Reference › File Structure and File Formats › LDIF

LDIF

LDIF is a format suitable for describing directory information or changes to be made to directory information.

LDIF files are text files that store directory information in LDIF. You can use LDIF files to transfer directory information between LDAP directory servers or to describe a set of changes to be applied to a directory.

LDIF files are useful for these tasks:

• Load new entries into a directory
• Restore entries into a directory after recovery
• Dump (export) data from a directory
• Apply bulk edits to directory data

LDIF is defined in the Internet standard RFC 2849. For more information about LDIF, see the draft RFC available at the IETF home page.