SLAPD.CONF(5)

NAME
slapd.conf - configuration file for slapd, the stand-alone LDAP daemon

SYNOPSIS
ETCDIR/slapd.conf

DESCRIPTION
The file ETCDIR/slapd.conf contains configuration information for the slapd(8) daemon. This configuration file is also used by the slurpd(8) replication daemon and by the SLAPD tools slapadd(8), slapcat(8), and slapindex(8).

The slapd.conf file consists of a series of global configuration options that apply to slapd as a whole (including all backends), followed by zero or more database backend definitions that contain information specific to a backend instance.

The general format of slapd.conf is as follows:

    # comment - these options apply to every database
    <global configuration options>
    # first database definition & configuration options
    database	<backend 1 type>
    <configuration options specific to backend 1>
    # subsequent database definitions & configuration options
    ...

As many backend-specific sections as desired may be included. Global options can be overridden in a backend (for options that appear more than once, the last appearance in the slapd.conf file is used). Blank lines and comment lines beginning with a `#' character are ignored. If a line begins with white space, it is considered a continuation of the previous line.

Arguments on configuration lines are separated by white space. If an argument contains white space, the argument should be enclosed in double quotes. If an argument contains a double quote (`"') or a backslash character (`\'), the character should be preceded by a backslash character.

The specific configuration options available are discussed below in the Global Configuration Options, General Backend Options, General Database Options, LDBM Database-Specific Options, Shell Database-Specific Options, and Password Database-Specific Options sections. Refer to the "OpenLDAP Administrator's Guide" for more details on the slapd configuration file.

GLOBAL CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
Options described in this section apply to all backends, unless specifically overridden in a backend definition. Arguments that should be replaced by actual text are shown in brackets <>.

access to <what> [ by <who> <access> <control> ]+
    Grant access (specified by <access>) to a set of entries and/or attributes (specified by <what>) by one or more requestors (specified by <who>). See the "OpenLDAP's Administrator's Guide" for details.

allow <features>
    Specify a set of features (separated by white space) to allow (default none). bind_v2 allows acceptance of LDAPv2 bind requests. bind_anon_cred allows anonymous bind creditials are not empty (e.g. when DN is empty). bind_anon_dn allows unauthenticated (anonymous) bind when DN is not empty.

argsfile <filename>
    The ( absolute ) name of a file that will hold the slapd server's command line options if started without the debugging command line option.

attributetype ( <oid> [NAME <name>] [OBSOLETE] [DESC <description>] [SUP <oid>] [EQUALITY <oid>] [ORDERING <oid>] [SUBSTR <oid>] [SYNTAX <oidlen>] [SINGLE-VALUE] [COLLECTIVE] [NO-USER-MODIFICATION] [USAGE <attributeUsage>] )
    Specify an attribute type using the LDAPv3 syntax defined in RFC 2252. The slapd parser extends the RFC 2252 definition by allowing string forms as well as numeric OIDs to be used for the attribute OID and attribute syntax OID. (See the objectidentifier description.) Currently the syntax name parser is case-sensitive. The known syntax names are:
            AttributeTypeDescription Audio Binary BitString Certificate CertificateList CertificatePair DN DeliveryMethod DirectoryString DITContentRuleDescription DITStructureRuleDescription EnhancedGuide FacsimileTelephoneNumber GeneralizedTime Guide IA5String Integer MatchingRuleDescription MatchingRuleUseDescription MailPreference NameAndOptionalUUID NameFormDescription NumericString ObjectClassDescription OID OtherMailbox OctetString PostalAddress ProtocolInformation PresentationAddress PrintableString SupportedAlgorithm TelephoneNumber TeletexTerminalIdentifier TelexNumber UTCTime LDAPSyntaxDescription SubstringAssertion NISnetgrouptriple Bootparameter

concurrency <integer>
    Specify a desired level of concurrency. Provided to the underlying thread system as a hint. The default is not to provide any hint.

defaultsearchbase <dn>
    Specify a default search base to use when client submits a non-base search request with an empty base DN.

disallow <features>
    Specify a set of features (separated by white space) to disallow (default none). bind_anon disables acceptance of anonymous bind requests. bind_simple disables simple (bind) authentication. bind_krbv4 disables Kerberos V4 (bind) authentication. tls_2_anon disables Start TLS from forcing session to anonymous status (see also tls_authc). tls_authc disables StartTLS if authenticated (see also tls_2_anon).

idletimeout <integer>
    Specify the number of seconds to wait before forcibly closing an idle client connections. A idletimeout of 0 disables this feature. The default is 0.

include <filename>
    Read additional configuration information from the given file before continuing with the next line of the current file.

limits <who> <limit> [<limit> [...]]
    Specify time and size limits based on who initiated an operation. The argument who can be any of

        anonymous | users | [dn[.<style>]=]<pattern>
    with

        <style> ::= exact | base | one | subtree | children | regex | anonymous
    Anonymous is hit when a search is performed without prior binding; users is hit when a search is performed by a successfully bound user; otherwise a regex dn pattern is assumed unless otherwise specified by qualifying the (optional) key string dn with exact or base (which are synonims), to require an exact match; with one, to require exactly one level of depth match; with subtree, to allow any level of depth match, including the exact match; with children, to allow any level of depth match, not including the exact match; regex explicitly requires the (default) match based on regular expression pattern, as detailed in regex(7). Finally, anonymous matches unbound operations; the pattern field is ignored. The same behavior is obtained by using the anonymous form of the who clause. The currently supported limits are size and time. The syntax for time limits is time[.{soft|hard}]=<integer>, where integer is the number of seconds slapd will spend answering a search request. If no time limit is explicitly requested by the client, the soft limit is used; if the requested time limit exceedes the hard limit, an "Unwilling to perform" is returned. If the hard limit is set to 0 or to the keyword "soft", the soft limit is used in either case; if it is set to -1 or to the keyword "none", no hard limit is enforced. Explicit requests for time limits smaller or equal to the hard limit are honored. If no flag is set, the value is assigned to the soft limit, and the hard limit is set to zero, to preserve the original behavior. The syntax for size limits is size[.{soft|hard|unchecked}]=<integer>, where integer is the maximum number of entries slapd will return answering a search request. If no size limit is explicitly requested by the client, the soft limit is used; if the requested size limit exceedes the hard limit, an "Unwilling to perform" is returned. If the hard limit is set to 0 or to the keyword "soft", the soft limit is used in either case; if it is set to -1 or to the keyword "none", no hard limit is enforced. Explicit requests for size limits smaller or equal to the hard limit are honored. The unchecked flag sets a limit on the number of candidates a search request is allowed to examine. If the selected candidates exceed the unchecked limit, the search will abort with "Unwilling to perform". If it is set to -1 or to the keyword "none", no limit is applied (the default). If no flag is set, the value is assigned to the soft limit, and the hard limit is set to zero, to preserve the original behavior. In case of no match, the global limits are used. The default values are the same of sizelimit and timelimit; no limit is set on unchecked. This feature is currently exploited by the ldbm backend only.

loglevel <integer>
    Specify the level at which debugging statements and operation statistics should be syslogged (currently logged to the syslogd(8) LOG_LOCAL4 facility). Log levels are additive, and available levels are:
        1   trace function calls
        2   debug packet handling
        4   heavy trace debugging
        8   connection management
        16  print out packets sent and received
        32  search filter processing
        64  configuration file processing
        128 access control list processing
        256 stats log connections/operations/results
        512 stats log entries sent
        1024
            print communication with shell backends
        2048
            entry parsing

objectclass ( <oid> [NAME <name>] [DESC <description] [OBSOLETE] [SUP <oids>] [{ ABSTRACT | STRUCTURAL | AUXILIARY }] [MUST <oids>] [MAY <oids>] )
    Specify an objectclass using the LDAPv3 syntax defined in RFC 2252. The slapd parser extends the RFC 2252 definition by allowing string forms as well as numeric OIDs to be used for the object class OID. (See the objectidentifier description.) Object classes are "STRUCTURAL" by default.

objectidentifier <name> { <oid> | <name>[:<suffix>] }
    Define a string name that equates to the given OID. The string can be used in place of the numeric OID in objectclass and attribute definitions. The name can also be used with a suffix of the form ":xx" in which case the value "oid.xx" will be used.

password-hash <hash>
    This option sets the hash to be used in generation of user passwords, stored in userPassword, during processing of LDAP Password Modify Extended Operations (RFC 3052). The <hash> must be one of {SSHA}, {SHA}, {SMD5}, {MD5}, and {CRYPT}. The default is {SSHA}. Note that this option does not alter the normal user applications handling of userPassword during LDAP Add, Modify, or other LDAP operations.

password-crypt-salt-format <format>
    Specify the format of the salt passed to crypt(3) when generating {CRYPT} passwords (see password-hash) during processing of LDAP Password Modify Extended Operations (RFC 3062). This string needs to be in sprintf(3) format and may include one (and only one) %s conversion. This conversion will be substituted with a string random characters from [A-Za-z0-9./]. For example, "%.2s" provides a two character salt and "$1$%.8s" tells some versions of crypt(3) to use an MD5 algorithm and provides 8 random characters of salt. The default is "%s", which provides 31 characters of salt.

pidfile <filename>
    The ( absolute ) name of a file that will hold the slapd server's process ID ( see getpid(2) ) if started without the debugging command line option.

referral <url>
    Specify the referral to pass back when slapd(8) cannot find a local database to handle a request. If specified multiple times, each url is provided.

require <conditions>
    Specify a set of conditions (separated by white space) to require (default none). The directive may be specified globally and/or per-database. bind requires bind operation prior to directory operations. LDAPv3 requires session to be using LDAP version 3. authc requires authentication prior to directory operations. SASL requires SASL authentication prior to directory operations. strong requires strong authentication prior to directory operations. Currently SASL and strong conditions are currently same. none may be used to require no conditions (useful for clearly globally set conditions within a particular database).

rootDSE <file>
    Specify the name of an LDIF(5) file containing user defined attributes for the root DSE. These attributes are returned in addition to the attributes normally produced by slapd.

sasl-host <fqdn>
    Used to specify the fully qualified domain name used for SASL processing.

sasl-realm <realm>
    Specify SASL realm. Default is empty.

sasl-regexp <match> <replace>
    Used by the SASL authorization mechanism to convert a SASL authenticated username to an LDAP DN. When an authorization request is received, the SASL USERNAME, REALM, and MECHANISM are taken, when available, and combined into a SASL name of the form

        uid=<UID>[,cn=<REALM>][,cn=<MECH>],cn=AUTHZ
    This SASL name is then compared against the match regular expression, and if the match is successful, the SASL name is replaced with the replace string. If there are wildcard strings in the match regular expression that are enclosed in parenthesis, e.g.

            uid=(.*)\\+realm=.*
    then the portion of the SASL name that matched the wildcard will be stored in the numbered placeholder variable $1. If there are other wildcard strings in parenthesis, the matching strings will be in $2, $3, etc. up to $9. The placeholders can then be used in the replace string, e.g.

            cn=$1,ou=Accounts,dc=$2,dc=$4.
    The replaced SASL name can be either a DN or an LDAP URI. If the latter, the slapd server will use the URI to search its own database, and if the search returns exactly one entry, the SASL name is replaced by the DN of that entry. Multiple sasl-regexp options can be given in the configuration file to allow for multiple matching and replacement patterns. The matching patterns are checked in the order they appear in the file, stopping at the first successful match. Caution: Because the plus sign + is a character recognized by the regular expression engine, and it will appear in SASL names that include a REALM, be careful to escape the plus sign with a backslash \+ to remove the character's special meaning.

sasl-secprops <properties>
    Used to specify Cyrus SASL security properties. The none flag (without any other properities) causes the flag properites default, "noanonymous,noplain", to be cleared. The noplain flag disables mechanisms susceptible to simple passive attacks. The noactive flag disables mechanisms susceptible to active attacks. The nodict flag disables mechanisms susceptible to passive dictionary attacks. The noanonyous flag disables mechanisms which support anonymous login. The forwardsec flag require forward secrecy between sessions. The passcred require mechanisms which pass client credentials (and allow mechanisms which can pass credentials to do so). The minssf=<factor> property specifies the minimum acceptable security strength factor as an integer approximate to effective key length used for encryption. 0 (zero) implies no protection, 1 implies integrity protection only, 56 allows DES or other weak ciphers, 112 allows triple DES and other strong ciphers, 128 allows RC4, Blowfish and other modern strong ciphers. The default is 0. The maxssf=<factor> property specifies the maximum acceptable security strength factor as an integer (see minssf description). The default is INT_MAX. The maxbufsize=<size> property specifies the maximum security layer receive buffer size allowed. 0 disables security layers. The default is 65536.

security <factors>
    Specify a set of factors (separated by white space) to require. An integer value is associated with each factor and is roughly equivalent of the encryption key length to require. A value of 112 is equivalent to 3DES, 128 to Blowfish, etc.. The directive may be specified globally and/or per-database. ssf=<n> specifies the overall security strength factor. transport=<n> specifies the transport security strength factor. tls=<n> specifies the TLS security strength factor. sasl=<n> specifies the SASL security strength factor. update_ssf=<n> specifies the overall security strength factor to require for directory updates. update_transport=<n> specifies the transport security strength factor to require for directory updates. update_tls=<n> specifies the TLS security strength factor to require for directory updates. update_sasl=<n> specifies the SASL security strength factor to require for directory updates. Note that the transport factor is measure of security provided by the underlying transport, e.g. ldapi:// (and eventually IPSEC). It is not normally used.

sizelimit <integer>

sizelimit size[.{soft|hard|unchecked}]=<integer> [...]
    Specify the maximum number of entries to return from a search operation. The default size limit is 500. The second format allows a fine grain setting of the size limits. Extra args can be added on the same line. See limits for an explanation of the different flags.

sockbuf_max_incoming <integer>
    Specify the maximum incoming LDAP PDU size for anonymous sessions. The default is 262143.

sockbuf_max_incoming_auth <integer>
    Specify the maximum incoming LDAP PDU size for authenticated sessions. The default is 4194303.

srvtab <filename>
    Specify the srvtab file in which the kerberos keys necessary for authenticating clients using kerberos can be found. This option is only meaningful if you are using Kerberos authentication.

threads <integer>
    Specify the maximum size of the primary thread pool. The default is 32.

timelimit <integer>

timelimit time[.{soft|hard}]=<integer> [...]
    Specify the maximum number of seconds (in real time) slapd will spend answering a search request. The default time limit is 3600. The second format allows a fine grain setting of the time limits. Extra args can be added on the same line. See limits for an explanation of the different flags.

TLS OPTIONS
If slapd is built with support for Transport Layer Security, there are more options you can specify.

TLSCipherSuite <cipher-suite-spec>
    Permits configuring what ciphers will be accepted and the preference order. <cipher-suite-spec> should be a cipher specification for OpenSSL. Example: TLSCipherSuite HIGH:MEDIUM:+SSLv2 To check what ciphers a given spec selects, use: openssl ciphers -v <cipher-suite-spec>

TLSCACertificateFile <filename>
    Specifies the file that contains certificates for all of the Certificate Authorities that slapd will recognize.

TLSCertificateFile <filename>
    Specifies the file that contains the slapd server certificate.

TLSCertificateKeyFile <filename>
    Specifies the file that contains the slapd server private key that matches the certificate stored in the TLSCertificateFile file. Currently, the private key must not be protected with a password, so it is of critical importance that it is protected carefully.

TLSRandFile <filename>
    Specifies the file to obtain random bits from when /dev/[u]random is not available. Generally set to the name of the EGD/PRNGD socket. The environment variable RANDFILE can also be used to specify the filename.

TLSVerifyClient <level>
    Specifies what checks to perform on client certificates in an incoming TLS session, if any. The <level> can be specified as one of the following keywords:

    never
        This is the default. slapd will not ask the client for a certificate.

    allow
        The client certificate is requested. If no certificate is provided, the session proceeds normally. If a bad certificate is provided, it will be ignored and the session proceeds normally.

    try The client certificate is requested. If no certificate is provided, the session proceeds normally. If a bad certificate is provided, the session is immediately terminated.

    demand | hard | true
        These keywords are all equivalent, for compatibility reasons. The client certificate is requested. If no certificate is provided, or a bad certificate is provided, the session is immediately terminated. Note that a valid client certificate is required in order to use the SASL EXTERNAL authentication mechanism with a TLS session. As such, a non-default TLSVerifyClient setting must be chosen to enable SASL EXTERNAL authentication.

GENERAL BACKEND OPTIONS
Options in this section only apply to the configuration file section for the specified backend. They are supported by every type of backend.

backend <databasetype>
    Mark the beginning of a backend definition. <databasetype> should be one of ldbm, shell, or passwd depending on which backend will serve the database.

GENERAL DATABASE OPTIONS
Options in this section only apply to the configuration file section for the database in which they are defined. They are supported by every type of backend.

database <databasetype>
    Mark the beginning of a new database instance definition. <databasetype> should be one of bdb, ldbm, shell, or passwd depending on which backend will serve the database.

lastmod on | off
    Controls whether slapd will automatically maintain the modifiersName, modifyTimestamp, creatorsName, and createTimestamp attributes for entries. By default, lastmod is on.

readonly on | off
    This option puts the database into "read-only" mode. Any attempts to modify the database will return an "unwilling to perform" error. By default, readonly is off.

replica host=<hostname>[:port] [tls=yes|critical] [suffix=<suffix> [...]] bindmethod=simple|sasl [binddn=<simple DN>] [credentials=<simple password>] [saslmech=<SASL mech>] [secopts=<options>] [realm=<realm>] [authcId=<authentication ID>] [authcId=<authentication ID>]
    Specify a replication site for this database. Refer to the "OpenLDAP Administrator's Guide" for detailed information on setting up a replicated slapd directory service. Zero or more suffix instances can be used to select the subtrees that will be replicated (defaults to all the database). A bindmethod of simple requires the options binddn and credentials and should only be used when adequate security services (e.g TLS or IPSEC) are in place. A bindmethod of sasl requires the option saslmech. If the mechanism will use Kerberos, a kerberos instance should be given in authcId.

replogfile <filename>
    Specify the name of the replication log file to log changes to. The replication log is typically written by slapd(8) and read by slurpd(8). See slapd.replog(5) for more information. The specified file should be located in a directory with limited read/write/execute access as the replication logs may contain sensitive information.

rootdn <dn>
    Specify the distinguished name that is not subject to access control or administrative limit restrictions for operations on this database. This DN may or may not be associated with an entry. An empty root DN (the default) specifies no root access is to be granted. It is recommended that the rootdn only be specified when needed (such as when initially populating a database). If the rootdn is within a namingContext (suffix) of the database, a simple bind password may also be provided using the rootpw directive.

rootpw <password>
    Specify a password (or hash of the password) for the rootdn. If the rootdn is not within the namingContext of the database, the provided password is ignored. This option accepts all RFC 2307 userPassword formats known to the server (see password-hash desription) as well as cleartext. slappasswd(8) may be used to generate a hash of a password. Cleartext and {CRYPT} passwords are not recommended. If empty (the default), authentication of the root DN is by other means (e.g. SASL). Use of SASL is encouraged.

suffix <dn suffix>
    Specify the DN suffix of queries that will be passed to this backend database. Multiple suffix lines can be given and at least one is required for each database definition.

subordinate
    Specify that the current backend database is a subordinate of another backend database. A subordinate database may have only one suffix. This option may bse used to glue multiple databases into a single namingContext. If the suffix of the current database is within the namingContext of a superior database, searches against the superior database will be propagated to the subordinate as well. All of the databases associated with a single namingContext should have identical rootdns. Behavior of other LDAP operations is unaffected by this setting. In particular, it is not possible to use moddn to move an entry from one subordinate to another subordinate within the namingContext.

updatedn <dn>
    This option is only applicable in a slave slapd. It specifies the DN allowed to make changes to the replica (typically, this is the DN slurpd(8) binds as when making changes to the replica).

updateref <url>
    Specify the referral to pass back when slapd(8) is asked to modify a replicated local database. If specified multiple times, each url is provided.

BDB DATABASE-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Options in this category only apply to the BDB databases. That is, they must follow "database ldbm" line and come before any subsequent "backend" or "database" lines.

LDBM DATABASE-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Options in this category only apply to the LDBM databases. That is, they must follow "database ldbm" line and come before any subsequent "backend" or "database" lines.

cachesize <integer>
    Specify the size in entries of the in-memory cache maintained by the LDBM backend database instance. The default is 1000 entries.

dbcachesize <integer>
    Specify the size in bytes of the in-memory cache associated with each open index file. If not supported by the underlying database method, this option is ignored without comment. The default is 100000 bytes.

dbnolocking
    Specify that no database locking should be performed. Enabling this option may improve performance at the expense of data security. Do NOT run any slap tools while slapd is running.

dbnosync
    Specify that on-disk database contents should not be immediately synchronized with in memory changes. Enabling this option may improve performance at the expense of data security.

dbsync <frequency> <maxdelays> <delayinterval>
    Flush dirty database buffers to disk every <seconds> seconds. Implies dbnosync (ie. indvidual updates are no longer written to disk). It attempts to avoid syncs during periods of peak activity by waiting <delayinterval> seconds if the server is busy, repeating this delay up to <maxdelays> times before proceeding. It is an attempt to provide higher write performance with some amount of data security. Note that it may still be possible to get an inconsistent database if the underlying engine fills its cache and writes out individual pages and slapd crashes or is killed before the next sync. <maxdelays> and <delayinterval> are optional and default to 12 and 5 respectively, giving a total elapsed delay of 60 seconds before a sync will occur. <maxdelays> may be zero, and <delayinterval> must be 1 or greater.

directory <directory>
    Specify the directory where the LDBM files containing this database and associated indexes live. A separate directory must be specified for each database. The default is LOCALSTATEDIR/openldap-data.

index {<attrlist>|default} [pres,eq,approx,sub,<special>]
    Specify the indexes to maintain for the given attribute (or list of attributes). Some attributes only support a subset of indexes. If only an <attr> is given, the indices specified for default are maintained. Note that setting a default does not imply that all attributes will be indexed. A number of special index parameters may be specified. The index type sub can be decomposed into subinitial, subany, and subfinal indices. The special type nolang may be specified to disallow use of this index by language subtypes. The special type nosubtypes may be specified to disallow use of this index by named subtypes. Note: changing index settings requires rebuilding indices, see slapindex(8).

mode <integer>
    Specify the file protection mode that newly created database index files should have. The default is 0600.

SHELL DATABASE-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Options in this category only apply to the SHELL backend database. That is, they must follow a "database shell" line and come before any subsequent "backend" or "database" lines. The Shell backend executes external programs to implement operations, and is designed to make it easy to tie an existing database to the slapd front-end.

bind <pathname>

unbind <pathname>

search <pathname>

compare <pathname>

modify <pathname>

modrdn <pathname>

add <pathname>

delete <pathname>

abandon <pathname>
    These options specify the pathname of the command to execute in response to the given LDAP operation. Note that you need only supply configuration lines for those commands you want the backend to handle. Operations for which a command is not supplied will be refused with an "unwilling to perform" error.

PASSWORD DATABASE-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Options in this category only apply to the PASSWD backend database. That is, they must follow a "database passwd" line and come before any subsequent "backend" or "database" lines. The PASSWD database serves up the user account information listed in the system passwd(5) file.

file <filename>
    Specifies an alternate passwd file to use. The default is /etc/passwd.

EXAMPLE
"OpenLDAP Administrator's Guide" contains an annotated example of a configuration file.

FILES
ETCDIR/slapd.conf

SEE ALSO
ldap(3), slapd.replog(5), slapd.access(5), locale(5), passwd(5), slapd(8), slapadd(8), slapcat(8), slapindex(8), slappassword(8), slurpd(8),

"OpenLDAP Administrator's Guide" (http://www.OpenLDAP.org/doc/admin/)

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