[Fedora-directory-users] Call for a replication project

[Hartmut Wöhrle]

Hello everybody.

I'd like to start a discussion about extending the replication possibilities 
of FDS, because from my problem with NT synchronization, I got some 
ideas.... ;)

What I learned from the Winsync tool is the following:
FDS connects via LDAP to the JAVA based ApacheDS on the Windows PDC. So in 
fact it is a connection between two LDAP directories. Next it connects to the 
NT database via an API service-to-service connect and gets the needed data to 
synchronize users to the FDS.

So why not extending this way of getting data from a non-LDAP system to the 
FDS, for example a database. The technique I have in mind would go the 
following way (same as Winsync):
FDS --> ApacheDS --> connector to the service
and the data back.
So the connection FDS to ApacheDS is standart ldap/ldaps. What's needed is a 
plug for the connector. Then the connector could be programmed in any way:
- script to read out a perl script and change values to LDAP schemas
- call a programm with parameters (database SELECT, or cyrusadm with params)
- something like an API or socket connect

In my case I'm thinking about a connection with a SAP HR database, which 
exports the data in an IDOC format (flat file). So first I had in mind to scp 
this file to the FDS server, rewrite it in a LDIF format and read it in by 
ldapmodify. But using the way above would look the following way:

A connector rewrites the IDOC format to LDIF and hands it over to the 
ApacheDS, which sends it (like the Winsync) to the FDS.
The advantage from this method is the ldaps connection that I can use for 
transmit, instead of scp or sftp.
The other advantage is, that the ApacheDS is based on JAVA, so could easier be  
ported to other systems. Then the only OS-dependent part is the connector. 
And this one could be programmed for every needed case.

What do you think about this - or is there any need for something like this?

CU
Hartmut

-- 
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    Hartmut Woehrle
    EMail: hartmut.woehrle at mail.pcom.de