Backing Up to LDIF

Backing up to LDIF allows you to back up directory data to a formatted LDIF file.

Exporting to LDIF

You can back up directory data by exporting the contents of a suffix using LDIF. Exporting data can be useful for doing the following:

• Backing up the data in your server

• Copying your data to another directory server

• Exporting your data to another application

• Repopulating suffixes after a change to your directory topology

The export operations do not export the configuration information ( cn=config).

Do not stop the server while an export operation is in progress.

To Export a Suffix to LDIF

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

1. Use one of the following commands to export a suffix to an LDIF file:

   • If your server is local and stopped, type:

     $ dsadm export instance-path suffix-DN LDIF-file

   • If your server is remote and running, type:

     $ dsconf export -h host -p port suffix-DN LDIF-file

   The following example uses dsconf export to export two suffixes to a single LDIF file:

   $ dsconf export -h host1 -p 1389 ou=people,dc=example,dc=com \ ou=contractors,dc=example,dc=com /local/ds/ldif/export123.ldif

   The dsadm export and dsconf export commands can also be used with the --no-repl option to specify that no replication information is to be exported. The default is that the replicated suffix is exported to an LDIF file with replication information. The resulting LDIF file will contain attribute subtypes that are used by the replication mechanism. This LDIF file can then be imported on the consumer server to initialize the consumer replica, as described in Initializing Replicas

   For more information about these commands, see the dsadm(1M) and dsconf(1M) man pages.