Network Working Group                                          J. Hodges
Request for Comments: 3377                         Sun Microsystems Inc.
Category: Standards Track                                    R. Morgan
                                                University of Washington
                                                          September 2002


              Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3):
                        Technical Specification

 Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

 Copyright Notice

   Copyright © The Internet Society (2002).  All Rights Reserved.

 Abstract

   This document specifies the set of RFCs comprising the Lightweight
   Directory Access Protocol Version 3 (LDAPv3), and addresses the "IESG
   Note" attached to RFCs 2251 through 2256.

1.  Background and Motivation

   The specification for the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
   version 3 (LDAPv3) nominally comprises eight RFCs which were issued
   in two distinct subsets at separate times -- RFCs 2251 through 2256
   first, then RFCs 2829 and 2830 following later.

   RFC 2251 through 2256 do not mandate the implementation of any
   satisfactory authentication mechanisms and hence were published with
   an "IESG Note" discouraging implementation and deployment of LDAPv3
   clients or servers implementing update functionality until a Proposed
   Standard for mandatory authentication in LDAPv3 is published.

   RFC 2829 was subsequently published in answer to the IESG Note.

   The purpose of this document is to explicitly specify the set of RFCs
   comprising LDAPv3, and formally address the IESG Note through
   explicit inclusion of RFC 2829.





Hodges & Morgan             Standards Track                  PAGE 1 


RFC 3377            LDAPv3: Technical Specification       September 2002


2.  Specification of LDAPv3

   The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol version 3 (LDAPv3) is
   specified by this set of nine RFCs:

      [RFC 2251]  Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3) [the
                 specification of the LDAP on-the-wire protocol]

      [RFC 2252]  Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3):  Attribute
                 Syntax Definitions

      [RFC 2253]  Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3):  UTF-8
                 String Representation of Distinguished Names

      [RFC 2254]  The String Representation of LDAP Search Filters

      [RFC 2255]  The LDAP URL Format

      [RFC 2256]  A Summary of the X.500(96) User Schema for use with
                 LDAPv3

      [RFC 2829]  Authentication Methods for LDAP

      [RFC 2830]  Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3):  Extension
                 for Transport Layer Security

      And, this document (RFC 3377).

   The term "LDAPv3" is often used informally to refer to the protocol
   specified by the above set of RFCs, or subsets thereof.  However, the
   LDAPv3 protocol suite, as defined here, should be formally identified
   in other documents by a normative reference to this document.

3.  Addressing the "IESG Note" in RFCs 2251 through 2256

   The IESG approved publishing RFCs 2251 through 2256 with an attendant
   IESG Note included in each document.  The Note begins with:

      This document describes a directory access protocol that provides
      both read and update access.  Update access requires secure
      authentication, but this document does not mandate implementation
      of any satisfactory authentication mechanisms.









Hodges & Morgan             Standards Track                  PAGE 2 


RFC 3377            LDAPv3: Technical Specification       September 2002


   The Note ends with this statement:

      Implementors are hereby discouraged from deploying LDAPv3 clients
      or servers which implement the update functionality, until a
      Proposed Standard for mandatory authentication in LDAPv3 has been
      approved and published as an RFC.

   [RFC 2829] is expressly the "Proposed Standard for mandatory
   authentication in LDAPv3" called for in the Note.  Thus, the IESG
   Note in [RFC 2251], [RFC 2252], [RFC 2253], [RFC 2254], [RFC 2255], and
   [RFC 2256] is addressed.

4.  Security Considerations

   This document does not directly discuss security, although the
   context of the aforementioned IESG Note is security related, as is
   the manner in which it is addressed.

   Please refer to the referenced documents, especially [RFC 2829],
   [RFC 2251], and [RFC 2830], for further information concerning LDAPv3
   security.

5.  Acknowledgements

   The authors thank Patrik Faltstrom, Leslie Daigle, Thomas Narten, and
   Kurt Zeilenga for their contributions to this document.

6.  References

   [RFC 2251]  Wahl, M., Kille, S. and T. Howes, "Lightweight Directory
              Access Protocol (v3)", RFC 2251, December 1997.

   [RFC 2252]  Wahl, M., Coulbeck, A., Howes, T. and S. Kille,
              "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3): Attribute
              Syntax Definitions", RFC 2252, December 1997.

   [RFC 2253]  Kille, S., Wahl, M. and T. Howes, "Lightweight Directory
              Access Protocol (v3): UTF-8 String Representation of
              Distinguished Names", RFC 2253, December 1997.

   [RFC 2254]  Howes, T., "The String Representation of LDAP Search
              Filters", RFC 2254, December 1997.

   [RFC 2255]  Howes, T. and M. Smith, "The LDAP URL Format", RFC 2255,
              December 1997.

   [RFC 2256]  Wahl, M., "A Summary of the X.500(96) User Schema for use
              with LDAPv3", RFC 2256, December 1997.



Hodges & Morgan             Standards Track                  PAGE 3 


RFC 3377            LDAPv3: Technical Specification       September 2002


   [RFC 2829]  Wahl, M., Alvestrand, H., Hodges, J. and R. Morgan,
              "Authentication Methods for LDAP", RFC 2829, May 2000.

   [RFC 2830]  Hodges, J., Morgan, R. and M. Wahl, "Lightweight Directory
              Access Protocol (v3): Extension for Transport Layer
              Security", RFC 2830, May 2000.

7.  Intellectual Property Rights Notices

   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
   intellectual property or other rights that might be claimed to
   pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
   this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
   might or might not be available; neither does it represent that it
   has made any effort to identify any such rights.  Information on the
   IETF's procedures with respect to rights in standards-track and
   standards-related documentation can be found in BCP-11.  Copies of
   claims of rights made available for publication and any assurances of
   licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to
   obtain a general license or permission for the use of such
   proprietary rights by implementors or users of this specification can
   be obtained from the IETF Secretariat.

   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
   rights which may cover technology that may be required to practice
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF Executive
   Director.























Hodges & Morgan             Standards Track                  PAGE 4 


RFC 3377            LDAPv3: Technical Specification       September 2002


8.  Authors' Addresses

   Jeff Hodges
   Sun Microsystems, Inc.
   901 San Antonio Road, USCA22-212
   Palo Alto, CA 94303
   USA

   Phone: +1-408-276-5467
   EMail: Jeff.Hodges@sun.com


   RL "Bob" Morgan
   Computing and Communications
   University of Washington
   Seattle, WA
   USA

   Phone: +1-206-221-3307
   EMail: rlmorgan@washington.edu































Hodges & Morgan             Standards Track                  PAGE 5 


RFC 3377            LDAPv3: Technical Specification       September 2002


9.  Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright © The Internet Society (2002).  All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.



















Hodges & Morgan             Standards Track                  PAGE 6 



Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (v3): Technical Specification

RFC TOTAL SIZE: 9981 bytes
PUBLICATION DATE: Wednesday, September 11th, 2002
LEGAL RIGHTS: The IETF Trust (see BCP 78)