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7Network Working Group                                           S. Kille
8Request for Comments: 2247                                    Isode Ltd.
9Category: Standards Track                                        M. Wahl
10                                                     Critical Angle Inc.
11                                                             A. Grimstad
12                                                                    AT&T
13                                                                R. Huber
14                                                                    AT&T
15                                                             S. Sataluri
16                                                                    AT&T
17                                                            January 1998
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21            Using Domains in LDAP/X.500 Distinguished Names
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23
24Status of this Memo
25
26   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
27   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
28   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
29   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
30   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
31
32Copyright Notice
33
34   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.
35
361. Abstract
37
38   The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) uses X.500-
39   compatible distinguished names [3] for providing unique
40   identification of entries.
41
42   This document defines an algorithm by which a name registered with
43   the Internet Domain Name Service [2] can be represented as an LDAP
44   distinguished name.
45
462. Background
47
48   The Domain (Nameserver) System (DNS) provides a hierarchical resource
49   labeling system.   A name is made up of an ordered set of components,
50   each of which are short strings. An example domain name with two
51   components would be "CRITICAL-ANGLE.COM".
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62
63   LDAP-based directories provide a more general hierarchical naming
64   framework. A primary difference in specification of distinguished
65   names from domain names is that each component of an distinguished
66   name has an explicit attribute type indication.
67
68   X.500 does not mandate any particular naming structure.  It does
69   contain suggested naming structures which are based on geographic and
70   national regions, however there is not currently an established
71   registration infrastructure in many regions which would be able to
72   assign or ensure uniqueness of names.
73
74   The mechanism described in this document automatically provides an
75   enterprise a distinguished name for each domain name it has obtained
76   for use in the Internet.  These distinguished names may be used to
77   identify objects in an LDAP directory.
78
79   An example distinguished name represented in the LDAP string format
80   [3] is "DC=CRITICAL-ANGLE,DC=COM".  As with a domain name, the most
81   significant component, closest to the root of the namespace, is
82   written last.
83
84   This document does not define how to represent objects which do not
85   have domain names.  Nor does this document define the procedure to
86   locate an enterprise's LDAP directory server, given their domain
87   name.  Such procedures may be defined in future RFCs.
88
893. Mapping Domain Names into Distinguished Names
90
91   This section defines a subset of the possible distinguished name
92   structures for use in representing names allocated in the Internet
93   Domain Name System.  It is possible to algorithmically transform any
94   Internet domain name into a distinguished name, and to convert these
95   distinguished names back into the original domain names.
96
97   The algorithm for transforming a domain name is to begin with an
98   empty distinguished name (DN) and then attach Relative Distinguished
99   Names (RDNs) for each component of the domain, most significant (e.g.
100   rightmost) first. Each of these RDNs is a single
101   AttributeTypeAndValue, where the type is the attribute "DC" and the
102   value is an IA5 string containing the domain name component.
103
104   Thus the domain name "CS.UCL.AC.UK" can be transformed into
105
106        DC=CS,DC=UCL,DC=AC,DC=UK
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118
119   Distinguished names in which there are one or more RDNs, all
120   containing only the attribute type DC, can be mapped back into domain
121   names. Note that this document does not define a domain name
122   equivalence for any other distinguished names.
123
1244. Attribute Type Definition
125
126   The DC (short for domainComponent) attribute type is defined as
127   follows:
128
129    ( 0.9.2342.19200300.100.1.25 NAME 'dc' EQUALITY caseIgnoreIA5Match
130     SUBSTR caseIgnoreIA5SubstringsMatch
131     SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.26 SINGLE-VALUE )
132
133   The value of this attribute is a string holding one component of a
134   domain name.  The encoding of IA5String for use in LDAP is simply the
135   characters of the string itself.  The equality matching rule is case
136   insensitive, as is today's DNS.
137
1385. Object Class Definitions
139
140   An object with a name derived from its domain name using the
141   algorithm of section 3 is represented as an entry in the directory.
142   The "DC" attribute is present in the entry and used as the RDN.
143
144   An attribute can only be present in an entry held by an LDAP server
145   when that attribute is permitted by the entry's object class.
146
147   This section defines two object classes.  The first, dcObject, is
148   intended to be used in entries for which there is an appropriate
149   structural object class.  For example, if the domain represents a
150   particular organization, the entry would have as its structural
151   object class 'organization', and the 'dcObject' class would be an
152   auxiliary class.  The second, domain, is a structural object class
153   used for entries in which no other information is being stored. The
154   domain object class is typically used for entries that are
155   placeholders or whose domains do not correspond to real-world
156   entities.
157
1585.1. The dcObject object class
159
160   The dcObject object class permits the dc attribute to be present in
161   an entry.  This object class is defined as auxiliary, as it would
162   typically be used in conjunction with an existing structural object
163   class, such as organization, organizationalUnit or locality.
164
165   The following object class, along with the dc attribute, can be added
166   to any entry.
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168
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175   ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.344 NAME 'dcObject' SUP top AUXILIARY MUST dc )
176
177   An example entry would be:
178
179   dn: dc=critical-angle,dc=com
180   objectClass: top
181   objectClass: organization
182   objectClass: dcObject
183   dc: critical-angle
184   o: Critical Angle Inc.
185
1865.2. The domain object class
187
188   If the entry does not correspond to an organization, organizational
189   unit or other type of object for which an object class has been
190   defined, then the "domain" object class can be used.  The "domain"
191   object class requires that the "DC" attribute be present, and permits
192   several other attributes to be present in the entry.
193
194   The entry will have as its structural object class the "domain"
195   object class.
196
197( 0.9.2342.19200300.100.4.13 NAME 'domain' SUP top STRUCTURAL
198 MUST dc
199 MAY ( userPassword $ searchGuide $ seeAlso $ businessCategory $
200 x121Address $ registeredAddress $ destinationIndicator $
201 preferredDeliveryMethod $ telexNumber $ teletexTerminalIdentifier $
202 telephoneNumber $ internationaliSDNNumber $ facsimileTelephoneNumber $
203 street $ postOfficeBox $ postalCode $ postalAddress $
204 physicalDeliveryOfficeName $ st $ l $ description $ o $
205 associatedName ) )
206
207   The optional attributes of the domain class are used for describing
208   the object represented by this domain, and may also be useful when
209   searching.  These attributes are already defined for use with LDAP
210   [4].
211
212   An example entry would be:
213
214   dn: dc=tcp,dc=critical-angle,dc=com
215   objectClass: top
216   objectClass: domain
217   dc: tcp
218   description: a placeholder entry used with SRV records
219
220   The DC attribute is used for naming entries of the domain class, and
221   this can be represented in X.500 servers by the following name form
222   rule.
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231    ( 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.345 NAME 'domainNameForm' OC domain MUST ( dc ) )
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2336. References
234
235   [1] The Directory: Selected Attribute Types. ITU-T Recommendation
236       X.520, 1993.
237
238   [2] Mockapetris, P., " Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities,"
239       STD 13, RFC 1034, November 1987.
240
241   [3] Kille, S., and M. Wahl, " Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
242       (v3): UTF-8 String Representation of Distinguished Names", RFC
243       2253, December 1997.
244
245   [4] Wahl, M., "A Summary of the X.500(96) User Schema for use with
246       LDAP", RFC 2256, December 1997.
247
2487. Security Considerations
249
250   This memo describes how attributes of objects may be discovered and
251   retrieved.  Servers should ensure that an appropriate security policy
252   is maintained.
253
254   An enterprise is not restricted in the information which it may store
255   in DNS or LDAP servers.  A client which contacts an untrusted server
256   may have incorrect or misleading information returned (e.g. an
257   organization's server may claim to hold naming contexts representing
258   domain names which have not been delegated to that organization).
259
2608. Authors' Addresses
261
262   Steve Kille
263   Isode Ltd.
264   The Dome
265   The Square
266   Richmond, Surrey
267   TW9 1DT
268   England
269
270   Phone:  +44-181-332-9091
271   EMail:  S.Kille@ISODE.COM
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287   Mark Wahl
288   Critical Angle Inc.
289   4815 W. Braker Lane #502-385
290   Austin, TX 78759
291   USA
292
293   Phone:  (1) 512 372 3160
294   EMail:  M.Wahl@critical-angle.com
295
296
297   Al Grimstad
298   AT&T
299   Room 1C-429, 101 Crawfords Corner Road
300   Holmdel, NJ 07733-3030
301   USA
302
303   EMail: alg@att.com
304
305
306   Rick Huber
307   AT&T
308   Room 1B-433, 101 Crawfords Corner Road
309   Holmdel, NJ 07733-3030
310   USA
311
312   EMail: rvh@att.com
313
314
315   Sri Sataluri
316   AT&T
317   Room 4G-202, 101 Crawfords Corner Road
318   Holmdel, NJ 07733-3030
319   USA
320
321   EMail: sri@att.com
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3439.  Full Copyright Statement
344
345   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1998).  All Rights Reserved.
346
347   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
348   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
349   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
350   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
351   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
352   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
353   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
354   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
355   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
356   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
357   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
358   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
359   English.
360
361   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
362   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
363
364   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
365   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
366   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
367   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
368   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
369   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
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