openldap/doc/guide/runningslapd.sdf

H1: Running slapd

Slapd can be run in two different modes, stand-alone or from
inetd(8). Stand-alone operation is recommended, especially if you
are using the LDBM backend. This allows the backend to take
advantage of caching and avoids concurrency problems with the
LDBM index files. If you are running only a PASSWD or SHELL
backend, running from inetd is an option. How to do this is
described in the next section, after the command-line options and
stand-alone daemon operation are described.



H2: Command-Line Options

{{I:Slapd}} supports the following command-line options.

E: -d <level> | ?

This option sets the slapd debug level to <level>. When level is a
`?' character, the various debugging levels are printed and slapd
exits, regardless of any other options you give it. Current
debugging levels are

E:     1 trace function calls
E:     2 debug packet handling
E:     4 heavy trace debugging
E:     8 connection management
E:    16 print out packets sent and received
E:    32 search filter processing
E:    64 configuration file processing
E:   128 access control list processing
E:   256 stats log connections/operations/results
E:   512 stats log entries sent
E:  1024 print communication with shell backends
E:  2048 print entry parsing debugging
E: 65535 enable all debugging

Debugging levels are additive. That is, if you want to trace function
calls and watch the config file being processed, you would set
level to the sum of those two levels (in this case, 65). Consult
{{EX: <ldap.h>}} for more details.

Note: slapd must have been compiled with {{EX:-DLDAP_DEBUG}}
defined for any debugging information beyond the two stats levels
to be available.

E: -f <filename>

This option specifies an alternate configuration file for slapd.

E: -i

This option tells slapd that it is running from inetd instead of as a
stand-alone server. See the next section on running slapd from
inetd for more details.

E: -p <port>

This option specifies an alternate TCP port on which slapd should
listen for connections. The default port is 389.



H2: Running slapd as a Stand-Alone Daemon

In general, slapd is run like this:

E: 	$(ETCDIR)/slapd [<option>]*

where ETCDIR has the value you gave in the Make-common file
during the pre-build configuration, and <option> is one of the
options described below. Unless you have specified a debugging
level, slapd will automatically fork and detach itself from its
controlling terminal and run in the background. Any of the options
given above can be given to slapd to point it at a different
configuration file, listen on another port, etc.

To kill off slapd safely, you should give a command like this

E: 	kill -TERM `cat $(ETCDIR)/slapd.pid`

Killing slapd by a more drastic method may cause its LDBM
databases to be corrupted, as it may need to flush various buffers
before it exits. Note that slapd writes its pid to a file called 
{{EX: slapd.pid}} in the {{EX: ETCDIR}} you configured in 
{{EX: Make-common}}. You can change
the location of this pid file by changing the {{EX: SLAPD_PIDFILE}}
variable in {{EX: include/ldapconfig.h.edit}}.

{{I: Slapd}} will also write its arguments to a file called 
{{EX: slapd.args}} in the {{EX: ETCDIR}} you configured 
in {{EX: Make-common}}. You can change the
location of the args file by changing the {{EX: SLAPD_ARGSFILE}}
variable in {{EX: include/ldapconfig.h.edit}}.



H2: Running slapd from inetd

First, make sure that running from {{I: inetd}}(8) is a good idea. If you
are using the LDBM backend, it is not. If you are in a high-volume
environment, the overhead of running from inetd also makes it a
bad idea. Otherwise, you may proceed with the two steps
necessary.

Step 1 is to add a line like this to your {{EX: /etc/services}} file:

E: 	ldap 389 # ldap directory service

Step 2 is to add a line like this to your /etc/inetd.conf file:

E: 	ldap stream tcp nowait nobody $(ETCDIR)/slapd slapd -i

where {{EX: ETCDIR}} has the value you gave it in the 
{{EX: Make-common}} file
during pre-build configuration. Finally, send inetd a HUP signal,
and you should be all set.

PB: