PingDirectory

Working with the Last Access Time plugin

Use the Last Access Time plugin to record the timestamp of the last activity targeting an entry. The plugin updates the ds-last-access-time attribute of the entry when accessing it using an ADD, BIND, COMPARE, MODIFY, MODIFY DN, or SEARCH operation.

Before you begin

Consider the following before using this plugin:

  • An updated ds-last-access-time attribute value is replicated like any other change to an entry.

  • The ds-last-access-time attribute is not returned from a search, unless included in the attributes list explicitly, or given the "+" specification for operational attributes.

  • The ds-last-access-time value format is yyyyMMddHHmmss.SSS'Z', which provides millisecond-level accuracy, such as 20131207144135.821Z.

  • The ds-last-access-time attribute can be indexed with a local database index. The ordering index type is the most relevant, but might require a higher index entry limit (default is 4000) to accommodate searches for entries that are not accessed for a long period of time. The ordering index type with a short time range or high index entry limit results in indexed search results for requests, such as (ds-last-access-time>=20131207144135.821Z).

About this task

Use the plugin with the Directory Server Uncached Attribute Criteria or any application that needs to determine the last access time of an entry. The plugin also enables defining request criteria to limit the scope of tracking the last access time. The max-search-result-entries-to-update property also prevents mass updates of ds-last-access-time when searches contain many results, but might not reflect end-user access.

Steps

  • Enable the plugin on all servers that have the same configuration.

    For deployments earlier than version 4.5 that use the Last Access Time plugin, disable the plugin before upgrading, and then re-enable it after the update is complete. If servers are running different versions, the last-access-time updates might occur with a higher frequency than intended.