Extending Schema With a Custom Schema File

Schema files are LDIF files that are located in instance-path/config/schema/. The instance-path corresponds to the file system directory where the Directory Server instance resides. For example, the instance might be located in /local/ds/. The files define standard schema that are used by Directory Server and all servers that rely on Directory Server. The files and the standard schema are described in Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition 6.2 Reference and Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition 6.2 Man Page Reference.

Schema files are read once only at startup by the server. The LDIF contents of the files are added to the in-memory LDAP view of the schema in cn=schema . Because the order of schema definitions is important, schema file names are prepended with a number and loaded in alphanumerical order. Schema files in this directory are writable only by the system user who is defined during installation.

When defining the schema directly in an LDIF file, do not use the value ’user defined’ for the X-ORIGIN field. This value is reserved for schema elements that are defined through the LDAP view of cn=schema and that appear in the file 99user.ldif.

The 99user.ldif file contains additional ACIs for the cn=schema entry and all schema definitions that have been added from the command-line or using DSCC. The 99user.ldif file is overwritten when new schema definitions are added. If you want to modify this file, you must restart the server immediately to ensure that your changes are current.

Do not modify the standard schema that is defined in the other schema files. You can, however, add new files to define new attributes and object classes. For example, to define new schema elements in many servers, you could define the elements in a file named 98mySchema.ldif and copy this file to the schema directory on all servers. You would then restart all servers to load your new schema file.

To Extend Schema With a Custom Schema File

You can use DSCC to perform this task. For information, see Directory Service Control Center Interface and the DSCC online help.

1. Create your own schema definition file, such as 98mySchema.ldif.

   The syntax of definitions in the schema files is described in RFC 4517.

2. (Optional) If this server is a master replica that sends updates to other servers, copy your schema definition file to each server instance in the replication topology.

   The replication mechanism cannot detect any changes that you make directly to the LDIF files that contain the schema. Therefore, your changes are not replicated to consumers even after restarting the master.

3. Restart each Directory Server instance to which you copied your schema definition file.

   Your changes take effect when the servers restart and thus reload schema definitions.