/etc/openldap/* The only configuration needed for OpenLDAP is to run ldconfig. The LDAP server can be started by /usr/sbin/slapd as described in the man page slapd(8). You can verify that LDAP is running with ps aux and you can verify access to the LDAP server with the following command: ldapsearch -x -b '' -s base '(objectclass=*)' namingContexts The correct result is: # extended LDIF # # LDAPv3 # base <> with scope base # filter: (objectclass=*) # requesting: namingContexts # # dn: namingContexts: dc=my-domain,dc=com # search result search: 2 result: 0 Success # numResponses: 2 # numEntries: 1 Kill the server with this command: kill -INT `cat /var/lib/slapd.pid` You are now ready to modify the /etc/openldap/slapd.conf to be specific to your installation. Utilizing GDBM To utilize GDBM as the database backend, the "database" entry in /etc/openldap/slapd.conf must be changed from "bdb" to "ldbm". You can use both by creating an additional database section in /etc/openldap/slapd.conf. Securing your LDAP server Significant configuration is needed for OpenLDAP to utilized security features. The OpenLDAP 2.1 Administrator's Guide is a good place to start for access control settings, running as a user other than root and setting a chroot environment. User Tools Data can be added to the LDAP database via ldapadd. There are other programs that can use the database. For more information see the appropriate man page. Mozilla Address Directory By default, LDAPv2 support is disabled in the slapd.conf file. Once the database is properly setup and Mozilla is configured to use the directory, you must add allow bind_v2 to the slapd.conf file.