RFC 2307 (rfc2307) - Page 1 of 21

An Approach for Using LDAP as a Network Information Service

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Network Working Group                                          L. Howard
Request for Comments: 2307                        Independent Consultant
Category: Experimental                                        March 1998


      An Approach for Using LDAP as a Network Information Service

Status of this Memo

   This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
   community.  It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.
   Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested.
   Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document describes an experimental mechanism for mapping
   entities related to TCP/IP and the UNIX system into X.500 [X500]
   entries so that they may be resolved with the Lightweight Directory
   Access Protocol [RFC 2251]. A set of attribute types and object
   classes are proposed, along with specific guidelines for interpreting
   them.

   The intention is to assist the deployment of LDAP as an
   organizational nameservice. No proposed solutions are intended as
   standards for the Internet. Rather, it is hoped that a general
   consensus will emerge as to the appropriate solution to such
   problems, leading eventually to the adoption of standards. The
   proposed mechanism has already been implemented with some success.

1. Background and Motivation

   The UNIX (R) operating system, and its derivatives (specifically,
   those which support TCP/IP and conform to the X/Open Single UNIX
   specification [XOPEN]) require a means of looking up entities, by
   matching them against search criteria or by enumeration. (Other
   operating systems that support TCP/IP may provide some means of
   resolving some of these entities. This schema is applicable to those
   environments also.)

   These entities include users, groups, IP services (which map names to
   IP ports and protocols, and vice versa), IP protocols (which map
   names to IP protocol numbers and vice versa), RPCs (which map names
   to ONC Remote Procedure Call [RFC 1057] numbers and vice versa), NIS



Howard                        Experimental
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