Reference › File Structure and File Formats › LDIF › Format of Information in an LDIF File

Format of Information in an LDIF File

An LDIF file consists of a series of records, separated by blank lines.

Each record describes a directory entry or a set of changes to a directory entry. These two types of records cannot be mixed in an LDIF file.

Information only

If you want to do any of the following tasks, use an information-only LDIF file:

• Load new entries into a directory
• Restore entries into a directory after recovery

Directives for changes

If you want to edit existing data, use an LDIF file that contains directives.

LDIF File Containing Description of an Entry

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

The first line of an entry is the distinguished name (dn). The rest of the entry is made up of attribute value pairs, separated by a colon (:) and a space.

Each record is separated with a blank line.

The basic form of an LDIF entry is:

dn: distinguished-name
attribute-type : attribute-value
attribute-type : attribute-value...

Example: A Simple LDIF File with Two Entries

This example shows two LDIF records. An LDIF file that contains these records could be used to load these two entries into a directory:

version: 1
dn: cn=Barbara Jensen, ou=Product Development, dc=airius, dc=com
objectclass: top
objectclass: person
cn: Barbara Jensen
sn: Jensen

dn: cn=Barbara Jensen, ou=Product Development, dc=airius, dc=com
objectclass: top
objectclass: person
cn: Barbara Jensen
sn: Jensen

LDIF File Containing Changes to Data

An LDIF file can contain instructions for changes to existing entries in a directory. LDIF lets you specify these changes:

• Add or delete an entire entry
• Add, delete, or modify an attribute
• Add an object class to an entry
• Rename an entry by modifying its RDN
• Move an entry to another location in the DIT

  changetype: add
  changetype: delete
  changetype: modify
  
  version: 1
  dn: distinguished-name
  changetype: modrdn
  newrdn: name
  [deleteoldrdn: 0|1]
  [newsuperior]
  

You cannot rename an entry if that entry has children.

Example: One LDIF Change Directive

This example shows a single entry, for which the title will be replaced:

version: 1
dn: cn=Murray HORSFALL, ou=Repair,ou=Operations,o=Democorp,c=AU
changetype: modify
replace: title
title: Chief Information Officer

Example: An LDIF file Containing Many Change Directives

This example shows a single entry with a series of changes:

version: 1
dn: cn=Murray HORSFALL, ou=Repair,ou=Operations,o=Democorp,c=AU
changetype: modify
replace: title
title: Chief Information Officer
-
add: telephone
telephone: 797 8888
-
delete: description
-
replace: postalAddress
postalAddress: 173 Toorak Rd $ South Yarra
postalCode: 3066

dn: cn=Murray HORSFALL, ou=Repair,ou=Operations,o=Democorp,c=AU
changetype: add
title: Chief Information Officer
telephone: 797 8888
postalAddress: 173 Toorak Rd $ South Yarra
postalCode: 3066