LDAP_OPEN(3)

NAME
ldap_init, ldap_initialize, ldap_open - Initialize the LDAP library and open a connection to an LDAP server

LIBRARY
OpenLDAP LDAP (libldap, -lldap)

SYNOPSIS
#include <ldap.h>

LDAP *ldap_open(host, port)
char *host;
int port;

LDAP *ldap_init(host, port)
char *host;
int port;

int ldap_initialize(ldp, uri)
LDAP **ldp;
char *uri;

int ldap_connect(ldp)
LDAP *ldp;

int ldap_set_urllist_proc(ld, proc, params)
LDAP *ld;
LDAP_URLLIST_PROC *proc;
void *params;

int (LDAP_URLLIST_PROC)(ld, urllist, url, params);
LDAP *ld;
LDAPURLDesc **urllist;
LDAPURLDesc **url;
void *params;

#include <openldap.h>

int ldap_init_fd(fd, proto, uri, ldp)
ber_socket_t fd;
int proto;
char *uri;
LDAP **ldp;

DESCRIPTION

ldap_open() opens a connection to an LDAP server and allocates an LDAP structure which is used to identify the connection and to maintain per-connection information. ldap_init() allocates an LDAP structure but does not open an initial connection. ldap_initialize() allocates an LDAP structure but does not open an initial connection. ldap_init_fd() allocates an LDAP structure using an existing connection on the provided socket. One of these routines must be called before any operations are attempted.

ldap_open() takes host, the hostname on which the LDAP server is running, and port, the port number to which to connect. If the default IANA-assigned port of 389 is desired, LDAP_PORT should be specified for port. The host parameter may contain a blank-separated list of hosts to try to connect to, and each host may optionally by of the form host:port. If present, the :port overrides the port parameter to ldap_open(). Upon successfully making a connection to an LDAP server, ldap_open() returns a pointer to an opaque LDAP structure, which should be passed to subsequent calls to ldap_bind(), ldap_search(), etc. Certain fields in the LDAP structure can be set to indicate size limit, time limit, and how aliases are handled during operations; read and write access to those fields must occur by calling ldap_get_option(3) and ldap_set_option(3) respectively, whenever possible.

ldap_init() acts just like ldap_open(), but does not open a connection to the LDAP server. The actual connection open will occur when the first operation is attempted.

ldap_initialize() acts like ldap_init(), but it returns an integer indicating either success or the failure reason, and it allows to specify details for the connection in the schema portion of the URI. The uri parameter may be a comma- or whitespace-separated list of URIs containing only the schema, the host, and the port fields. Apart from ldap, other (non-standard) recognized values of the schema field are ldaps (LDAP over TLS), ldapi (LDAP over IPC), and cldap (connectionless LDAP). If other fields are present, the behavior is undefined.

At this time, ldap_open() and ldap_init() are deprecated in favor of ldap_initialize(), essentially because the latter allows to specify a schema in the URI and it explicitly returns an error code.

ldap_connect() causes a handle created by ldap_initialize() to connect to the server. This is useful in situations where a file descriptor is required before a request is performed.

ldap_init_fd() allows an LDAP structure to be initialized using an already-opened connection. The proto parameter should be one of LDAP_PROTO_TCP, LDAP_PROTO_UDP, or LDAP_PROTO_IPC for a connection using TCP, UDP, or IPC, respectively. The value LDAP_PROTO_EXT may also be specified if user-supplied sockbuf handlers are going to be used. Note that support for UDP is not implemented unless libldap was built with LDAP_CONNECTIONLESS defined. The uri parameter may optionally be provided for informational purposes.

ldap_set_urllist_proc() allows to set a function proc of type LDAP_URLLIST_PROC that is called when a successful connection can be established. This function receives the list of URIs parsed from the uri string originally passed to ldap_initialize(), and the one that successfully connected. The function may manipulate the URI list; the typical use consists in moving the successful URI to the head of the list, so that subsequent attempts to connect to one of the URIs using the same LDAP handle will try it first. If ld is null, proc is set as a global parameter that is inherited by all handlers within the process that are created after the call to ldap_set_urllist_proc(). By default, no LDAP_URLLIST_PROC is set. In a multithreaded environment, ldap_set_urllist_proc() must be called before any concurrent operation using the LDAP handle is started.

Note: the first call into the LDAP library also initializes the global options for the library. As such the first call should be single-threaded or otherwise protected to insure that only one call is active. It is recommended that ldap_get_option() or ldap_set_option() be used in the program's main thread before any additional threads are created. See ldap_get_option(3).

ERRORS
If an error occurs, ldap_open() and ldap_init() will return NULL and errno should be set appropriately. ldap_initialize() and ldap_init_fd() will directly return the LDAP code associated to the error (or LDAP_SUCCESS in case of success); errno should be set as well whenever appropriate. ldap_set_urllist_proc() returns LDAP_OPT_ERROR on error, and LDAP_OPT_SUCCESS on success.

SEE ALSO
ldap(3), ldap_bind(3), ldap_get_option(3), ldap_set_option(3), lber-sockbuf(3), errno(3)

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