Accessing the LDAP Server

How the CSRC_DBTOOL Works

Command Description

Using CRSC_DBTOOL

Searching for Information

Creating an Object

Interfacing with the Billing System

Accessing the LDAP Server

CSRC uses the LDAPv3 directory server as the default datastore for subscriber account provisioning information. This chapter explains how you can use the csrc_dbtool command to search the LDAP server for data, and add or update customer data. This chapter also includes suggestions about how you can transfer information from your billing system to the CSRC datastore.

How the CSRC_DBTOOL Works

The csrc_dbtool command is a command-line utility that you can use for the storage and retrieval of CSRC data. It does the following:

Uses the configuration file to initialize the CSRC object layer to connect to the LDAP server. If there is an error in the configuration file, the csrc_dbtool command exits with a non-zero return code.
Searches for objects based on the unique key. It exits if the class name is not a valid application schema class name or if the attribute is not a valid unique attribute name.
Searches for objects based on normal attribute and value. It exits if the class name is not a valid application schema class name or if the attribute name is not a valid attribute name.
Searches for objects using an LDAP-compatible filter. It exits if the filter is not LDAP compatible or it is an incorrect format, the class name is not a valid application schema class name, or the sort key is not a valid application schema attribute name.

Note The class name and attribute name are case sensitive. The data in the file for add or update must contain all the required fields except the ObjectID.

The exit status is 0 for success and non-zero for failure. The csrc_dbtool command displays error information on standard out.

Command Description

The csrc_dbtool command allows you to search, import, and update the LDAP server.

The syntax is:

csrc_dbtool find -[Kk] Class Attribute Value
 
csrc_dbtool find -[Mm] Class Attribute Value
 
	csrc_dbtool find -[Qq] Class (Filter) SortKey
 
csrc_dbtool [file] filename

Table 7-1 lists and describes the csrc_dbtool command properties.

Table 7-1: The csrc_dbtool Properties

Property Description

find

Specifies a search of the LDAP directory.

-[Kk]

Searches the LDAP directory based on a unique key attribute of an application schema class in the LDAP server.

-[Mm]

Searches the LDAP directory based on a normal attribute of application schema class in the LDAP server. Expects a set of data.

-[Qq]

Searches the LDAP directory based on LDAP-compatible filter in the LDAP server.

[file]

Uses an input file to add or update LDAP server.

Class

Specifies an application schema class name. It is case sensitive

Attribute

Specifies the attribute for which to search. You cannot use wild card matching to search for attributes.

Value

Specifies the value of the attribute for which to search. You cannot use wild card matching to search for values.

(Filter)

Specifies the LDAP-compatible filter. The filter supports wild card searching and requires that all expressions are enclosed in parenthesis ().

SortKey

Specifies the sort key for which you want the results sorted and displayed. The sort key must belong to the attribute set of the class you have specified.

filename

Specifies the filename of the text file that contains the attributes and values you want stored in the new object.

Property	Description
find	Specifies a search of the LDAP directory.
-[Kk]	Searches the LDAP directory based on a unique key attribute of an application schema class in the LDAP server.
-[Mm]	Searches the LDAP directory based on a normal attribute of application schema class in the LDAP server. Expects a set of data.
-[Qq]	Searches the LDAP directory based on LDAP-compatible filter in the LDAP server.
[file]	Uses an input file to add or update LDAP server.
Class	Specifies an application schema class name. It is case sensitive
Attribute	Specifies the attribute for which to search. You cannot use wild card matching to search for attributes.
Value	Specifies the value of the attribute for which to search. You cannot use wild card matching to search for values.
(Filter)	Specifies the LDAP-compatible filter. The filter supports wild card searching and requires that all expressions are enclosed in parenthesis ().
SortKey	Specifies the sort key for which you want the results sorted and displayed. The sort key must belong to the attribute set of the class you have specified.
filename	Specifies the filename of the text file that contains the attributes and values you want stored in the new object.

The csrc_dbtool command requires the following files

On Solaris, place libcCSRCMWLite.so in your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable
On NT, place CSRCMWLite.dll in your library search path.

Using CRSC_DBTOOL

To test whether the configuration file is correct, type:

csrc_dbtool

To show the csrc_dbtool version number, type:

csrc_dbtool -v

To display the csrc_dbtool help, type:

csrc_dbtool -h

Searching for Information

To search all the accounts for account number is 4, type:

csrc_dbtool find -k Account AccountName 4

To search all the accounts with user's last name is "Smith," type:

csrc_dbtool find -m Account LastName Smith

To search all the accounts in which the user's last name starts with `S' and sort the display results based on AccountNumber, type:

csrc_dbtool find -q Account (LastName=S*) AccountNumber

Creating an Object

Example 7-1 displays creating an "Account" object with the minimum required information:

Example 7-1: Account Object

[Class]
Add Account
[Data]
AccountNumber <Insert Account Number Here>
PIN <Insert PIN Here>
FirstName <Insert First Name Here>
LastName <Insert Last Name Here>
Telephone <Insert Telephone Number Here>
Address <Insert Address Here>
City <Insert City Name Here>
State <Insert State Name Here>
ZipCode <Insert Zip Code Here>
[Flush]
[Class]
Update Account
[Data]
AccountNumber <Insert Secured Account Number Here>
Remove PIN <Insert Secured PIN Here>
FirstName <Insert First Name Here>
LastName <Insert Last Name Here>
Telephone <Insert Telephone Number Here>
Address <Insert Address Here>
City <Insert City Name Here>
State <Insert State Name Here>
ZipCode <Insert Zip Code Here>
[Flush]

[Class] [Data] [Flush] Add Update are keywords.

The text file you create must have the following required parts, and they must be listed in this order:

[Class]---Each object data must start with [Class] and have one class name.Within the property there must be the word Add or Update before the actual class name. If you omit the [Class] keyword, the csrc_dbtool command will exit.
[Data] leads all the attributes and values for this particular object. The Add operation must list all attributes required by the schema. The Update operation uses the first attribute in the search and the remainder as remove or updates depending on the attributes' keyword.
[Flush] indicates the end of the object.

The following are keywords:

Class---Add, Update
Attributes---Add, Remove
- Precede an attribute with Add to add it to the object. Before adding an attribute, make sure that the attribute already exists in the schema.
- Precede the attribute with Remove to delete it from the object. Before deleting an attribute, make sure that the schema does not require the attribute.
Command lines---{[Kk] | [Mm] | [Qq] | [file]}

The csrc_dbtool command treats all other attributes without keywords as update operations.

Interfacing with the Billing System

To transfer the data in your company's billing system into the CSRC LDAP server, you must:

Extract account information from the billing system
Restructure the information into LDIF format
Import the information into the LDAP directory

This process conveys a snap-shot of billing system accounts into the LDAP directory; you must perform this process for all future accounts.

Most billing systems are built on top of relational database systems. Using SQL commands, you can export an ASCII table of accounts, with space-separated fields. The actual commands depend on the structure of the billing database (which may require JOINS).

You need to change this tabular format (for example, using Perl) into a format that can be imported into the directory server. Many directory servers understand a data format called LDIF (which stands for LDAP Data Interchange Format). In the LDIF format, each field value of a record is placed on its own line, and records are separated by an empty line.

For example:

dn:cn=Janco Tanis,mail=janco.tanis@coas.com
cn:Janco Tanis
sn:Tanis
givenname:Janco
objectclass:top
objectclass:person
description:
locality:
st:
mail:janco.tanis@coas.com
title:
postOfficeBox:
streetaddress:
postalcode:
countryname:
telephonenumber:800-614617
facsimiletelephonenumber:
homephone:010-6916321
o:COAS
xmozillanickname:
xmozillausehtmlmail:FALSE
xmozillauseconferenceserver:0
 
dn:cn=John Zulman,mail=johnz@acme.com
cn:John Zulman
sn:Zulman
...

The Netscape Directory Server includes a tool called "ldif2db" which imports an LDIF file into its internal database, for access by LDAP clients. You can find more information about Netscape Directory Server database management at:

http://developer.netscape.com:80/docs/manuals/directory/admin30/dbmnage.htm

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