Provided by: libnet-ldap-perl_0.6500+dfsg-1_all bug

NAME

       Net::LDAP - Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

SYNOPSIS

        use Net::LDAP;

        $ldap = Net::LDAP->new( 'ldap.bigfoot.com' ) or die "$@";

        $mesg = $ldap->bind ;    # an anonymous bind

        $mesg = $ldap->search( # perform a search
                               base   => "c=US",
                               filter => "(&(sn=Barr)(o=Texas Instruments))"
                             );

        $mesg->code && die $mesg->error;

        foreach $entry ($mesg->entries) { $entry->dump; }

        $mesg = $ldap->unbind;   # take down session

        $ldap = Net::LDAP->new( 'ldap.umich.edu' );

        # bind to a directory with dn and password
        $mesg = $ldap->bind( 'cn=root, o=University of Michigan, c=us',
                             password => 'secret'
                           );

        $result = $ldap->add( 'cn=Barbara Jensen, o=University of Michigan, c=US',
                              attrs => [
                                'cn'   => ['Barbara Jensen', 'Barbs Jensen'],
                                'sn'   => 'Jensen',
                                'mail' => 'b.jensen@umich.edu',
                                'objectclass' => ['top', 'person',
                                                  'organizationalPerson',
                                                  'inetOrgPerson' ],
                              ]
                            );

        $result->code && warn "failed to add entry: ", $result->error ;
        $mesg = $ldap->unbind;  # take down session

DESCRIPTION

       Net::LDAP is a collection of modules that implements a LDAP services API for Perl
       programs. The module may be used to search directories or perform maintenance functions
       such as adding, deleting or modifying entries.

       This document assumes that the reader has some knowledge of the LDAP protocol.

CONSTRUCTOR

       new ( HOST, OPTIONS )
           Creates a new Net::LDAP object and opens a connection to the named host.

           "HOST" may be a host name or an IP address. TCP port may be specified after the host
           name followed by a colon (such as localhost:10389). The default TCP port for LDAP is
           389.

           You can also specify a URI, such as 'ldaps://127.0.0.1:666' or
           'ldapi://%2fvar%2flib%2fldap_sock'. Note that '%2f's in the LDAPI socket path will be
           translated into '/'. This is to support LDAP query options like base, search etc.
           although the query part of the URI will be ignored in this context. If port was not
           specified in the URI, the default is either 389 or 636 for 'LDAP' and 'LDAPS' schemes
           respectively.

           "HOST" may also be a reference to an array of hosts, host-port pairs or URIs to try.
           Each will be tried in order until a connection is made. Only when all have failed will
           the result of "undef" be returned.

           port => N
               Port to connect to on the remote server. May be overridden by "HOST".

           scheme => 'ldap' | 'ldaps' | 'ldapi'
               Connection scheme to use when not using an URI as "HOST".  (Default: ldap)

           keepalive => 1
               If given, set the socket's SO_KEEPALIVE option depending on the Boolean value of
               the option.  (Default: use system default)

               Failures in changing the socket's SO_KEEPALIVE option are ignored.

           timeout => N
               Timeout passed to IO::Socket when connecting the remote server.  (Default: 120)

           multihomed => N
               Will be passed to IO::Socket as the "MultiHomed" parameter when connecting to the
               remote server

           localaddr => HOST
               Will be passed to IO::Socket as the "LocalAddr" parameter, which sets the client's
               IP address (as opposed to the server's IP address.)

           debug => N
               Set the debug level. See the debug method for details.

           async => 1
               Perform all operations asynchronously.

           onerror => 'die' | 'warn' | undef | sub { ... }
               In synchronous mode, change what happens when an error is detected.

               'die'
                   Net::LDAP will croak whenever an error is detected.

               'warn'
                   Net::LDAP will warn whenever an error is detected.

               undef
                   Net::LDAP will warn whenever an error is detected and "-w" is in effect. The
                   method that was called will return "undef".

               sub { ... }
                   The given sub will be called in a scalar context with a single argument, the
                   result message. The value returned will be the return value for the method
                   that was called.

           version => N
               Set the protocol version being used (default is LDAPv3). This is useful if you
               want to talk to an old server and therefore have to use LDAPv2.

           raw => REGEX
               Use REGEX to denote the names of attributes that are to be considered binary in
               search results.

               When this option is given, Net::LDAP converts all values of attributes not
               matching this REGEX into Perl UTF-8 strings so that the regular Perl operators
               (pattern matching, ...) can operate as one expects even on strings with
               international characters.

               If this option is not given, attribute values are treated as byte strings.

               Example: raw => qr/(?i:^jpegPhoto|;binary)/

           inet4 => N
           inet6 => N
               Try to connect to the server using the specified IP protocol only, i.e. either
               IPv4 or IPv6.  If the protocol selected is not supported, connecting will fail.

               The default is to use any of the two protocols.

           Example

             $ldap = Net::LDAP->new( 'remote.host', async => 1 );

           LDAPS connections have some extra valid options, see the start_tls method for details.
           Note the default port for LDAPS is 636, and the default value for 'sslversion' is the
           value used as default by IO::Socket::SSL.

           For LDAPI connections, HOST is actually the location of a UNIX domain socket to
           connect to. The default location is '/var/run/ldapi'.

METHODS

       Each of the following methods take as arguments some number of fixed parameters followed
       by options, these options are passed in a named fashion, for example

         $mesg = $ldap->bind( "cn=me,o=example", password => "mypasswd");

       The return value from these methods is an object derived from the Net::LDAP::Message
       class. The methods of this class allow you to examine the status of the request.

       abandon ( ID, OPTIONS )
           Abandon a previously issued request. "ID" may be a number or an object which is a sub-
           class of Net::LDAP::Message, returned from a previous method call.

           control => CONTROL
           control => [ CONTROL, ... ]
               See "CONTROLS" below

           callback => CALLBACK
               See "CALLBACKS" below

           Example

             $res = $ldap->search( @search_args );

             $mesg = $ldap->abandon( $res ); # This could be written as $res->abandon

       add ( DN, OPTIONS )
           Add a new entry to the directory. "DN" can be either a Net::LDAP::Entry object or a
           string.

           attrs => [ ATTR => VALUE, ... ]
               "VALUE" should be a string if only a single value is wanted, or a reference to an
               array of strings if multiple values are wanted.

               This argument is not used if "DN" is a Net::LDAP::Entry object.

           control => CONTROL
           control => [ CONTROL, ... ]
               See "CONTROLS" below

           callback => CALLBACK
               See "CALLBACKS" below

           Example

             # $entry is an object of class Net::LDAP::Entry
             $mesg = $ldap->add( $entry );

             $mesg = $ldap->add( $dn,
                                 attrs => [
                                   name  => 'Graham Barr',
                                   attr  => 'value1',
                                   attr  => 'value2',
                                   multi => [qw(value1 value2)]
                                 ]
                               );

       bind ( DN, OPTIONS )
           Bind (log in) to the server. "DN" is the DN to bind with. An anonymous bind may be
           done by calling bind without any arguments.

           control => CONTROL
           control => [ CONTROL, ... ]
               See "CONTROLS" below

           callback => CALLBACK
               See "CALLBACKS" below

           noauth | anonymous => 1
               Bind without any password. The value passed with this option is ignored.

           password => PASSWORD
               Bind with the given password.

           sasl => SASLOBJ
               Bind using a SASL mechanism. The argument given should be a sub-class of
               Authen::SASL or an Authen::SASL client connection by calling "client_new" on an
               Authen::SASL object.

               If passed an Authen::SASL object then "client_new" will be called to create a
               client connection object.  The hostname passed by "Net::LDAP" to "client_new" can
               be set using the "sasl_host" option below.  If this is not correct for your
               environment, consider calling "client_new" yourself and passing the client
               connection object as "SASLOBJ".

           sasl_host => SASLHOST
               When binding using SASL, allow the hostname used in the SASL communication to
               differ from the hostname connected to.

               If "SASLHOST" evaluates to TRUE, then it is used as the SASL hostname.

               If it evaluates to FALSE, then the value is determined by calling "peerhost" on
               the socket.  In older versions of Net::LDAP this was the standard behaviour, but
               it turned out to cause more trouble than it fixed.

               When the option is not given, the SASL host name used defaults to the host name /
               IP address taken from the "HOST" parameter when connecting.

           Example

             $mesg = $ldap->bind; # Anonymous bind

             $mesg = $ldap->bind( $dn, password => $password );

             # $sasl is an object of class Authen::SASL
             $mesg = $ldap->bind( $dn, sasl => $sasl, version => 3 );

       compare ( DN, OPTIONS )
           Compare values in an attribute in the entry given by "DN" on the server. "DN" may be a
           string or a Net::LDAP::Entry object.

           attr => ATTR
               The name of the attribute to compare.

           value => VALUE
               The value to compare with.

           control => CONTROL
           control => [ CONTROL, ... ]
               See "CONTROLS" below.

           callback => CALLBACK
               See "CALLBACKS" below.

           Example

             $mesg = $ldap->compare( $dn,
                                     attr  => 'cn',
                                     value => 'Graham Barr'
                                   );

       delete ( DN, OPTIONS )
           Delete the entry given by "DN" from the server. "DN" may be a string or a
           Net::LDAP::Entry object.

           control => CONTROL
           control => [ CONTROL, ... ]
               See "CONTROLS" below.

           callback => CALLBACK
               See "CALLBACKS" below.

           Example

            $mesg = $ldap->delete( $dn );

       moddn ( DN, OPTIONS )
           Rename the entry given by "DN" on the server. "DN" may be a string or a
           Net::LDAP::Entry object.

           newrdn => RDN
               This value should be a new RDN to assign to "DN".

           deleteoldrdn => 1
               This option should be passed if the existing RDN is to be deleted.

           newsuperior => NEWDN
               If given this value should be the DN of the new superior for "DN".

           control => CONTROL
           control => [ CONTROL, ... ]
               See "CONTROLS" below.

           callback => CALLBACK
               See "CALLBACKS" below.

           Example

            $mesg = $ldap->moddn( $dn, newrdn => 'cn=Graham Barr' );

       modify ( DN, OPTIONS )
           Modify the contents of the entry given by "DN" on the server. "DN" may be a string or
           a Net::LDAP::Entry object.

           add => { ATTR => VALUE, ... }
               Add more attributes or values to the entry. "VALUE" should be a string if only a
               single value is wanted in the attribute, or a reference to an array of strings if
               multiple values are wanted.

                 $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn,
                   add => {
                     description => 'List of members',    # Add description attribute
                     member      => [
                       'cn=member1,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com',    # Add to attribute
                       'cn=member2,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com',
                     ]
                   }
                 );

           delete => [ ATTR, ... ]
               Delete complete attributes from the entry.

                 $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn,
                   delete => ['member','description'] # Delete attributes
                 );

           delete => { ATTR => VALUE, ... }
               Delete individual values from an attribute. "VALUE" should be a string if only a
               single value is being deleted from the attribute, or a reference to an array of
               strings if multiple values are being deleted.

               If "VALUE" is a reference to an empty array or all existing values of the
               attribute are being deleted, then the attribute will be deleted from the entry.

                 $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn,
                   delete => {
                     description => 'List of members',
                     member      => [
                       'cn=member1,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com',    # Remove members
                       'cn=member2,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com',
                     ],
                     seeAlso => [],   # Remove attribute
                   }
                 );

           replace => { ATTR => VALUE, ... }
               Replace any existing values in each given attribute with "VALUE". "VALUE" should
               be a string if only a single value is wanted in the attribute, or a reference to
               an array of strings if multiple values are wanted. A reference to an empty array
               will remove the entire attribute. If the attribute does not already exist in the
               entry, it will be created.

                 $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn,
                   replace => {
                     description => 'New List of members', # Change the description
                     member      => [ # Replace whole list with these
                       'cn=member1,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com',
                       'cn=member2,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com',
                     ],
                     seeAlso => [],   # Remove attribute
                   }
                 );

           increment => { ATTR => VALUE, ... }
               Atomically increment the existing value in each given attribute by the provided
               "VALUE". The attributes need to have integer syntax, or be otherwise
               "incrementable". Note this will only work if the server advertises support for
               LDAP_FEATURE_MODIFY_INCREMENT. Use "supported_feature" in Net::LDAP::RootDSE to
               check this.

                 $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn,
                   increment => {
                     uidNumber => 1 # increment uidNumber by 1
                   }
                 );

           changes => [ OP => [ ATTR => VALUE ], ... ]
               This is an alternative to add, delete, replace and increment where the whole
               operation can be given in a single argument. "OP" should be add, delete, replace
               or increment. "VALUE" should be either a string or a reference to an array of
               strings, as before.

               Use this form if you want to control the order in which the operations will be
               performed.

                 $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn,
                   changes => [
                     add => [
                       description => 'A description',
                       member      => $newMember,
                     ],
                     delete => [
                       seeAlso => [],
                     ],
                     add => [
                       anotherAttribute => $value,
                     ],
                   ]
                 );

           control => CONTROL
           control => [ CONTROL, ... ]
               See "CONTROLS" below.

           callback => CALLBACK
               See "CALLBACKS" below.

           Example

            $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn, add => { sn => 'Barr' } );

            $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn, delete => [qw(faxNumber)] );

            $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn, delete => { 'telephoneNumber' => '911' } );

            $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn, replace => { 'mail' => 'gbarr@pobox.com' } );

            $mesg = $ldap->modify( $dn,
                                   changes => [
                                       # add sn=Barr
                                     add     => [ sn => 'Barr' ],
                                       # delete all fax numbers
                                     delete  => [ faxNumber => []],
                                       # delete phone number 911
                                     delete  => [ telephoneNumber => ['911']],
                                       # change email address
                                     replace => [ mail => 'gbarr@pobox.com']
                                   ]
                                 );

       search ( OPTIONS )
           Search the directory using a given filter.  This can be used to read attributes from a
           single entry, from entries immediately below a particular entry, or a whole subtree of
           entries.

           The result is an object of class Net::LDAP::Search.

           base => DN
               The DN that is the base object entry relative to which the search is to be
               performed.

           scope => 'base' | 'one' | 'sub' | 'subtree' | 'children'
               By default the search is performed on the whole tree below the specified base
               object. This maybe changed by specifying a "scope" parameter with one of the
               following values:

               base
                   Search only the base object.

               one Search the entries immediately below the base object.

               sub
               subtree
                   Search the whole tree below (and including) the base object. This is the
                   default.

               children
                   Search the whole subtree below the base object, excluding the base object
                   itself.

                   Note: children scope requires LDAPv3 subordinate feature extension.

           deref => 'never' | 'search' | 'find' | 'always'
               By default aliases are dereferenced to locate the base object for the search, but
               not when searching subordinates of the base object. This may be changed by
               specifying a "deref" parameter with one of the following values:

               never
                   Do not dereference aliases in searching or in locating the base object of the
                   search.

               search
                   Dereference aliases in subordinates of the base object in searching, but not
                   in locating the base object of the search.

               find
                   Dereference aliases in locating the base object of the search, but not when
                   searching subordinates of the base object. This is the default.

               always
                   Dereference aliases both in searching and in locating the base object of the
                   search.

           sizelimit => N
               A sizelimit that restricts the maximum number of entries to be returned as a
               result of the search. A value of 0, and the default, means that no restriction is
               requested.  Servers may enforce a maximum number of entries to return.

           timelimit => N
               A timelimit that restricts the maximum time (in seconds) allowed for a search. A
               value of 0 (the default), means that no timelimit will be requested.

           typesonly => 1
               Only attribute types (no values) should be returned. Normally attribute types and
               values are returned.

           filter => FILTER
               A filter that defines the conditions an entry in the directory must meet in order
               for it to be returned by the search. This may be a string or a Net::LDAP::Filter
               object. Values inside filters may need to be escaped to avoid security problems;
               see Net::LDAP::Filter for a definition of the filter format, including the
               escaping rules.

           attrs => [ ATTR, ... ]
               A list of attributes to be returned for each entry that matches the search filter.

               If not specified, then the server will return the attributes that are specified as
               accessible by default given your bind credentials.

               Certain additional attributes such as "createTimestamp" and other operational
               attributes may also be available for the asking:

                 $mesg = $ldap->search( ... ,
                                        attrs => ['createTimestamp']
                                      );

               To retrieve the default attributes and additional ones, use '*'.

                 $mesg = $ldap->search( ... ,
                                        attrs => ['*', 'createTimestamp']
                                      );

               To retrieve no attributes (the server only returns the DNs of matching entries),
               use '1.1':

                 $mesg = $ldap->search( ... ,
                                        attrs => ['1.1']
                                      );

           control => CONTROL
           control => [ CONTROL, ... ]
               See "CONTROLS" below.

           callback => CALLBACK
               See "CALLBACKS" below.

           raw => REGEX
               Use REGEX to denote the names of attributes that are to be considered binary in
               search results.

               When this option is given, Net::LDAP converts all values of attributes not
               matching this REGEX into Perl UTF-8 strings so that the regular Perl operators
               (pattern matching, ...) can operate as one expects even on strings with
               international characters.

               If this option is not given, attribute values are treated as byte strings.

               The value provided here overwrites the value inherited from the constructor.

               Example: raw => qr/(?i:^jpegPhoto|;binary)/

           Example

            $mesg = $ldap->search(
                                   base   => $base_dn,
                                   scope  => 'sub',
                                   filter => '(|(objectclass=rfc822mailgroup)(sn=jones))'
                                 );

            Net::LDAP::LDIF->new( \*STDOUT,"w" )->write( $mesg->entries );

       start_tls ( OPTIONS )
           Calling this method will convert the existing connection to using Transport Layer
           Security (TLS), which provides an encrypted connection. This is only possible if the
           connection uses LDAPv3, and requires that the server advertises support for
           LDAP_EXTENSION_START_TLS. Use "supported_extension" in Net::LDAP::RootDSE to check
           this.

           verify => 'none' | 'optional' | 'require'
               How to verify the server's certificate:

               none
                   The server may provide a certificate but it will not be checked - this may
                   mean you are be connected to the wrong server

               optional
                   Verify only when the server offers a certificate

               require
                   The server must provide a certificate, and it must be valid.

               If you set verify to optional or require, you must also set either cafile or
               capath. The most secure option is require.

           sslversion => 'sslv2' | 'sslv3' | 'sslv23' | 'tlsv1' | 'tlsv1_1' | 'tlsv1_2'
               This defines the version of the SSL/TLS protocol to use.  Default is to use the
               value that IO::Socket::SSL uses as default.

               See "SSL_version" in IO::Socket::SSL for more details.

           ciphers => CIPHERS
               Specify which subset of cipher suites are permissible for this connection, using
               the standard OpenSSL string format. The default behavior is to keep the decision
               on the underlying cryptographic library.

           clientcert => '/path/to/cert.pem'
           clientkey => '/path/to/key.pem'
           keydecrypt => sub { ... }
               If you want to use the client to offer a certificate to the server for SSL
               authentication (which is not the same as for the LDAP Bind operation) then set
               clientcert to the user's certificate file, and clientkey to the user's private key
               file. These files must be in PEM format.

               If the private key is encrypted (highly recommended) then keydecrypt should be a
               subroutine that returns the decrypting key. For example:

                $ldap = Net::LDAP->new( 'myhost.example.com', version => 3 );
                $mesg = $ldap->start_tls(
                                          verify => 'require',
                                          clientcert => 'mycert.pem',
                                          clientkey => 'mykey.pem',
                                          keydecrypt => sub { 'secret'; },
                                          capath => '/usr/local/cacerts/'
                                        );

           capath => '/path/to/servercerts/'
           cafile => '/path/to/servercert.pem'
               When verifying the server's certificate, either set capath to the pathname of the
               directory containing CA certificates, or set cafile to the filename containing the
               certificate of the CA who signed the server's certificate. These certificates must
               all be in PEM format.

               The directory in 'capath' must contain certificates named using the hash value of
               the certificates' subject names. To generate these names, use OpenSSL like this in
               Unix:

                   ln -s cacert.pem `openssl x509 -hash -noout < cacert.pem`.0

               (assuming that the certificate of the CA is in cacert.pem.)

           checkcrl => 1
               If capath has been configured, then it will also be searched for certificate
               revocation lists (CRLs) when verifying the server's certificate.  The CRLs' names
               must follow the form hash.rnum where hash is the hash over the issuer's DN and num
               is a number starting with 0.

               See "SSL_check_crl" in IO::Socket::SSL for further information.

       unbind ( )
           The unbind method does not take any parameters and will unbind you from the server.
           Some servers may allow you to re-bind or perform other operations after unbinding. If
           you wish to switch to another set of credentials while continuing to use the same
           connection, re-binding with another DN and password, without unbind-ing, will
           generally work.

           Example

            $mesg = $ldap->unbind;

       done ( )
           Convenience alias for "unbind()", named after the clean-up method of Net::LDAP::LDIF.

       The following methods are for convenience, and do not return "Net::LDAP::Message" objects.

       async ( VALUE )
           If "VALUE" is given the async mode will be set. The previous value will be returned.
           The value is true if LDAP operations are being performed asynchronously.

       certificate ( )
           Returns an X509_Certificate object containing the server's certificate. See the
           IO::Socket::SSL documentation for information about this class.

           For example, to get the subject name (in a peculiar OpenSSL-specific format, different
           from RFC 1779 and RFC 4514) from the server's certificate, do this:

               print "Subject DN: " . $ldaps->certificate->subject_name . "\n";

       cipher ( )
           Returns the cipher mode being used by the connection, in the string format used by
           OpenSSL.

       debug ( VALUE )
           If "VALUE" is given the debug bit-value will be set. The previous value will be
           returned. Debug output will be sent to "STDERR". The bits of this value are:

            1   Show outgoing packets (using asn_hexdump).
            2   Show incoming packets (using asn_hexdump).
            4   Show outgoing packets (using asn_dump).
            8   Show incoming packets (using asn_dump).

           The default value is 0.

       disconnect ( )
           Disconnect from the server

       root_dse ( OPTIONS )
           The root_dse method retrieves cached information from the server's rootDSE.

           attrs => [ ATTR, ... ]
               A reference to a list of attributes to be returned.  If not specified, then the
               following attributes will be requested

                 subschemaSubentry
                 namingContexts
                 altServer
                 supportedExtension
                 supportedFeatures
                 supportedControl
                 supportedSASLMechanisms
                 supportedLDAPVersion

           The result is an object of class Net::LDAP::RootDSE.

           Example

            my $root = $ldap->root_dse;
            # get naming Context
            $root->get_value( 'namingContexts', asref => 1 );
            # get supported LDAP versions
            $root->supported_version;

           As the root DSE may change in certain circumstances - for instance when you change the
           connection using start_tls - you should always use the root_dse method to return the
           most up-to-date copy of the root DSE.

       schema ( OPTIONS )
           Read schema information from the server.

           The result is an object of class Net::LDAP::Schema.  Read this documentation for
           further information about methods that can be performed with this object.

           dn => DN
               If a DN is supplied, it will become the base object entry from which the search
               for schema information will be conducted.  If no DN is supplied the base object
               entry will be determined from the rootDSE entry.

           Example

            my $schema = $ldap->schema;
            # get objectClasses
            @ocs = $schema->all_objectclasses;
            # Get the attributes
            @atts = $schema->all_attributes;

       sasl ( )
           Returns the "Authen::SASL" object associated with the LDAP object, or "undef" if there
           isn't.

       socket ( OPTIONS )
           Returns the underlying socket object being used.

           The exact object type returned depends on whether SASL layers are established.
           Without SASL layers the result is always an "IO::Socket" object; with SASL layers the
           outcome depends on the options given:

           sasl_layer => FLAG
               This option is only relevant if SASL layers are established.

               If it it missing or if is set to a TRUE value, then the SASL layer handle is
               returned. Depending on the SASL library used, the object returned is not
               necessarily an "IO::Socket" object.

               If it exists, but is set to a value evaluating to FALSE, then the base
               "IO::Socket" object underneath the SASL layer is returned.

       host ( )
           Returns the host to which the connection was established.  For LDAPI connections the
           socket path is returned.

       port ( )
           Returns the port connected to or "undef" in case of LDAPI connections.

       uri ( )
           Returns the URI connected to.

           As the value returned is that element of the constructor's HOST argument with which
           the connection was established this may or may not be a legal URI.

       scheme ( )
           Returns the scheme of the connection. One of ldap, ldaps or ldapi.

       sync ( MESG )
           Wait for a given "MESG" request to be completed by the server. If no "MESG" is given,
           then wait for all outstanding requests to be completed.

           Returns an error code defined in Net::LDAP::Constant.

       process ( MESG )
           Process any messages that the server has sent, but do not block. If "MESG" is
           specified then return as soon as "MESG" has been processed.

           Returns an error code defined in Net::LDAP::Constant.

       version ( )
           Returns the version of the LDAP protocol that is being used.

CONTROLS

       Many of the methods described above accept a control option.  This allows the user to pass
       controls to the server as described in LDAPv3.

       A control is a reference to a HASH and should contain the three elements below. If any of
       the controls are blessed then the method "to_asn" will be called which should return a
       reference to a HASH containing the three elements described below.

       For most purposes Net::LDAP::Control objects are the easiest way to generate controls.

       type => OID
           This element must be present and is the name of the type of control being requested.

       critical => FLAG
           critical is optional and should be a Boolean value, if it is not specified then it is
           assumed to be false.

       value => VALUE
           If the control being requested requires a value then this element should hold the
           value for the server.

CALLBACKS

       Most of the above commands accept a callback option. This option should be a reference to
       a subroutine. This subroutine will be called for each packet received from the server as a
       response to the request sent.

       When the subroutine is called the first argument will be the Net::LDAP::Message object
       which was returned from the method.

       If the request is a search then multiple packets can be received from the server. Each
       entry is received as a separate packet. For each of these the subroutine will be called
       with a Net::LDAP::Entry object as the second argument.

       During a search the server may also send a list of references. When such a list is
       received then the subroutine will be called with a Net::LDAP::Reference object as the
       second argument.

LDAP ERROR CODES

       Net::LDAP also exports constants for the error codes that can be received from the server,
       see Net::LDAP::Constant.

SEE ALSO

       Net::LDAP::Constant, Net::LDAP::Control, Net::LDAP::Entry, Net::LDAP::Filter,
       Net::LDAP::Message, Net::LDAP::Reference, Net::LDAP::Search, Net::LDAP::RFC

       The homepage for the perl-ldap modules can be found at http://ldap.perl.org/.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       This document is based on a document originally written by Russell Fulton
       <r.fulton@auckland.ac.nz>.

       Chris Ridd <chris.ridd@isode.com> for the many hours spent testing and contribution of the
       ldap* command line utilities.

MAILING LIST

       A discussion mailing list is hosted by the Perl Foundation at <perl-ldap@perl.org> No
       subscription is necessary!

BUGS

       We hope you do not find any, but if you do please report them to the mailing list.

       If you have a patch, please send it as an attachment to the mailing list.

AUTHOR

       Graham Barr <gbarr@pobox.com>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 1997-2004 Graham Barr. All rights reserved. This program is free software;
       you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.