Custom LDAP Schema

Overview

A common question using a custom LDAP schema in Gluu Server DE containers is when to mount the file and where to put it. This guide explains how to use custom schema in OpenDJ containers in various scenarios.

Adding Schema Before Deployment

It is important to know that during the first deployment of the OpenDJ container, files cannot be mounted to /opt/opendj/config or the installation will fail. Fortunately, during installation, OpenDJ will copy the schema from /opt/opendj/template/config/schema to the /opt/opendj/config/schema directory.

Below is an example of how to mount custom schema:

docker run \
    -v /path/to/78-myAttributes.ldif:/opt/opendj/template/config/schema/78-myAttributes.ldif \
    gluufederation/opendj:3.1.6_02

As we can see, 78-myAttributes.ldif is mounted as /opt/opendj/template/config/schema/78-myAttributes.ldif inside the container, which eventually will be copied to /opt/opendj/config/schema/78-myAttributes.ldif automatically. This custom schema will be loaded by the OpenDJ server upon startup.

Adding Schema After Deployment

In this scenario, we assume the container has been running and we need to add a new schema named 79-otherAttributes.ldif. Mounting this file into /opt/opendj/template/config/schema won't work, as it will not be copied to /opt/opendj/config/schema directory inside the container. Instead, we are going to mount the file to /opt/opendj/config/schema directly.

docker run \
    -v /path/to/79-otherAttributes.ldif:/opt/opendj/config/schema/79-otherAttributes.ldif \
    gluufederation/opendj:3.1.6_02

Note

Adding new schema may require restarting the container.

Custom Schema in Multiple OpenDJ Containers

Using Docker Config (Swarm Mode)

Create a config file to store the contents of the 78-myAttributes.ldif custom schema.

docker config create custom-ldap-schema 78-myAttributes.ldif

Mount the schema (depending on the deployment scenario) into the container:

# before deployment
services:
  opendj:
    image: gluufederation/opendj:3.1.6_02
    configs:
      - source: custom-ldap-schema
        target: /opt/opendj/template/config/schema/78-myAttributes.ldif

configs:
  custom-ldap-schema:
    external: true

Or:

# after deployment, restart service if needed
services:
  opendj:
    image: gluufederation/opendj:3.1.6_02
    configs:
      - source: custom-ldap-schema
        target: /opt/opendj/config/schema/78-myAttributes.ldif

configs:
  custom-ldap-schema:
    external: true

Using Kubernetes ConfigMaps

Create a config file to store the contents of the 78-myAttributes.ldif custom schema.

kubectl create cm opendj-custom-schema --from-file=78-myAttributes.ldif

Mount the schema (depending on deployment scenario) into the container:

# before deployment
apiVersion: v1
kind: StatefulSet
metadata:
  name: opendj
spec:
  containers:
    image: gluufederation/opendj:3.1.6_02
    volumeMounts:
      - name: opendj-schema-volume
        # schema will be mounted under this directory
        mountPath: /opt/opendj/template/config/schema/78-myAttributes.ldif
        subPath: 78-myAttributes.ldif
  volumes:
    - name: opendj-schema-volume
      configMap:
        name: opendj-custom-schema

Or:

# after deployment, restart service if needed
apiVersion: v1
kind: StatefulSet
metadata:
  name: opendj
spec:
  containers:
    image: gluufederation/opendj:3.1.6_02
    volumeMounts:
      - name: opendj-schema-volume
        # schema will be mounted under this directory
        mountPath: /opt/opendj/config/schema/78-myAttributes.ldif
        subPath: 78-myAttributes.ldif
  volumes:
    - name: opendj-schema-volume
      configMap:
        name: opendj-custom-schema