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rfc:rfc3352

Network Working Group K. Zeilenga Request for Comments: 3352 OpenLDAP Foundation Obsoletes: 1798 March 2003 Category: Informational

   Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (CLDAP)
                         to Historic Status

Status of this Memo

 This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
 not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
 memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

 The Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (CLDAP)
 technical specification, RFC 1798, was published in 1995 as a
 Proposed Standard.  This document discusses the reasons why the CLDAP
 technical specification has not been furthered on the Standard Track.
 This document recommends that RFC 1798 be moved to Historic status.

1. Background

 Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (CLDAP)
 [RFC1798] was published in 1995 as a Proposed Standard.  The protocol
 was targeted at applications which require lookup of small amounts of
 information held in the directory.  The protocol avoids the overhead
 of establishing (and closing) a connection and the session bind and
 unbind operations needed in connection-oriented directory access
 protocols.  The CLDAP was designed to complement version 2 of the
 Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAPv2) [RFC1777], now
 Historic [HISTORIC].
 In the seven years since its publication, CLDAP has not become widely
 deployed on the Internet.  There are a number of probable reasons for
 this:
  1. Limited functionality:

+ anonymous only,

      + read only,
      + small result sizes only, and

Zeilenga Informational [Page 1] RFC 3352 CLDAP to Historic Status March 2003

  1. Insufficient security capabilities:

+ no integrity protection,

      + no confidentiality protection
 - Inadequate internationalization support;
 - Insufficient extensibility; and
 - Lack of multiple independently developed implementations.
 The CLDAP technical specification has normative references to
 multiple obsolete technical specifications including X.501(88),
 X.511(88), RFC 1487 (the predecessor to RFC 1777, the now Historic
 LDAPv2 technical specification).  Unless the technical specification
 were to be updated, CLDAP cannot remain on the standards track
 because of the Normative reference to a Historic RFC.
 The community recognized in the mid-1990s that CLDAP needed to be
 updated.  In response to this, the IETF chartered the LDAP Extensions
 Working Group (LDAPext WG) in 1997 to undertake this update.  The
 LDAPext WG is concluding without producing an update to CLDAP.
 Currently, there is no standardization effort to update CLDAP.
 It should be noted that the community still has interest in
 developing a "connection-less" directory access protocol.  However,
 based on operational experience, has determined that further
 experimentation is necessary to address outstanding technical issues.
 In particular, security considerations associated with
 "connection-less" services need to be addressed.

2. Recommendation

 As there is no viable standardization effort to update CLDAP as
 necessary to keep it on the standards track and the community
 currently considers this an area requiring further experimentation,
 RFC 1798 must be moved to Historic status.
 It is recommended that those interested in connection-less access to
 X.500-based directory services experiment with [LDAPUDP] and other
 alternatives which might become available.

3. Security Considerations

 The security of the Internet will not be impacted by the retirement
 of CLDAP.

4. Acknowledgment

 The author would like to thank the designers of CLDAP for their
 contribution to the Internet community.

Zeilenga Informational [Page 2] RFC 3352 CLDAP to Historic Status March 2003

5. Normative References

 [HISTORIC] Zeilenga, K., "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
            version 2 (LDAPv2) to Historic Status", RFC 3494, February
            2003.
 [CLDAP]    Young, A. "Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access
            Protocol," RFC 1798, June 1995.

6. Informative References

 [LDAPUDP]  Johansson, L. and R. Hedberg, "Lightweight Directory
            Access Protocol over UDP/IP," Work in Progress.
 [RFC1777]  Yeong, W., Howes, T. and S. Kille, "Lightweight Directory
            Access Protocol", RFC 1777, March 1995.
 [RFC3377]  Hodges, J. and R. Morgan, "Lightweight Directory Access
            Protocol (v3): Technical Specification", RFC 3377,
            September 2002.
 [X501]     The Directory: Models.  CCITT Recommendation X.501 ISO/IEC
            JTC 1/SC21; International Standard 9594-2, 1988.
 [X511]     The Directory: Abstract Service Definition.  CCITT
            Recommendation X.511, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC21; International
            Standard 9594-3, 1988.

7. Author's Address

 Kurt D. Zeilenga
 OpenLDAP Foundation
 EMail: Kurt@OpenLDAP.org

Zeilenga Informational [Page 3] RFC 3352 CLDAP to Historic Status March 2003

8. Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.
 This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
 others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
 or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
 and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
 kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
 included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
 document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
 the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
 Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
 developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
 copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
 followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
 English.
 The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
 revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
 This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
 TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
 BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
 HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
 MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

Zeilenga Informational [Page 4]

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