RFC 1959 (rfc1959) - Page 1 of 4

An LDAP URL Format

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Network Working Group                                           T. Howes
Request for Comments: 1959                                      M. Smith
Category: Standards Track                         University of Michigan
                                                               June 1996


                           An LDAP URL Format

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

1.  Abstract

   LDAP is the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, defined in [1] and
   [2].  This document describes a format for an LDAP Uniform Resource
   Locator which will allow Internet clients to have direct access to
   the LDAP protocol.  While LDAP currently is used only as a front end
   to the X.500 directory, the URL format described here is general
   enough to handle the case of stand-alone LDAP servers (i.e., LDAP
   servers not back-ended by X.500).

2.  URL Definition

   An LDAP URL begins with the protocol prefix "ldap" and is defined by
   the following grammar.

     ::= "ldap://" [  ] "/"  [ "?" 
                        [ "?"  "?"  ] ]

     ::=  [ ":"  ]

     ::= a string as defined in RFC 1485

     ::= NULL |  ::= 
                        |  [ ","  ]

     ::= a string as defined in RFC 1777

     ::= "base" | "one" | "sub"

     ::= a string as defined in RFC 1558



Howes & Smith               Standards Track
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