Re: Ok, I'll show my ignorance...please help...?

[Raul Cuza <raul@pds.pvt.k12.ny.us>]

In answer to Trever Furnish <trever@monster.com> letter:

I'm new to this, too, but I've found a couple of good sources. I would
start with Mark Komarinski and Cary Collett's LinuxWorld article (the last
place I've looked so far and I wish it had been the first. The articles
install instructions didn't jive with my Solaris 2.5.1 install, but I
think I've got it compiled correctly). I've also read a good chunk of
_Understanding and Deploying LDAP Directory Services_ by T. Howes, M. 
Smith, and G. Good.  It is a tomb, but very readable. I got to page 400
with a little skimming in three nights of reading. It is an excellent
guide to methodically setting up the database, unlike the LinuxWorld
article which gives you the tools to get a server filled with real data up
and running.

I still don't have a sense of what schemas/hierarchy/etc would make the
directory efficient to use, but for our 300 or so (potential) users
convenience is more important than speed. I'm going to go with a People &
Devices & Ideas as the first branch of the tree. The _Understanding_ book
also emphasized knowing what attributes the clients will require;  this
info should be in the client's help files or technical documentation.  The
LinuxWorld article seems to imply that you can get away with the bear
minimum.

When I start testing my server (Bob Dylan singing "Any day now.." in the
background), I'll probably try to run it in read-only mode till I figure
out the security. I'm also debating downloading a trial version of the
Netscape Directory Server to see if the sample LDIF files that come with
it teach me a thing or two about schemas, hierarchy, and what not. 

Hope this was helpful.
   
 - Raúl Cuza
 - Poughkeepsie Day School
 - raul@pds.pvt.k12.ny.us | 914 462-7600
 

On Mon, 29 Mar 1999, Trever Furnish wrote:

:Ok, I'm rushing, I know, but I want to get this to the point quickly where I
:know whether it's going to be suitable for my needs so that I know whether to
:continue down this road or look elsewhere (wherever that might be, and my
:ultimate goal here is to fight the possibility of us putting up an Exchange
:server).
:
:So far I've grabbed openldap 1.2 and installed it on a redhat 5.2 system.  Or
:at least it said it passed all of it's tests.  But now what???  This seems
:silly, but even it works, what the heck do I do with it now?  Is there a
:roadmap of how to start using the ldap server that I'm missing, because I
:don't see simple solutions to things like how to start an ldap database from
:scratch, how to add my first entry, etc.  Everything's installed with the
:completely unedited defaults, except for changing the "Your xxx" spots in the
:slapd.conf file.
<snip>