Attribute Renaming and DN Renaming

Each entry in a directory is identified by a DN and a set of attributes and their values. Often, the DN and the attributes defined on the client side do not map to the DN and the attributes defined on the server side.

Data views can be defined to rename DNs and attributes to values that match the server side. When a client makes a request, the DNs and attributes are renamed to match the server side. When the result is returned to a client, the DN and attributes are changed back to match the client side.

Attribute Renaming

The following figure illustrates how attribute renaming is performed by Directory Proxy Server.

Figure 17–1 Attribute Renaming

In Figure 17–1, the email client expects the last names to be specified by the attribute surname However, in the LDAP server, last names are specified by the attribute sn. When attributes are renamed, only the name of the attribute is affected — the value of the attribute is not changed. However, when attributes are renamed all entries with that name are renamed.

For information about how to configure attribute renaming, see To Configure Attribute Renaming in Sun Directory Server Enterprise Edition 7.0 Administration Guide.

DN Renaming

The following figure illustrates how DN renaming is performed by Directory Proxy Server.

Figure 17–2 DN Renaming

In Figure 17–2, the client contains the dc=example, dc=com database. The LDAP server contains the dc=example, dc=org database. The Directory Proxy Server renames the DNs.

Attributes that contain DNs must also be renamed if those DNs are in the portion of the DIT that is affected by the original DN renaming. In Figure 17–2, the group attribute contains a list of the DNs of group members. When dc=example, dc=com is renamed to dc=example, dc=org, the DNs in the group attribute must also be renamed.

For information about how to configure DN renaming, see To Configure DN Renaming in Sun Directory Server Enterprise Edition 7.0 Administration Guide.