Apache Directory Project: Eve Backend Subsystem

+ + Alex Karasulu + Eve JNDI Provider + - - -

- The backend subsystem is responsible for many different aspects of the - server besides just entry storage. It is a major subsystem that - contains within it other subsystems which in turn contain several - granular services implemented by components. Although you'll have to - look into the detailed design of the backend and the other subsystems - composing it we have here a cursory overview of the responsibilities - of the entire backend subsystem: -

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- manages multiple backends (a.k.a. partitions) each associated with - a naming context within the server -
- maintains special system backends used to manage schema information - and server (DSA) specific configuration information in addition to - backends used to manage application specific information -
- decorates backend operations with orthogonal services using an - interceptor framework - the framework will be used to neatly manage - the following aspects possibly associated with backend system - operations: -
- operation authorization on entries using ACLs
- replication
- schema checking
- input normalization
- trigger firing
- error handling
- transaction support
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- manages Java and Groovy stored procedures -
- contains a server side JNDI provider which wraps the backend nexus - translating JNDI operations efficently to nexus operations where - several backends hang. The JNDI provider is intended for used - within stored procedures to access backend entries. This makes - stored procedures written in Java and Groovy operable within the - server as well as outside of it as remote procedures. -

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- Together these subsystems are wrapped as one major system using JNDI - as the top level facade. The entire backend subsystem of Eve is - actually designed as a server side JNDI provider. The frontend - translates protocol requests into JNDI calls against the backend - subsystem's JNDI Contexts to operate on entries. -

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- The backend subsystem without the frontend itself is embeddable using - the JNDI to start up the backend. JNDI is used to load the provider - in a fashion already familiar to those using JNDI. So code written to - operate remotely against an LDAP server using the SUN JNDI LDAP - provider can work locally against Eve's server side JNDI LDAP - provider where the backend is embedded within the same process space. - Because we chose to push the interceptor framework into the backend - all decorative services are available through the embedded backend - when used as a JNDI provider. Meaning if you embed Eve's backend - things like replication, schema checking and triggers are still active - and available without the frontend. -

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- There is are so many details to discuss however we leave these details - to more specific documentation in the sections below: -

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+ Besides an LDAP protocol server, Eve is also a JNDI provider for the + LDAP namespace. Unlike the SUN JNDI LDAP Provider which is an LDAP + client, the Eve JNDI Provider is not. JNDI operations on Contexts + directly tap into the server's database partitions to add, lookup, + alter, and search for entries. There is nothing done over the wire. +

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+ Eve leverages its JNDI LDAP provider in several ways. First stored + procedures written in Java will naturally use JNDI to alter entries + using this provider. Thanks to JNDI the same procedure outside of the + server can be tested using the SUN JNDI LDAP provider. This + transparency is wicked cool making testing easy. The Eve JNDI provider + is also used as the API of choice for integrating Eve into other Java + applications and servers. The first InitialContext request to the Eve + provider fires up the entire server. So you need not learn anything + new to start playing with her! +

+ +

+ This document describes the Eve JNDI Provider in terms of the custom + properties used to control its behavoir in the solid state and for + configuring her on start up. +

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	key	optional	description
eve.wkdir	true	+ The file system directory Eve will use as its working directory to + store database files and other things. +
eve.schemas	true	+ The schema configuration settings. +
eve.disable.anonymous	true	+ If present disables anonymous binds. +
eve.operation.sync	true	+ If present when requesting an InitialContext this property forces + all partitions to sync their buffers to disk if they cache writes. +
eve.operation.shutdown	true	+ If present when requesting an InitialContext this property + gracefully shutsdown the server. It returns a useless DeadContext + which throws exceptions when used. +
eve.net.disable.protocol	true	+ Used when starting up the server to disable the networking frontend + that handles LDAP protocol requests. +
eve.net.passthru	true	+ Used to pass an existing network frontend to the server rather + than having the server create its own instance. +
eve.net.ldap.port	true	+ The LDAP port to use for servicing LDAP protocol requests if not + on the standard port: 389. +
eve.net.ldaps.port	true	+ The LDAP port to use for servicing secure LDAP protocol requests if + not on the standard secure LDAP port: 636. +
eve.db.partitions	true	+ The list of database partition identifiers. +
eve.db.partition.suffix.	false	+ A key base for listing the suffixes of database partitions. The + identifier for the partition is appended to this base to form the + key for the suffix of that partition. +
eve.db.partition.indices.	true	+ A key base for listing the indices for database partitions. The + identifier for the partition is appended to this base to form the + key for the suffix of that partition. +
eve.db.partition.attributes.	false	+ A key base for listing the attributes and values for the suffix + entries of partitions. The identifier for the partition is + appended to this base, then the name of attribute is appended to + form the key for the attribuet in the suffix of that partition. + More information on setting up partitions with this and other + properties is here... +