Administering the Directory Server


	Success!


		The server has started up.


When you successfully stop your directory server from the server manager, 
the server issues the following message:



	Success!


		The server has been shutdown.

Windows NT Services Control Panel. The service name is

Netscape Directory Server slapd-<serverID>

where <serverID> is the identifier you gave the server when you installed it. In the Main group:

Double-click the Control Panel icon.

Double-click the Services icon.

Scroll through the list of services and select Netscape Directory Server slapd-<serverID>.

Click Stop and then confirm that you want to stop the service.

To start the service, either reboot your system, or select the directory server service and click Start.

Unix command line. Use the following scripts:

<NSHOME>/slapd-<serverID>/start

<NSHOME>/slapd-<serverID>/stop

Both of these scripts must run with the same UID and GID as is used by the directory server. For example, if the directory server runs as nobody, the start and stop utilities must also be run as nobody.

Starting the Server with SSL Enabled

If you are using SSL with your server, then you cannot start the server from the server manager. Under Unix, you must start the server from the command line. (Under NT, no such restriction exists.)

Alternatively, you can create a password file to store your certificate password. By placing your certificate database password in this file, you can start your server from the server manager, and you also allow your server to automatically restart when running unattended.

Note

This password is stored in clear text within the password file, so its usage represents a significant security risk. Do not use a password file if your server is running in an unsecured environment. The password file must be placed in the following location:


	<NSHOME>/alias/<aliasname>-password.txt

where <NSHOME> is the location where your server is installed, and <aliasname> is the alias name that you configured for your certificate database when you created the database.

Certificate databases are created using the administration server. For information on certificate databases, certificate aliases, SSL, and obtaining a server certificate, see Managing Netscape Servers. For information on using SSL with your directory server, see "Managing SSL" on page 234.

Binding to the Directory

When you create or manage entries from the directory server manager, you are given the option to provide a bind DN and a password. This option allows you to indicate who you are accessing the directory tree as. This in turn determines whether you can perform the requested operation in the tree.

These fields are used when you manage:

access control

replication

You can use the default values for Bind to Server as and Password fields if both of the following are true:

You want to bind as the root DN so that the access control rules do not apply to you.

You have selected a root password storage scheme of clear text.

The latter case is a requirement because the default Password value is a null string. If you are storing your Root DN password in clear text, then the server manager can use the password when it authenticates to ns-slapd. If you are not using clear text, then the server manager cannot obtain the root password value in order to authenticate to the directory server.

When you fill in the Bind to Server as field, be sure to enter the full distinguished name of the entry you are binding as. For example, if you want to bind as the Root DN, and the Root DN is set to be Directory Manager, then enter the following to the Bind to Server as field:


	cn=Directory Manager

For more information about the root password, refer to "Managing the Root DN" on page 230.

Introducing the Directory Server Manager

The part of the administration server that you use to manage the directory server is called the directory server manager. From the directory server manager you can do the following:

start and stop the directory server

add and delete directory databases

manage access control

manage referrals

manage the directory server configuration files

manage directory schema

view server logs

manage server settings such as TCP ports and the database cache size

Introducing the Directory Server Command-Line Utilities

The Netscape Directory Server comes with a robust set of command-line utilities that you can use to manage the entries in your directory. The most important of these are listed in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Commonly used command-line utilities


Command-line utility	Description
`ldapsearch`	Allows you to search the directory. Returns search results in LDIF format. For details on this tool, see Chapter 8, "Finding Directory Entries."
`ldapmodify`	Allows you to add, delete, modify, or rename entries. All operations are specified using a modified form of LDIF called LDIF update statements. For details on this tool, see "Modifying Entries Using ldapmodify" on page 200.
`ns-slapd`	Used to start the directory server process, to build a directory database from an LDIF file, or to convert an existing database to an LDIF file. For details, see: "Starting and Stopping the Directory Server" on page 25 "Importing LDIF from the Command Line" on page 61 "Converting to LDIF Using ns-slapd" on page 64
`ldif`	Automatically formats LDIF files for you, and creates base 64 encoded attribute values. For details on this tool, see "Base 64 Encoding" on page 36.
`aclupg`	Upgrades LDIF formatted with the 1.x access control statements to the 3.0 ACI. See the Netscape Directory Server Installation Guide for more information.