ldif - LDAP Data Interchange Format

The LDAP Data Interchange Format (LDIF) is used to represent LDAP entries in text form. LDAP tools, such as ldapadd(1) and ldapsearch(1), read and write LDIF.

The basic form of an LDIF entry is:

    dn: <distinguished name>
    <attrdesc>: <attrvalue>
    <attrdesc>: <attrvalue>
    <attrdesc>:: <base64-encoded-value>
    <attrdesc>:< <URL>
    ...

The value may be specified as UTF-8 text or as base64 encoded data, or a URI may be provided to the location of the attribute value.

A line may be continued by starting the next line with a single space or tab, e.g.,

    dn: cn=Barbara J Jensen,dc=exam
     ple,dc=com

Lines beginning with a sharpe sign ('#') are ignored.

Multiple attribute values are specified on separate lines, e.g.,

    cn: Barbara J Jensen
    cn: Babs Jensen

If an value contains a non-printing character, or begins with a space or a colon ':', the <attrtype> is followed by a double colon and the value is encoded in base 64 notation. e.g., the value " begins with a space" would be encoded like this:

    cn:: IGJlZ2lucyB3aXRoIGEgc3BhY2U=

If the attribute value is located in a file, the <attrtype> is followed by a ':<' and a file: URI. e.g., the value contained in the file /tmp/value would be listed like this:

    cn:< file:///tmp/value

Multiple entries within the same LDIF file are separated by blank lines.

Here is an example of an LDIF file containing three entries.

    dn: cn=Barbara J Jensen,dc=example,dc=com
    cn: Barbara J Jensen
    cn: Babs Jensen
    objectclass: person
    description:< file:///tmp/babs
    sn: Jensen

dn: cn=Bjorn J Jensen,dc=example,dc=com cn: Bjorn J Jensen cn: Bjorn Jensen objectclass: person sn: Jensen

dn: cn=Jennifer J Jensen,dc=example,dc=com cn: Jennifer J Jensen cn: Jennifer Jensen objectclass: person sn: Jensen jpegPhoto:: /9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAAAAAQABAAD/2wBDABALD A4MChAODQ4SERATGCgaGBYWGDEjJR0oOjM9PDkzODdASFxOQ ERXRTc4UG1RV19iZ2hnPk1xeXBkeFxlZ2P/2wBDARESEhgVG ...

Notice that the description in Barbara Jensen's entry is read from file:///tmp/babs and the jpegPhoto in Jennifer Jensen's entry is encoded using base 64.

ldap(3), ldapsearch(1), ldapadd(1).

"LDAP Data Interchange Format," Good, G., RFC 2849.

OpenLDAP is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project (http://www.openldap.org/). OpenLDAP is derived from University of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release.