1LDAP.CONF(5) File Formats Manual LDAP.CONF(5)
2
6 ldap.conf, .ldaprc - LDAP configuration file/environment variables
7
9 /etc/openldap/ldap.conf, ldaprc, .ldaprc, $LDAP<option-name>
10
12 If the environment variable LDAPNOINIT is defined, all defaulting is
13 disabled.
14 The ldap.conf configuration file is used to set system-wide defaults to
16 be applied when running ldap clients.
17 Users may create an optional configuration file, ldaprc or .ldaprc, in
19 their home directory which will be used to override the system-wide
20 defaults file. The file ldaprc in the current working directory is
21 also used.
22 Additional configuration files can be specified using the LDAPCONF and
24 LDAPRC environment variables. LDAPCONF may be set to the path of a
25 configuration file. This path can be absolute or relative to the cur‐
26 rent working directory. The LDAPRC, if defined, should be the basename
27 of a file in the current working directory or in the user's home direc‐
28 tory.
29 Environmental variables may also be used to augment the file based
31 defaults. The name of the variable is the option name with an added
32 prefix of LDAP. For example, to define BASE via the environment, set
33 the variable LDAPBASE to the desired value.
34 Some options are user-only. Such options are ignored if present in the
36 ldap.conf (or file specified by LDAPCONF).
37 Thus the following files and variables are read, in order:
39 variable $LDAPNOINIT, and if that is not set:
40 system file /etc/openldap/ldap.conf,
41 user files $HOME/ldaprc, $HOME/.ldaprc, ./ldaprc,
42 system file $LDAPCONF,
43 user files $HOME/$LDAPRC, $HOME/.$LDAPRC, ./$LDAPRC,
44 variables $LDAP<uppercase option name>.
45 Settings late in the list override earlier ones.
46
48 The configuration options are case-insensitive; their value, on a case
49 by case basis, may be case-sensitive.
50 Blank lines are ignored.
52 Lines beginning with a hash mark (`#') are comments, and ignored.
53 Valid lines are made of an option's name (a sequence of non-blanks,
55 conventionally written in uppercase, although not required), followed
56 by a value. The value starts with the first non-blank character after
57 the option's name, and terminates at the end of the line, or at the
58 last sequence of blanks before the end of the line. The tokenization
59 of the value, if any, is delegated to the handler(s) for that option,
60 if any. Quoting values that contain blanks may be incorrect, as the
61 quotes would become part of the value. For example,
62 # Wrong - erroneous quotes:
64 URI "ldap:// ldaps://"
65 # Right - space-separated list of URIs, without quotes:
67 URI ldap:// ldaps://
68 # Right - DN syntax needs quoting for Example, Inc:
70 BASE ou=IT staff,o="Example, Inc",c=US
71 # or:
72 BASE ou=IT staff,o=Example\2C Inc,c=US
73 # Wrong - comment on same line as option:
75 DEREF never # Never follow aliases
76 A line cannot be longer than LINE_MAX, which should be more than 2000
78 bytes on all platforms. There is no mechanism to split a long line on
79 multiple lines, either for beautification or to overcome the above
80 limit.
81
83 The different configuration options are:
84 URI <ldap[si]://[name[:port]] ...>
86 Specifies the URI(s) of an LDAP server(s) to which the LDAP
87 library should connect. The URI scheme may be any of ldap,
88 ldaps or ldapi, which refer to LDAP over TCP, LDAP over SSL
89 (TLS) and LDAP over IPC (UNIX domain sockets), respectively.
90 Each server's name can be specified as a domain-style name or an
91 IP address literal. Optionally, the server's name can followed
92 by a ':' and the port number the LDAP server is listening on.
93 If no port number is provided, the default port for the scheme
94 is used (389 for ldap://, 636 for ldaps://). For LDAP over IPC,
95 name is the name of the socket, and no port is required, nor
96 allowed; note that directory separators must be URL-encoded,
97 like any other characters that are special to URLs; so the
98 socket
99 /usr/local/var/ldapi
101 must be specified as
103 ldapi://%2Fusr%2Flocal%2Fvar%2Fldapi
105 A space separated list of URIs may be provided.
107 BASE <base>
109 Specifies the default base DN to use when performing ldap opera‐
110 tions. The base must be specified as a Distinguished Name in
111 LDAP format.
112 BINDDN <dn>
114 Specifies the default bind DN to use when performing ldap opera‐
115 tions. The bind DN must be specified as a Distinguished Name in
116 LDAP format. This is a user-only option.
117 DEREF <when>
119 Specifies how alias dereferencing is done when performing a
120 search. The <when> can be specified as one of the following key‐
121 words:
122 never Aliases are never dereferenced. This is the default.
124 searching
126 Aliases are dereferenced in subordinates of the base
127 object, but not in locating the base object of the
128 search.
129 finding
131 Aliases are only dereferenced when locating the base
132 object of the search.
133 always Aliases are dereferenced both in searching and in locat‐
135 ing the base object of the search.
136 HOST <name[:port] ...>
139 Specifies the name(s) of an LDAP server(s) to which the LDAP
140 library should connect. Each server's name can be specified as
141 a domain-style name or an IP address and optionally followed by
142 a ':' and the port number the ldap server is listening on. A
143 space separated list of hosts may be provided. HOST is depre‐
144 cated in favor of URI.
145 NETWORK_TIMEOUT <integer>
147 Specifies the timeout (in seconds) after which the
148 poll(2)/select(2) following a connect(2) returns in case of no
149 activity.
150 PORT <port>
152 Specifies the default port used when connecting to LDAP
153 servers(s). The port may be specified as a number. PORT is
154 deprecated in favor of URI.
155 REFERRALS <on/true/yes/off/false/no>
157 Specifies if the client should automatically follow referrals
158 returned by LDAP servers. The default is on. Note that the
159 command line tools ldapsearch(1) &co always override this
160 option.
161 SIZELIMIT <integer>
163 Specifies a size limit (number of entries) to use when perform‐
164 ing searches. The number should be a non-negative integer.
165 SIZELIMIT of zero (0) specifies a request for unlimited search
166 size. Please note that the server may still apply any server-
167 side limit on the amount of entries that can be returned by a
168 search operation.
169 TIMELIMIT <integer>
171 Specifies a time limit (in seconds) to use when performing
172 searches. The number should be a non-negative integer. TIME‐
173 LIMIT of zero (0) specifies unlimited search time to be used.
174 Please note that the server may still apply any server-side
175 limit on the duration of a search operation.
176 VERSION {2|3}
178 Specifies what version of the LDAP protocol should be used.
179 TIMEOUT <integer>
181 Specifies a timeout (in seconds) after which calls to synchro‐
182 nous LDAP APIs will abort if no response is received. Also used
183 for any ldap_result(3) calls where a NULL timeout parameter is
184 supplied.
185
187 If OpenLDAP is built with Simple Authentication and Security Layer sup‐
188 port, there are more options you can specify.
189 SASL_MECH <mechanism>
191 Specifies the SASL mechanism to use.
192 SASL_REALM <realm>
194 Specifies the SASL realm.
195 SASL_AUTHCID <authcid>
197 Specifies the authentication identity. This is a user-only
198 option.
199 SASL_AUTHZID <authcid>
201 Specifies the proxy authorization identity. This is a user-only
202 option.
203 SASL_SECPROPS <properties>
205 Specifies Cyrus SASL security properties. The <properties> can
206 be specified as a comma-separated list of the following:
207 none (without any other properties) causes the properties
209 defaults ("noanonymous,noplain") to be cleared.
210 noplain
212 disables mechanisms susceptible to simple passive
213 attacks.
214 noactive
216 disables mechanisms susceptible to active attacks.
217 nodict disables mechanisms susceptible to passive dictionary
219 attacks.
220 noanonymous
222 disables mechanisms which support anonymous login.
223 forwardsec
225 requires forward secrecy between sessions.
226 passcred
228 requires mechanisms which pass client credentials (and
229 allows mechanisms which can pass credentials to do so).
230 minssf=<factor>
232 specifies the minimum acceptable security strength factor
233 as an integer approximating the effective key length used
234 for encryption. 0 (zero) implies no protection, 1
235 implies integrity protection only, 56 allows DES or other
236 weak ciphers, 112 allows triple DES and other strong
237 ciphers, 128 allows RC4, Blowfish and other modern strong
238 ciphers. The default is 0.
239 maxssf=<factor>
241 specifies the maximum acceptable security strength factor
242 as an integer (see minssf description). The default is
243 INT_MAX.
244 maxbufsize=<factor>
246 specifies the maximum security layer receive buffer size
247 allowed. 0 disables security layers. The default is
248 65536.
249 SASL_NOCANON <on/true/yes/off/false/no>
251 Do not perform reverse DNS lookups to canonicalize SASL host
252 names. The default is off.
253
255 If OpenLDAP is built with Generic Security Services Application Pro‐
256 gramming Interface support, there are more options you can specify.
257 GSSAPI_SIGN <on/true/yes/off/false/no>
259 Specifies if GSSAPI signing (GSS_C_INTEG_FLAG) should be used.
260 The default is off.
261 GSSAPI_ENCRYPT <on/true/yes/off/false/no>
263 Specifies if GSSAPI encryption (GSS_C_INTEG_FLAG and
264 GSS_C_CONF_FLAG) should be used. The default is off.
265 GSSAPI_ALLOW_REMOTE_PRINCIPAL <on/true/yes/off/false/no>
267 Specifies if GSSAPI based authentication should try to form the
268 target principal name out of the ldapServiceName or dnsHostName
269 attribute of the targets RootDSE entry. The default is off.
270
272 If OpenLDAP is built with Transport Layer Security support, there are
273 more options you can specify. These options are used when an ldaps://
274 URI is selected (by default or otherwise) or when the application nego‐
275 tiates TLS by issuing the LDAP StartTLS operation.
276 When using OpenSSL, if neither TLS_CACERT nor TLS_CACERTDIR is set,
278 the system-wide default set of CA certificates is used.
279 TLS_CACERT <filename>
281 Specifies the file that contains certificates for all of the
282 Certificate Authorities the client will recognize.
283 TLS_CACERTDIR <path>
285 Specifies the path of a directory that contains Certificate
286 Authority certificates in separate individual files. The
287 TLS_CACERT is always used before TLS_CACERTDIR. The specified
288 directory must be managed with the OpenSSL c_rehash utility.
289 This parameter is ignored with GnuTLS.
290 When using Mozilla NSS, <path> may contain a Mozilla NSS
292 cert/key database. If <path> contains a Mozilla NSS cert/key
293 database and CA cert files, OpenLDAP will use the cert/key data‐
294 base and will ignore the CA cert files.
295 TLS_CERT <filename>
297 Specifies the file that contains the client certificate. This
298 is a user-only option.
299 When using Mozilla NSS, if using a cert/key database (specified
301 with TLS_CACERTDIR), TLS_CERT specifies the name of the certifi‐
302 cate to use:
303 TLS_CERT Certificate for Sam Carter
304 If using a token other than the internal built in token, specify
305 the token name first, followed by a colon:
306 TLS_CERT my hardware device:Certificate for Sam Carter
307 Use certutil -L to list the certificates by name:
308 certutil -d /path/to/certdbdir -L
309 TLS_KEY <filename>
311 Specifies the file that contains the private key that matches
312 the certificate stored in the TLS_CERT file. Currently, the pri‐
313 vate key must not be protected with a password, so it is of
314 critical importance that the key file is protected carefully.
315 This is a user-only option.
316 When using Mozilla NSS, TLS_KEY specifies the name of a file
318 that contains the password for the key for the certificate spec‐
319 ified with TLS_CERT. The modutil command can be used to turn
320 off password protection for the cert/key database. For example,
321 if TLS_CACERTDIR specifies /home/scarter/.moznss as the location
322 of the cert/key database, use modutil to change the password to
323 the empty string:
324 modutil -dbdir ~/.moznss -changepw 'NSS Certificate DB'
325 You must have the old password, if any. Ignore the WARNING
326 about the running browser. Press 'Enter' for the new password.
327 TLS_CIPHER_SUITE <cipher-suite-spec>
330 Specifies acceptable cipher suite and preference order.
331 <cipher-suite-spec> should be a cipher specification for the TLS
332 library in use (OpenSSL, GnuTLS, or Mozilla NSS). Example:
333 OpenSSL:
335 TLS_CIPHER_SUITE HIGH:MEDIUM:+SSLv2
336 GnuTLS:
338 TLS_CIPHER_SUITE SECURE256:!AES-128-CBC
339 To check what ciphers a given spec selects in OpenSSL, use:
341 openssl ciphers -v <cipher-suite-spec>
343 With GnuTLS the available specs can be found in the manual page
345 of gnutls-cli(1) (see the description of the option --priority).
346 In older versions of GnuTLS, where gnutls-cli does not support
348 the option --priority, you can obtain the — more limited — list
349 of ciphers by calling:
350 gnutls-cli -l
352 When using Mozilla NSS, the OpenSSL cipher suite specifications
354 are used and translated into the format used internally by
355 Mozilla NSS. There isn't an easy way to list the cipher suites
356 from the command line. The authoritative list is in the source
357 code for Mozilla NSS in the file sslinfo.c in the structure
358 static const SSLCipherSuiteInfo suiteInfo[]
359 TLS_PROTOCOL_MIN <major>[.<minor>]
361 Specifies minimum SSL/TLS protocol version that will be negoti‐
362 ated. If the server doesn't support at least that version, the
363 SSL handshake will fail. To require TLS 1.x or higher, set this
364 option to 3.(x+1), e.g.,
365 TLS_PROTOCOL_MIN 3.2
367 would require TLS 1.1. Specifying a minimum that is higher than
369 that supported by the OpenLDAP implementation will result in it
370 requiring the highest level that it does support. This parame‐
371 ter is ignored with GnuTLS.
372 TLS_RANDFILE <filename>
374 Specifies the file to obtain random bits from when /dev/[u]ran‐
375 dom is not available. Generally set to the name of the EGD/PRNGD
376 socket. The environment variable RANDFILE can also be used to
377 specify the filename. This parameter is ignored with GnuTLS and
378 Mozilla NSS.
379 TLS_REQCERT <level>
381 Specifies what checks to perform on server certificates in a TLS
382 session, if any. The <level> can be specified as one of the fol‐
383 lowing keywords:
384 never The client will not request or check any server certifi‐
386 cate.
387 allow The server certificate is requested. If no certificate is
389 provided, the session proceeds normally. If a bad cer‐
390 tificate is provided, it will be ignored and the session
391 proceeds normally.
392 try The server certificate is requested. If no certificate is
394 provided, the session proceeds normally. If a bad cer‐
395 tificate is provided, the session is immediately termi‐
396 nated.
397 demand | hard
399 These keywords are equivalent. The server certificate is
400 requested. If no certificate is provided, or a bad cer‐
401 tificate is provided, the session is immediately termi‐
402 nated. This is the default setting.
403 TLS_CRLCHECK <level>
405 Specifies if the Certificate Revocation List (CRL) of the CA
406 should be used to verify if the server certificates have not
407 been revoked. This requires TLS_CACERTDIR parameter to be set.
408 This parameter is ignored with GnuTLS and Mozilla NSS. <level>
409 can be specified as one of the following keywords:
410 none No CRL checks are performed
412 peer Check the CRL of the peer certificate
414 all Check the CRL for a whole certificate chain
416 TLS_CRLFILE <filename>
418 Specifies the file containing a Certificate Revocation List to
419 be used to verify if the server certificates have not been
420 revoked. This parameter is only supported with GnuTLS and
421 Mozilla NSS.
422
424 LDAPNOINIT
425 disable all defaulting
426 LDAPCONF
428 path of a configuration file
429 LDAPRC basename of ldaprc file in $HOME or $CWD
431 LDAP<option-name>
433 Set <option-name> as from ldap.conf
434
436 /etc/openldap/ldap.conf
437 system-wide ldap configuration file
438 $HOME/ldaprc, $HOME/.ldaprc
440 user ldap configuration file
441 $CWD/ldaprc
443 local ldap configuration file
444
446 ldap(3), ldap_set_option(3), ldap_result(3), openssl(1), sasl(3)
447
449 Kurt Zeilenga, The OpenLDAP Project
450
452 OpenLDAP Software is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project
453 <http://www.openldap.org/>. OpenLDAP Software is derived from the Uni‐
454 versity of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release.
455OpenLDAP 2.4.50 2020/04/28 LDAP.CONF(5)