Modification conflicts are always resolved automatically and no manual action is required. The LDAP Modify operation allows the following modification types:
  • Add of one or more values
  • Delete of one or more values or the entire attribute
  • Replacement of all values

Replication does not currently support the increment LDAP modification type.

For all of the operations in the table below, assume the following:
  • LDAP Modify 1 was applied at Directory Server 1
  • LDAP Modify 2 was applied at Directory Server 2
  • LDAP Modify 1 occurred shortly before LDAP Modify 2, so that Directory Server 2 received LDAP Modify 1 after LDAP Modify 2 was applied.

The modification conflict scenario is illustrated in the figure below:

Replication Modification Conflicts
The following table shows the result of a modification conflict depending on the type of updates that occurs:
Modify 1 Modify 2 Result of Conflict Resolution at Directory Server 2 When Modify 1 is received
Add of a single-value attribute Add of the same attribute with a different value Incoming Modify is ignored.
Delete of a single-valued attribute Replacement of the value of the same attribute Incoming Delete is ignored.
Replacement of a single-valued attribute Delete of the same attribute Incoming Replacement is ignored.
Delete some values from a multi-valued attribute Delete some values from a multi-valued attribute Incoming Delete is ignored.
Delete a multi-valued attribute Delete of the same multi-valued attribute Incoming Delete is ignored.
Delete a multi-valued attribute Add the same multi-valued attribute Incoming Delete is ignored.
Delete value X from a multi-valued attribute Delete value X from the same multi-valued attribute Incoming Delete is ignored.
Delete value X from a multi-valued attribute Add value Y to the same multi-valued attribute Delete of value X is applied.
Delete value X from a multi-valued attribute Delete value Y from the same multi-valued attribute Delete of value X is applied.
Delete value X from a multi-valued attribute Replace all values of the same multi-valued attribute Incoming Delete is ignored.
Add of values X and Y to a multi-valued attribute Delete value X from the same multi-valued attribute Only value Y is added.
Delete value X from a multi-valued attribute Add of values X and Y to the same multi-valued attribute Incoming Delete is ignored.