INTERNET-DRAFT S. Legg
draft-legg-ldap-admin-02.txt Adacel Technologies
Intended Category: Standards Track June 16, 2004
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP):
Directory Administrative Model
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004). All Rights Reserved.
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Abstract
This document adapts the X.500 directory administrative model for use
by the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. The administrative
model partitions the Directory Information Tree for various aspects
of directory data administration, e.g., subschema, access control and
collective attributes. The generic framework that applies to every
aspect of administration is described in this document. The
definitions that apply for a specific aspect of administration, e.g.,
access control administration, are described in other documents.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. Administrative Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
4. Autonomous Administrative Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
5. Specific Administrative Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
6. Inner Administrative Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
7. Administrative Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
8. Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
9. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
10. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
10.1. Normative References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
10.2. Informative References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
11. Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1. Introduction
This document adapts the X.500 directory administrative model [X501]
for use by the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) [LDAP].
The administrative model partitions the Directory Information Tree
(DIT) for various aspects of directory data administration, e.g.,
subschema, access control and collective attributes. This document
provides the definitions for the generic parts of the administrative
model that apply to every aspect of directory data administration.
Sections 3 to 7, in conjunction with [SUBENTRY], describe the means
by which administrative authority is aportioned and exercised in the
DIT.
Aspects of administration that conform to the administrative model
described in this document are detailed elsewhere, e.g., access
control administration is described in [ACA] and collective attribute
administration is described in [COLLECT].
This document is derived from, and duplicates substantial portions
of, Sections 4 and 8 of X.501 [X501].
2. Conventions
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in BCP 14, RFC 2119
[RFC2119].
3. Administrative Areas
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An administrative area is a subtree of the DIT considered from the
perspective of administration. The root entry of the subtree is an
administrative point. An administrative point is represented by an
entry holding an administrativeRole attribute [SUBENTRY]. The values
of this attribute identify the kind of administrative point.
4. Autonomous Administrative Areas
The DIT may be partitioned into one or more non-overlapping subtrees
termed autonomous administrative areas. It is expected that the
entries in an autonomous administrative area are all administered by
the same administrative authority.
An administrative authority may be responsible for several autonomous
administrative areas in separated parts of the DIT but it SHOULD NOT
arbitrarily partition the collection of entries under its control
into autonomous administrative areas (thus creating adjacent
autonomous areas administered by the same authority).
The root entry of an autonomous administrative area's subtree is
called an autonomous administrative point. An autonomous
administrative area extends from its autonomous administrative point
downwards until another autonomous administrative point is
encountered, at which point another autonomous administrative area
begins.
5. Specific Administrative Areas
Entries in an administrative area may be considered in terms of a
specific administrative function. When viewed in this context, an
administrative area is termed a specific administrative area.
Examples of specific administrative areas are subschema specific
administrative areas, access control specific areas and collective
attribute specific areas.
An autonomous administrative area may be considered as implicitly
defining a single specific administrative area for each specific
aspect of administration. In this case, there is a precise
correspondence between each such specific administrative area and the
autonomous administrative area.
Alternatively, for each specific aspect of administration, the
autonomous administrative area may be partitioned into
non-overlapping specific administrative areas.
If so partitioned for a particular aspect of administration, each
entry of the autonomous administrative area is contained in one and
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only one specific administrative area for that aspect, i.e., specific
administrative areas do not overlap.
The root entry of a specific administrative area's subtree is called
a specific administrative point. A specific administrative area
extends from its specific administrative point downwards until
another specific administrative point of the same administrative
aspect is encountered, at which point another specific administrative
area begins. Specific administrative areas are always bounded by the
autonomous administrative area they partition.
Where an autonomous administrative area is not partitioned for a
specific aspect of administration, the specific administrative area
for that aspect coincides with the autonomous administrative area.
In this case, the autonomous administrative point is also the
specific administrative point for this aspect of administration. A
particular administrative point may be the root of an autonomous
administrative area and may be the root of one or more specific
administrative areas for different aspects of administration.
It is not necessary for an administrative point to represent each
specific aspect of administrative authority. For example, there
might be an administrative point, subordinate to the root of the
autonomous administrative area, which is used for access control
purposes only.
6. Inner Administrative Areas
For some aspects of administration, e.g., access control or
collective attributes, inner administrative areas may be defined
within the specific administrative areas, to allow a limited form of
delegation, or for administrative or operational convenience.
An inner administrative area may be nested within another inner
administrative area. The rules for nested inner areas are defined as
part of the definition of the specific administrative aspect for
which they are allowed.
The root entry of an inner administrative area's subtree is called an
inner administrative point. An inner administrative area (within a
specific administrative area) extends from its inner administrative
point downwards until a specific administrative point of the same
administrative aspect is encountered. An inner administrative area
is bounded by the specific administrative area within which it is
defined.
7. Administrative Entries
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An entry located at an administrative point is an administrative
entry. Administrative entries MAY have subentries [SUBENTRY] as
immediate subordinates. The administrative entry and its associated
subentries are used to control the entries encompassed by the
associated administrative area. Where inner administrative areas are
used, the scopes of these areas may overlap. Therefore, for each
specific aspect of administrative authority, a definition is required
of the method of combination of administrative information when it is
possible for entries to be included in more than one subtree or
subtree refinement associated with an inner area defined for that
aspect.
8. Security Considerations
This document defines a generic framework for employing policy of
various kinds, e.g., access controls, to entries in the DIT. Such
policy can only be correctly enforced at a directory server holding a
replica of a portion of the DIT if the administrative entries for
administrative areas that overlap the portion of the DIT being
replicated, and the subentries of those administrative entries
relevant to any aspect of policy that is required to be enforced at
the replica, are included in the replicated information.
Administrative entries and subentries SHOULD be protected from
unauthorized examination or changes by appropriate access controls.
9. Acknowledgements
This document is derived from, and duplicates substantial portions
of, Sections 4 and 8 of X.501 [X501].
10. References
10.1. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[LDAP] Hodges, J. and R. Morgan, "Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (v3): Technical Specification", RFC 3377,
September 2002.
[SUBENTRY] Zeilenga, K. and S. Legg, "Subentries in the Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)", RFC 3672, December
2003.
10.2. Informative References
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[COLLECT] Zeilenga, K., "Collective Attributes in the Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)", RFC 3671, December
2003.
[ACA] Legg, S., "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP):
Access Control Administration",
draft-legg-ldap-acm-admin-xx.txt, a work in progress, June
2004.
[X501] ITU-T Recommendation X.501 (02/01) | ISO/IEC 9594-2:2001,
Information technology - Open Systems Interconnection -
The Directory: Models
11. Author's Address
Steven Legg
Adacel Technologies Ltd.
250 Bay Street
Brighton, Victoria 3186
AUSTRALIA
Phone: +61 3 8530 7710
Fax: +61 3 8530 7888
EMail: steven.legg@adacel.com.au
Full Copyright Statement
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Changes in Draft 00
This document reproduces Section 4 from
draft-legg-ldap-acm-admin-00.txt as a standalone document. All
changes made are purely editorial. No technical changes have been
introduced.
Changes in Draft 01
RFC 3377 replaces RFC 2251 as the reference for LDAP.
Changes in Draft 02
The document has been reformatted in line with current practice.
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