+" pseudo attribute. So that with these servers
attrs => [ "*", "+" ]
will return the most information from the server.
How do I put a JPEG photo into a entry in the directory?
Follow the following code example, replacing the (...) with whatever is
relevant to your setup.
use Net::LDAP;
use Net::LDAP::Util qw(ldap_error_text);
use CGI;
local $/ = undef;
my $jpeg = <$filename>;
my $ldap = Net::LDAP->new(...);
my $res = $ldap->bind(...);
$res = $ldap->modify(...,
add => [ 'jpegPhoto' => [ $jpeg ] ]);
$res = $ldap->unbind();
How do I add a jpeg photo into a entry in the directory via html-forms?
Follow the following code example, replacing the (...) with whatever is
relevant to your setup.
use Net::LDAP;
use Net::LDAP::Util qw(ldap_error_text);
use CGI;
my $q = new CGI;
print $q->header;
print $q->start_html(-title => 'Change JPEG photo');
if ($q->param('Update')) {
my $filename = $q->param('jpeg');
local $/ = undef;
my $jpeg = <$filename>;
my $ldap = Net::LDAP->new(...);
my $res = $ldap->bind(...);
$res = $ldap->modify(...,
add => [ 'jpegPhoto' => [ $jpeg ] ]);
$res = $ldap->unbind();
} else {
print $q->start_multipart_form();
print $q->filefield(-name => 'jpeg', -size => 50);
print $q->submit('Update');
print $q->end_form();
}
print $q->end_html();
What happens when you delete an attribute that does not exist?
It is an error to delete an attribute that doesn't exist. When you get
the error back the server ignores the entire modify operation you sent
it, so you need to make sure the error doesn't happen.
Another approach, if you are using LDAPv3 (note beginning with version
.27 Net::LDAP uses LDAPv3 by default) is to use a 'replace' with your
attribute name and no values. In LDAPv3, this is defined to always
work even if that attribute doesn't exist in the entry.
ie:
my $mesg = $ldap->modify( $entry, replace => { %qv_del_arry } );
But make sure you are using LDAPv3, because that is defined to not work
in LDAPv2. (A nice incompatibility between LDAPv2 and LDAPv3.)
How can I delete a referral from an LDAP tree?
Since this is a proprietary feature, you will have to check your
server's documentation. You might find that you need to use a control.
If there is a control called something like managedsait, that's the one
you should probably use. For proper operation you will need the oid
number for managedsait; 2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.2 and do not specify a
value for type.
The code required will look similar to the following code snippet.
$mesg = $ldap->delete("ref=\"ldap://acme/c=us,o=bricks\",o=clay",
control => {type => "2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.2"} );
How do I add an ACI/ACL entry to a directory server with perl-ldap?
ACIs and ACLs are proprietary features in LDAP. The following code
snippet works with a Netscape directory server. You will need the
specify the correct DN (-DN-) and correct attribute(s) (-nom attr-).
my $aci = '(target="ldap:///-DN-")(targetattr="-nom attr-")(version 3.0;
acl "-nom acl-"; deny(all) userdn = "ldap:///self";)' ;
$ldap->modify($dn_modif, add => {'aci' => $aci });
How do I avoid file type and data type mis-matching when loading data from
a Win32 system?
When loading a binary attribute with data read from a file on a Win32
system, it has been noted that you should set "binmode" on the file
before reading the file contents into the data array.
Another possible solution to this problem is to convert the binary data
into a base64 encoded string and then store the encoded string in the
file. Then when reading the file, decode the base64 encoded string
back to binary and then use perl-ldap to store the data in the
directory.
How do I create an account in Active Directory?
Active Directory accounts need some AD-specific attributes (only
the method we're interested in, no error checking):
$mesg = $ldap->add( 'cn=John Doe,cn=Users,dc=your,dc=ads,dc=domain',
attrs => [
objectClass => [ qw/top user/ ],
cn => 'John Doe',
sn => 'Doe',
givenName => 'John',
displayName => 'John "the one" Doe',
userAccountControl => 514, # disabled regular user
sAMAccountName => 'JohnDoe',
userPrincipalName => 'JohnDoe@your.ads.domain'
]
);
In order to find out what other attributes can be set,
interactively edit the user in the Active Directory Users and
Computers MCC plugin, perform an LDAP search operation to find out
what changed, and update your "add" routine accordingly.
How can I create a group in Active Directory?
Similar to accounts, groups need some AD-specific attributes too:
$mesg = $ldap->add( 'cn=NewGroup,cn=Users,dc=your,dc=ads,dc=domain',
attrs => [
objectClass => [ qw/top group/ ],
cn => 'NewGroup',
sAMAccountName => 'NewGroup',
groupType => 0x80000002 # global, security enabled group
]
);
How do I search for disabled accounts in Active Directory
The bit values in "userAccountcontrol" require the
LDAP_MATCHING_RULE_BIT_AND matching rule's OID to be used in an
extensible filter term:
$mesg = $ldap->search( base => 'cn=Users,dc=your,dc=ads,dc=domain',
filter => '(&(objectclass=user)' .
(userAccountControl:1.2.840.113556.1.4.803:=2))',
attrs => [ '1.1' ]
);
How can I search for security groups in Active Directory
With groups, the same applies to the "groupType" bit-field:
$mesg = $ldap->search( base => 'cn=Users,dc=your,dc=ads,dc=domain',
filter => '(&(objectclass=group)' .
(groupType:1.2.840.113556.1.4.803:=2147483648))',
# 2147483648 = 0x80000000
attrs => [ '1.1' ]
);
How do I create a Microsoft Exchange 5.x user?
This is a solution provided by a perl-ldap user.
This code works with ActiveState Perl running on WinNT 4. Please note
that this requires the Win32::Perms module, and needs valid NT account
info to replace the placeholders.
use Net::LDAP;
use Net::LDAP::Util;
use Win32::Perms;
#Constants taken from ADSI Type Library
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_ADD_CHILD = 1;
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_DELETE = 0x10000;
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_DS_REPLICATION = 64;
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_DS_SEARCH = 256;
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_MAIL_ADMIN_AS = 32;
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_MAIL_RECEIVE_AS = 16;
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_MAIL_SEND_AS = 8;
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_MODIFY_ADMIN_ATT = 4;
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_MODIFY_SEC_ATT = 128;
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_MODIFY_USER_ATT = 2;
$EXCH_USER_RIGHTS = $ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_MAIL_RECEIVE_AS |
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_MAIL_SEND_AS |
$ADS_RIGHT_EXCH_MODIFY_USER_ATT;
$exch = Net::LDAP->new('server', debug =>0) || die $@;
$exch->bind( 'cn=admin_user,cn=nt_domain,cn=admin', version =>3,
password=>'password');
$myObj = Win32::Perms->new();
$Result = $myObj->Owner('nt_domain\user_name');
$myObj->Group('nt_domain\Everyone');
$myObj->Allow('nt_domain\user_name',
$EXCH_USER_RIGHTS,OBJECT_INHERIT_ACE);
$BinarySD = $myObj->GetSD(SD_RELATIVE);
$TextSD = uc(unpack( "H*", $BinarySD ));
Win32::Perms::ResolveSid('nt_domain\user_name', $sid);
$mysid = uc(unpack("H*",$sid));
$result = $exch->add ( dn =>
'cn=user_name,cn=container,ou=site,o=organisation',
attr => [ 'objectClass' => ['organizationalPerson'],
'cn' => 'directory_name',
'uid' => 'mail_nickname',
'mail' => 'smtp_address',
'assoc-nt-account' => [ $mysid ],
'nt-security-descriptor' => [ $TextSD ],
'mailPreferenceOption' => 0
]
);
print ldap_error_name($result->code);
Ho do I reset a user's password ...
... in most LDAP servers?
Most LDAP servers use the standard userPassword attribute as the
attribute to set when you want to change a user's password.
They usually allow to set the password either using the regular modify
operation on the userPassword attribute or using the extended LDAP
Password Modify operation defined in RFC3062.
The recommended method is the extended Password Modify operation, which
offers a standardized way to set user passwords but unfortunately is
not available on all LDAP servers.
Whether the extended Password Modify operation is available can be
found out by searching the attribute supportedExtension for the value
1.3.6.1.4.1.4203.1.11.1 in the RootDSE object.
If the extended Password Modify operation is not available the
alternative is the regular modification of the userPassword attribute.
But this method has some drawbacks:
· Depending on the type of the server the arguments to the modify
operations may vary. Some want the modify done with replace, some
want it done by explicitly deleting the old password and add of the
new one. This may even depend on whether you change the password
for the bound user or as an administrator for another user.
· With the modify operation some servers expect the client to do the
hashing of the password on the client side. I.e. all clients that
set passwords need to agree on the algorithm and the format of the
hashed password.
· Some LDAP servers do not allow setting the password if the
connection is not sufficiently secured. I.e. require SSL or TLS
support to set the password (which is heavily recommended anyway
;-)
Here is an example of how to change your own password (for brevity's
sake error checking is left out):
use Net::LDAP;
my $ldap = Net::LDAP->new('ldaps://server.domain') or die "$@";
my $mesg = $ldap->bind('cn=Joe User,dc=perl,dc=ldap,dc=org',
password => 'oldPW');
my $rootdse = $ldap->root_dse();
if ($rootdse->supported_extension('1.3.6.1.4.1.4203.1.11.1') {
require Net::LDAP::Extension::SetPassword;
$mesg = $ldap->set_password(user => 'cn=Joe User,dc=perl,dc=ldap,dc=org',
oldpasswd => 'oldPW',
newpasswd => 'newPW');
}
else {
$mesg = $ldap->modify('cn=Joe User,dc=perl,dc=ldap,dc=org',
changes => [
delete => [ userPassword => $oldPW ]
add => [ userPassword => $newPW ] ]);
}
$ldap->unbind();
... in MS Active Directory?
With Active Directory a user's password is stored in the unicodePwd
attribute and changed using the regular modify operation.
ADS expects this password to be encoded in Unicode - UTF-16 to be
exact. Before the unicode conversion is done the password needs to be
surrounded by double quotes which do not belong to the user's password.
For the password modify operation to succeed SSL is required.
When changing the password for the user bound to the directory ADS
expects it to be done by deleting the old password and adding the new
one. When doing it as a user with administrative priviledges replacing
the unicodePwd's value with a new one is allowed too.
Perl-ldap contains convenience methods for Active Directory that allow
one to perform this task very easily.
Here's an example that demonstrates setting your own password from
$oldPW to $newPW (again almost no error checking):
use Net::LDAP;
use Net::LDAP::Extra qw(AD);
my $ldap = Net::LDAP->new('ldaps://ads.domain.controller') or die "$@";
my $mesg = $ldap->bind('cn=Joe User,dc=your,dc=ads,dc=domain',
password => $oldPW);
$mesg = $ldap->change_ADpassword('cn=Joe User,dc=your,dc=ads,dc=domain',
$oldPW, $newPW);
$ldap->unbind();
And the same for perl-ldap versions before 0.49, where everything needs
to be done by hand:
use Net::LDAP;
use Unicode::Map8;
use Unicode::String qw(utf16);
# build the conversion map from your local character set to Unicode
my $charmap = Unicode::Map8->new('latin1') or die;
# surround the PW with double quotes and convert it to UTF-16
# byteswap() was necessary in experiments on i386 Linux, YMMV
my $oldUniPW = $charmap->tou('"'.$oldPW.'"')->byteswap()->utf16();
my $newUniPW = $charmap->tou('"'.$newPW.'"')->byteswap()->utf16();
my $ldap = Net::LDAP->new('ldaps://ads.domain.controller') or die "$@";
my $mesg = $ldap->bind('cn=Joe User,dc=your,dc=ads,dc=domain',
password => $oldPW);
$mesg = $ldap->modify('cn=Joe User,dc=your,dc=ads,dc=domain',
changes => [
delete => [ unicodePwd => $oldUniPW ]
add => [ unicodePwd => $newUniPW ] ]);
$ldap->unbind();
How can I simulate server failover?
Perl-ldap does not do server failover, however there are several
programming options for getting around this situation.
Here is one possible solution:
$ldaps = Net::LDAPS->new([ $ldapserverone, $ldapservertwo ],
port=>636, timeout=>5) or die "$@";
For perl-ldap versions before 0.27, thes same goal can be achieved
using:
unless ( $ldaps =
Net::LDAPS->new($ldapserverone,
port=>636,timeout=>5) )
{
$ldaps = Net::LDAPS->new($ldapservertwo,
port=>636,timeout=>20) ||
return
"Can't connect to $ldapserverone or $ldapservertwo via LDAPS: $@";
}
Using X.509 certificates.
How do I store X.509 certificates in the directory?
The first problem here is that there are many different formats to hold
certificates in, for example PEM, DER, PKCS#7 and PKCS#12. The
directory only uses the DER format (more correctly, it only uses the
BER format) which is a binary format.
Your first job is to ensure that your certificates are therefore in
DER/BER format. You could use OpenSSL to convert from PEM like this:
openssl x509 -inform PEM -in cert.pem -outform DER -out cert.der
Consult the OpenSSL documentation to find out how to perform other
conversions.
To add a certificate to the directory, just slurp in the DER/BER
certificate into a scalar variable, and add it to the entry's
userCertificate attribute. How you do that will depend on which version
of LDAP you are using.
To slurp in the certificate try something like this:
my $cert;
{
local $/ = undef; # Slurp mode
open CERT, "cert.der" or die;
binmode CERT; # for Windows e.a.
$cert = <CERT>;
close CERT;
}
# The certificate is now in $cert
For LDAPv2, because most directory vendors ignore the string
representation of certificates defined in RFC 1778, you should add this
value to the directory like this:
$res = $ldap->modify("cn=My User, o=My Company,c=XY",
add => [
'userCertificate' => [ $cert ]
]);
die "Modify failed (" . ldap_error_name($res->code) . ")\n"
if $res->code;
For LDAPv3, you must do this instead:
$res = $ldap->modify("cn=My User, o=My Company, c=XY",
add => [
'userCertificate;binary' => [ $cert ]
]);
die "Modify failed (" . ldap_error_name($res->code) . ")\n"
if $res->code;
Of course, the entry you are trying to add the certificate to must use
object classes that permit the userCertificate attribute, otherwise the
modify will fail with an object class violation error. The
inetOrgPerson structural object class permits userCertificates, as does
the strongAuthenticationUser auxiliary object class. Others might also.
ADDITIONAL DIRECTORY AND LDAP RESOURCES.
URLs.
Net::LDAP::Server - LDAP server framework in Perl
http://search.cpan.org/search?module=Net::LDAP::Server
https://github.com/alexrj/Net-LDAP-Server
Net::LDAP::SimpleServer - LDAP server in Perl
http://search.cpan.org/search?module=Net::LDAP::SimpleServer
https://github.com/russoz/Net-LDAP-SimpleServer
LemonLDAP::NG - Web SingleSignOn solution & SAML IdP in Perl
http://lemonldap-ng.org/
Directory Services Mark Language (DSML)
http://www.oasis-open.org/specs/
eMailman LDAP information http://www.emailman.com/ldap/
Rafael Corvalan's LDAP shell http://sf.net/projects/ldapsh
Jeff Hodges's Kings Mountain LDAP
http://www.kingsmountain.com/ldapRoadmap.shtml (outdated: last update
was in 2004)
willeke.com's LDAP Wiki http://ldapwiki.willeke.com/wiki/LDAP
OpenLDAP Directory Server - open source LDAP server.
http://www.openldap.org/
389 Directory Server - open source LDAP server http://port389.org/
ApacheDS - open source LDAP server in Java http://directory.apache.org/
CriticalPath http://www.cp.net/
IBM Tivoli Directory Server
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/tivoli/products/directory-server/
Isode (was MessagingDirect) http://www.isode.com/
Nexor's X.500 and Internet Directories
http://www.nexor.com/info/directory.htm/
Novell's eDirectory http://www.novell.com/
Octet String http://www.octetstring.com/
SUN JAVA JNDI (Java Naming and Directory Interface)
http://java.sun.com/products/jndi/overview.html
Oracle Directory Server Enterprise Edition, formerly Sun One, formerly
iPlanet.
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/id-mgmt/index-085178.html
OptimalIDM - Virtual Identitity Server - .NET LDAP virtual directory
http://www.optimalidm.com/products/vis/Virtual-Directory-Server-VDS.aspx
Quest One Quick Connect Virtual Directory Server - LDAP virtual
directory
http://www.quest.com/quest-one-quick-connect-virtual-directory-server/
Virtual Directory Blogger https://virtualdirectory.wordpress.com/
eldapo - a directory manager's blog http://eldapo.blogspot.de/
Eine deutsche LDAP Website A german LDAP Website
http://verzeichnisdienst.de/ldap/Perl/index.html
(non-exhaustive) list of LDAP software on wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LDAP_software
"RFC Sourcebook" on LDAP
http://www.networksorcery.com/enp/protocol/ldap.htm
web2ldap - WWW gateway to LDAP server in Python http://www.web2ldap.de/
Softerra LDAP Browser / Administrator http://www.ldapbrowser.com/
The 2 following URLs deal mainly with Microsoft's Active Directory.
Directory Works http://directoryworks.com/
LDAP Client .Net & ActiveX LDAP Client
http://www.ldapservices.com/Products/Default.aspx
BOOKS
Developing LDAP and ADSI Clients for Microsoft(R) Exchange. By Sven B.
Schreiber. ISBN: 0201657775
Implementing LDAP. By Mark Wilcox. ISBN: 1861002211
LDAP: Programming Directory-Enabled Applications With Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol. By Tim Howes, Mark Smith. ISBN:
1578700000
LDAP Programming; Directory Management and Integration. By Clayton
Donley. ISBN: 1884777910
LDAP Programming with Java. By Rob Weltman, Tony Dahbura. ISBN:
0201657589
LDAP System Administration. By Gerald Carter. ISBN: 1565924916
Managing Enterprise Active Directory Services. By Robbie Allen,
Richard Puckett. ISBN: 0672321254
Solaris and LDAP Naming Services. By Tom Bialaski, Michael Haines.
ISBN: 0-13-030678-9
Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services (2ed). By Tim
Howes, Mark Smith, Gordon Good. ISBN: 0672323168
LDAP Directories Explained. By Brian Arkills. ISBN 0-201-78792-X
AUTHORS
Any good FAQ is made up of many authors, everyone that contributes
information to the perl-ldap mail list is a potential author.
An attempt to maintain this FAQ is being done by Chris Ridd
<chris.ridd@isode.com> and Peter Marschall <peter@adpm.de>. It was
previously updated by Clif Harden <charden@pobox.com>.
The original author of this FAQ was Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com>
Please report any bugs, or post any suggestions, to the perl-ldap
mailing list <perl-ldap@perl.org>.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1999-2004 Graham Barr, (c) 2012 Peter Marschall. All
rights reserved. This document is distributed, and may be
redistributed, under the same terms as Perl itself.
POD ERRORS
Hey! The above document had some coding errors, which are explained
below:
Around line 1163:
'=item' outside of any '=over'
Around line 1223:
You forgot a '=back' before '=head2'
perl v5.18.1 2013-10-18 Net::LDAP::FAQ(3)
