SLAPD.BACKENDS(5) File Formats Manual SLAPD.BACKENDS(5)
NAME
slapd.backends - backends for slapd, the stand-alone LDAP daemon
DESCRIPTION
The slapd(8) daemon can use a variety of different backends for serving
LDAP requests. Backends may be compiled statically into slapd, or when
module support is enabled, they may be dynamically loaded. Multiple in-
stances of a backend can be configured, to serve separate databases from
the same slapd server.
Configuration options for each backend are documented separately in the
corresponding slapd-<backend>(5) manual pages.
asyncmeta
This backend performs basic LDAP proxying with respect to a set
of remote LDAP servers. It is an enhancement of the ldap backend
that operates asynchronously, to prevent tying up slapd threads
while waiting for operations to complete.
config This backend is used to manage the configuration of slapd at run-
time. Unlike other backends, only a single instance of the con-
fig backend may be defined. It also instantiates itself automati-
cally, so it is always present even if not explicitly defined in
the slapd.conf(5) file.
dnssrv This backend is experimental. It serves up referrals based upon
SRV resource records held in the Domain Name System.
ldap This backend acts as a proxy to forward incoming requests to an-
other LDAP server.
ldif This database uses the filesystem to build the tree structure of
the database, using plain ascii files to store data. Its usage
should be limited to very simple databases, where performance is
not a requirement. This backend also supports subtree renames.
mdb This is the recommended primary backend. This backend uses
OpenLDAP's own MDB transactional database library. This backend
also supports subtree renames.
meta This backend performs basic LDAP proxying with respect to a set
of remote LDAP servers. It is an enhancement of the ldap backend.
monitor
This backend provides information about the running status of the
slapd daemon. Only a single instance of the monitor backend may
be defined.
null Operations in this backend succeed but do nothing.
passwd This backend is provided for demonstration purposes only. It
serves up user account information from the system passwd(5)
file.
perl This backend embeds a perl(1) interpreter into slapd. It runs
Perl subroutines to implement LDAP operations. This backend is
deprecated.
relay This backend is experimental. It redirects LDAP operations to
another database in the same server, based on the naming context
of the request. Its use requires the rwm overlay (see
slapo-rwm(5) for details) to rewrite the naming context of the
request. It is primarily intended to implement virtual views on
databases that actually store data.
sql This backend is experimental and deprecated. It services LDAP
requests from an SQL database.
wiredtiger
This backend is experimental. It services LDAP requests from a
wiredtiger database.
FILES
/etc/ldap/slapd.conf
default slapd configuration file
/etc/ldap/slapd.d
default slapd configuration directory
SEE ALSO
ldap(3), slapd-asyncmeta(5), slapd-config(5), slapd-dnssrv(5),
slapd-ldap(5), slapd-ldif(5), slapd-mdb(5), slapd-meta(5), slapd-moni-
tor(5), slapd-null(5), slapd-passwd(5), slapd-perl(5), slapd-relay(5),
slapd-sql(5), slapd-wt(5), slapd.conf(5), slapd.overlays(5), slapd(8).
"OpenLDAP Administrator's Guide" (http://www.OpenLDAP.org/doc/admin/)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
OpenLDAP Software is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project
<http://www.openldap.org/>. OpenLDAP Software is derived from the Uni-
versity of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release.
OpenLDAP 2.6.10+dfsg-1 2025/05/22 SLAPD.BACKENDS(5)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 04:46:28 CET 2025.