OpenLDAP Setup Overview

This section provides a quick overview for installing and configuring an OpenLDAP directory. For more details, refer to the following URLs:

• http://www.openldap.org/doc/admin/quickstart.html — The Quick-Start Guide on the OpenLDAP website.

• http://www.redhat.com/mirrors/LDP/HOWTO/LDAP-HOWTO.html — The LDAP Linux HOWTO from the Linux Documentation Project, mirrored on Red Hat’s website.

The basic steps for creating an LDAP server are as follows:

1. Install the openldap, openldap-servers, and openldap-clients RPMs.

2. Edit the /etc/openldap/slapd.conf file to reference your LDAP domain and server.

3. Start slapd with the command:

   /sbin/service/ldap start

   After you have configured LDAP correctly, you can use chkconfig, ntsysv, or Services Configuration Tool to configure LDAP to start at boot time. For more information about configuring services, see Chapter 21.

4. Add entries to your LDAP directory with ldapadd.

5. Use ldapsearch to see if slapd is accessing the information correctly.

6. At this point, your LDAP directory should be functioning properly and you can configure any LDAP-enabled applications to use the LDAP directory.