Directory Services 7.3.5

Notification of changes

Applications that need change notification can use a persistent search or read the external change log.

Defined in the Internet-Draft, Persistent Search: A Simple LDAP Change Notification Mechanism, a persistent search is like a regular search that never returns. Every time a change happens in the scope of the search, the server returns an additional response:

  1. Grant access to perform a persistent search, by adding an ACI to use the persistent search control.

    Persistent searches consume server resources, so servers do not allow them by default. If an application does not have access, the request fails with an unavailable critical extension error:

    The LDAP search request failed: 12 (Unavailable Critical Extension)
Additional Information:  The request control with Object Identifier (OID) "2.16.840.1.113730.3.4.3"
cannot be used due to insufficient access rights

    The following command grants access under dc=example,dc=com to My App:

    $ ldapmodify \
 --hostname localhost \
 --port 1636 \
 --useSsl \
 --usePkcs12TrustStore /path/to/opendj/config/keystore \
 --trustStorePassword:file /path/to/opendj/config/keystore.pin \
 --bindDN uid=admin \
 --bindPassword password << EOF
dn: dc=example,dc=com
changetype: modify
add: aci
aci: (targetcontrol = "PSearch")
 (version 3.0;acl "Allow Persistent Search for My App";
 allow (read)(userdn = "ldap:///cn=My App,ou=Apps,dc=example,dc=com");)
EOF

  2. Start the persistent search.

    The following example initiates a persistent search, where notifications are sent for all update operations, only notifications about changed entries are returned, and no additional information are returned:

    $ ldapsearch \
 --hostname localhost \
 --port 1636 \
 --useSsl \
 --usePkcs12TrustStore /path/to/opendj/config/keystore \
 --trustStorePassword:file /path/to/opendj/config/keystore.pin \
 --bindDN 'cn=My App,ou=Apps,dc=example,dc=com' \
 --bindPassword password \
 --baseDN dc=example,dc=com \
 --persistentSearch ps:all:true:false \
 '(&)' >> /tmp/psearch.txt &

$ export PSEARCH_PID=$!

    Notice the search filter, (&), which is always true, meaning that it matches all entries. For details on settings for a persistent search, refer to the --persistentSearch option in ldapsearch Options.

  3. Make changes that impact the persistent search results.

    Show commands

    To prepare to modify an entry, save the following LDIF in a file named description.ldif:

    dn: uid=bjensen,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
changetype: modify
replace: description
description: Hello, persistent search

    The following commands perform a modify operation, and a delete operation:

    $ ldapmodify \
 --hostname localhost \
 --port 1636 \
 --useSsl \
 --usePkcs12TrustStore /path/to/opendj/config/keystore \
 --trustStorePassword:file /path/to/opendj/config/keystore.pin \
 --bindDN uid=kvaughan,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com \
 --bindPassword bribery << EOF
dn: uid=bjensen,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
changetype: modify
replace: description
description: Hello, persistent search
EOF

$ ldapdelete \
 --hostname localhost \
 --port 1636 \
 --useSsl \
 --usePkcs12TrustStore /path/to/opendj/config/keystore \
 --trustStorePassword:file /path/to/opendj/config/keystore.pin \
 --bindDN uid=kvaughan,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com \
 --bindPassword bribery \
 uid=tpierce,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
    Show persistent search results

    The result is the following responses to the persistent search:

    dn: uid=bjensen,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
objectClass: person
objectClass: cos
objectClass: oauth2TokenObject
objectClass: inetOrgPerson
objectClass: organizationalPerson
objectClass: posixAccount
objectClass: top
classOfService: bronze
cn: Barbara Jensen
cn: Babs Jensen
description: Hello, persistent search
facsimileTelephoneNumber: +1 408 555 1992
gidNumber: 1000
givenName: Barbara
homeDirectory: /home/bjensen
l: San Francisco
mail: bjensen@example.com
manager: uid=trigden, ou=People, dc=example,dc=com
oauth2Token: {"access_token":"123","expires_in":59,"token_type":"Bearer","refresh_token":"456"}
ou: Product Development
ou: People
preferredLanguage: en, ko;q=0.8
roomNumber: 0209
sn: Jensen
telephoneNumber: +1 408 555 1862
uid: bjensen
uidNumber: 1076
userPassword: {PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256}10:<hash>

dn: uid=tpierce,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
objectClass: person
objectClass: cos
objectClass: inetOrgPerson
objectClass: organizationalPerson
objectClass: posixAccount
objectClass: top
classOfService: gold
cn: Tobias Pierce
departmentNumber: 1000
description: Description on ou=People
diskQuota: 100 GB
facsimileTelephoneNumber: +1 408 555 9332
gidNumber: 1000
givenName: Tobias
homeDirectory: /home/tpierce
l: Bristol
mail: tpierce@example.com
mailQuota: 10 GB
manager: uid=scarter, ou=People, dc=example,dc=com
ou: Accounting
ou: People
preferredLanguage: en-gb
roomNumber: 1383
sn: Pierce
street: Broad Quay House, Prince Street
telephoneNumber: +1 408 555 1531
uid: tpierce
uidNumber: 1042
userPassword: {PBKDF2-HMAC-SHA256}10:<hash>

    If the data is replicated, the results include the entry dc=example,dc=com. Replication updates the ds-sync-* operational attributes on dc=example,dc=com, and those changes appear in the results because the entry is in the scope of the persistent search.

  4. Terminate the persistent search.

    Interrupt the command with CTRL+C (SIGINT) or SIGTERM:

    $ kill -s SIGTERM $PSEARCH_PID

Use the external change log

You read the external change log over LDAP. When you poll the change log, you can get the list of updates that happened since your last request.

The external change log mechanism uses an LDAP control with OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.26027.1.5.4. This control allows the client application to bookmark the last changes observed. The control returns a cookie that the application sends to the server to read the next batch of changes.

These steps show the client binding as uid=admin to read the change log. Other accounts require sufficient access and privileges to read the change log. For instructions, refer to Let a user read the changelog:

  1. Send an initial search request using the LDAP control with no cookie value.

    In this example, two changes appear in the changelog:

    $ ldapsearch \
 --hostname localhost \
 --port 1636 \
 --useSsl \
 --usePkcs12TrustStore /path/to/opendj/config/keystore \
 --trustStorePassword:file /path/to/opendj/config/keystore.pin \
 --bindDN uid=admin \
 --bindPassword password \
 --baseDN cn=changelog \
 --control "ecl:false" \
 "(&)" \
 changes changeLogCookie targetDN

dn: cn=changelog

dn: replicationCSN=<CSN1>,dc=example,dc=com,cn=changelog
changes:: <base64Changes1>
targetDN: uid=bjensen,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
changeLogCookie: <COOKIE1>

dn: replicationCSN=<CSN2>,dc=example,dc=com,cn=changelog
changes:: <base64Changes2>
targetDN: uid=bjensen,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
changeLogCookie: <COOKIE2>

    The changes are base64-encoded. You can decode them using the base64 command. The following example decodes a change:

    $ base64 decode --encodedData cmVwbGFjZTogZGVzY3JpcHRpb24KZGVzY3JpcHRpb246IE5ldyBkZXNjcmlwdGlvbgotCnJlcGxhY2U6IG1vZGlmaWVyc05hbWUKbW9kaWZpZXJzTmFtZTogdWlkPWJqZW5zZW4sb3U9UGVvcGxlLGRjPWV4YW1wbGUsZGM9Y29tCi0KcmVwbGFjZTogbW9kaWZ5VGltZXN0YW1wCm1vZGlmeVRpbWVzdGFtcDogMjAxNjEwMTQxNTA5MTJaCi0K

replace: description
description: New description
-
replace: modifiersName
modifiersName: uid=bjensen,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
-
replace: modifyTimestamp
modifyTimestamp: <timestamp>
-

    Notice the changeLogCookie value, which has the form base-dn:CSN. Here, CSN is a change sequence number.

  2. To start reading a particular change in the changelog, provide the cookie with the control:

    $ ldapsearch \
 --hostname localhost \
 --port 1636 \
 --useSsl \
 --usePkcs12TrustStore /path/to/opendj/config/keystore \
 --trustStorePassword:file /path/to/opendj/config/keystore.pin \
 --bindDN uid=admin \
 --bindPassword password \
 --baseDN cn=changelog \
 --control "ecl:false:$COOKIE1" \
 "(&)" \
 changes changeLogCookie targetDN

dn: replicationCSN=<CSN2>,dc=example,dc=com,cn=changelog
changes:: <base64Changes2>
targetDN: uid=bjensen,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
changeLogCookie: <COOKIE2>

    The following command decodes the change returned:

    $ base64 decode --encodedData cmVwbGFjZTogZGVzY3JpcHRpb24KZGVzY3JpcHRpb246IE5ldywgaW1wcm92ZWQgZGVzY3JpcHRpb24KLQpyZXBsYWNlOiBtb2RpZmllcnNOYW1lCm1vZGlmaWVyc05hbWU6IHVpZD1iamVuc2VuLG91PVBlb3BsZSxkYz1leGFtcGxlLGRjPWNvbQotCnJlcGxhY2U6IG1vZGlmeVRpbWVzdGFtcAptb2RpZnlUaW1lc3RhbXA6IDIwMTYxMDE0MTUwOTE5WgotCg==

replace: description
description: New, improved description
-
replace: modifiersName
modifiersName: uid=bjensen,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com
-
replace: modifyTimestamp
modifyTimestamp: <timestamp>
-

  3. If you lose the cookie, start over from the earliest available change by sending a request with no cookie.