LDAPts

Providing an API to access LDAP directory servers from Node.js programs.

Table of Contents

• API Details
  • Create a client
  • Specifying Controls
  • bind
  • startTLS
  • add
  • compare
  • del
  • exop
  • modify
    • Change
  • modifyDN
  • search
    • Filter Strings
    • Return buffer for specific attribute
  • searchPaginated
  • unbind
• Usage Examples
  • Authenticate example
  • Search example
  • Delete Active Directory entry example
• Development
  • Start test OpenLDAP server
  • Close test OpenLDAP server

API details

Create a client

The code to create a new client looks like:

import { Client } from 'ldapts';

const client = new Client({
  url: 'ldaps://ldap.jumpcloud.com',
  timeout: 0,
  connectTimeout: 0,
  tlsOptions: {
    minVersion: 'TLSv1.2',
  },
  strictDN: true,
});

You can use ldap:// or ldaps://; the latter would connect over SSL (note that this will not use the LDAP TLS extended operation, but literally an SSL connection to port 636, as in LDAP v2). The full set of options to create a client is:

Attribute	Description
url	A valid LDAP URL (proto/host/port only)
timeout	Milliseconds client should let operations live for before timing out (Default: Infinity)
connectTimeout	Milliseconds client should wait before timing out on TCP connections (Default: OS default)
tlsOptions	TLS connect() options
strictDN	Force strict DN parsing for client methods (Default is true)

Specifying Controls

Single or an array of Control objects can be added to various operations like the following:

import { Control } from 'ldapts/controls';

const { searchEntries, searchReferences } = await client.search(
  searchDN,
  {
    filter: '(mail=peter.parker@marvel.com)',
  },
  new Control('1.2.840.113556.1.4.417'),
);

You can also subclass Control for finer control over how data is parsed and written. Look at PagedResultsControl for an example.

bind

bind(dnOrSaslMechanism, [password], [controls])

Performs a bind operation against the LDAP server.

Arguments:

Argument	Description
dnOrSaslMechanism (string)	The name (DN) of the directory object that the client wishes to bind as or the SASL mechanism (PLAIN, EXTERNAL)
[password] (string)	Password for the target bind DN. For SASL this is instead an optional set of encoded SASL credentials.
[controls] (Control	Control[])

Simple Example:

await client.bind('cn=root', 'secret');

SASL Example:

// No credentials
await client.bind('EXTERNAL');

// With credentials
const credentials = '...foo...';
await client.bind('PLAIN', credentials);

startTLS

startTLS(options, [controls])

Performs a StartTLS extended operation against the LDAP server to initiate a TLS-secured communication channel over an otherwise clear-text connection.

Arguments:

Argument	Description
options (object)	TLS connect() options
[controls] (Control	Control[])

Example:

await client.startTLS({
  ca: [fs.readFileSync('mycacert.pem')],
});

add

add(dn, entry, [controls])

Performs an add operation against the LDAP server.

Allows you to add an entry (as a js object or array of Attributes), and as always, controls are optional.

Arguments:

Argument	Description
dn (string)	The DN of the entry to add
entry (object	Attribute[])
[controls] (Control	Control[])

Example:

var entry = {
  cn: 'foo',
  sn: 'bar',
  email: ['foo@bar.com', 'foo1@bar.com'],
  objectclass: 'fooPerson',
};
await client.add('cn=foo, o=example', entry);

compare

compare(dn, attribute, value, [controls])

Performs an LDAP compare operation with the given attribute and value against the entry referenced by dn.

Arguments:

Argument	Description
dn (string)	The DN of the entry in which the comparison is to be made
attribute (string)	The Name of the attribute in which the comparison is to be made
value (string)	The Attribute Value Assertion to try to find in the specified attribute
[controls] (Control	Control[])

Returns: (boolean): Returns true if the target entry exists and does contain the specified attribute value; otherwise false

Example:

const hasValue = await client.compare('cn=foo, o=example', 'sn', 'bar');

del

del(dn, [controls])

Deletes an entry from the LDAP server.

Arguments:

Argument	Description
dn (string)	The DN of the entry to delete
[controls] (Control	Control[])

Example:

await client.del('cn=foo, o=example');

exop

exop(oid, [value], [controls])

Performs an LDAP extended operation against an LDAP server.

Arguments:

Argument	Description
oid (string)	Object identifier representing the type of request
[value] (string)	Optional value - based on the type of operation
[controls] (Control	Control[])

Example (performs an LDAP 'whoami' extended op):

const { value } = await client.exop('1.3.6.1.4.1.4203.1.11.3');

modify

modify(name, changes, [controls])

Performs an LDAP modify operation against the LDAP server. This API requires you to pass in a Change object, which is described below. Note that you can pass in a single Change or an array of Change objects.

Arguments:

Argument	Description
dn (string)	The DN of the entry to modify
changes (Change	Change[])
[controls] (Control	Control[])

Example (update multiple attributes):

import { Attribute, Change } from 'ldapts';

await client.modify('cn=foo, o=example', [
  new Change({ operation: 'replace', modification: new Attribute({ type: 'title', values: ['web tester'] }) }),
  new Change({ operation: 'replace', modification: new Attribute({ type: 'displayName', values: ['John W Doe'] }) }),
]);

Example (update binary attribute):

import { Attribute, Change } from 'ldapts';

const thumbnailPhotoBuffer = await fs.readFile(path.join(__dirname, './groot_100.jpg'));

var change = new Change({
  operation: 'replace',
  modification: new Attribute({
    type: 'thumbnailPhoto;binary',
    values: [thumbnailPhotoBuffer],
  }),
});

await client.modify('cn=foo, o=example', change);

Change

Change({ operation, modification })

A Change object maps to the LDAP protocol of a modify change, and requires you to set the operation and modification.

Arguments:

Argument	Description
operation (replace	add
modification (Attribute)	Attribute details to add, remove, or update

Operations:

Value	Description
replace	Replaces the attribute referenced in modification. If the modification has no values, it is equivalent to a delete.
add	Adds the attribute value(s) referenced in modification. The attribute may or may not already exist.
delete	Deletes the attribute (and all values) referenced in modification.

modifyDN

modifyDN(dn, newDN, [controls])

Performs an LDAP modifyDN (rename) operation against an entry in the LDAP server. A couple points with this client API:

• There is no ability to set "keep old dn." It's always going to flag the old dn to be purged.
• The client code will automatically figure out if the request is a "new superior" request ("new superior" means move to a different part of the tree, as opposed to just renaming the leaf).

Arguments:

Argument	Description
dn (string)	The DN of the entry to rename
newDN (string)	The new RDN to use assign to the entry. It may be the same as the current RDN if you only intend to move the entry beneath a new parent. If the new RDN includes any attribute values that aren’t already in the entry, the entry will be updated to include them.
[controls] (Control	Control[])

Example:

await client.modifyDN('cn=foo, o=example', 'cn=bar');

search

search(baseDN, options, [controls])

Performs a search operation against the LDAP server.

The search operation is more complex than the other operations, so this one takes an options object for all the parameters.

Arguments:

Argument	Description
baseDN (string)	The base of the subtree in which the search is to be constrained
options (object)	See table below
[controls] (Control	Control[])

Options:

Attribute	Description
[scope=sub] (string)	base - Indicates that only the entry specified as the search base should be considered. None of its subordinates will be considered. one - Indicates that only the immediate children of the entry specified as the search base should be considered. The base entry itself should not be considered, nor any descendants of the immediate children of the base entry. sub - Indicates that the entry specified as the search base, and all of its subordinates to any depth, should be considered. children - Indicates that the entry specified by the search base should not be considered, but all of its subordinates to any depth should be considered.
[filter=(objectclass=*)] (string	Filter)
[derefAliases=never] (string)	never - Never dereferences entries, returns alias objects instead. The alias contains the reference to the real entry. always - Always returns the referenced entries, not the alias object. search - While searching subordinates of the base object, dereferences any alias within the search scope. Dereferenced objects become the bases of further search scopes where the Search operation is also applied by the server. The server should eliminate duplicate entries that arise due to alias dereferencing while searching. find - Dereferences aliases in locating the base object of the search, but not when searching subordinates of the base object.
[returnAttributeValues=true] (boolean)	If true, attribute values should be included in the entries that are returned; otherwise entries that match the search criteria should be returned containing only the attribute descriptions for the attributes contained in that entry but should not include the values for those attributes.
[sizeLimit=0] (number)	The maximum number of entries that should be returned from the search. A value of zero indicates no limit. Note that the server may also impose a size limit for the search operation, and in that case the smaller of the client-requested and server-imposed size limits will be enforced.
[timeLimit=10] (number)	The maximum length of time, in seconds, that the server should spend processing the search. A value of zero indicates no limit. Note that the server may also impose a time limit for the search operation, and in that case the smaller of the client-requested and server-imposed time limits will be enforced.
[paged=false] (boolean	SearchPageOptions)
[attributes=] (string[])	A set of attributes to request for inclusion in entries that match the search criteria and are returned to the client. If a specific set of attribute descriptions are listed, then only those attributes should be included in matching entries. The special value “” indicates that all user attributes should be included in matching entries. The special value “+” indicates that all operational attributes should be included in matching entries. The special value “1.1” indicates that no attributes should be included in matching entries. Some servers may also support the ability to use the “@” symbol followed by an object class name (e.g., “@inetOrgPerson”) to request all attributes associated with that object class. If the set of attributes to request is empty, then the server should behave as if the value “” was specified to request that all user attributes be included in entries that are returned.
[explicitBufferAttributes=] (string[])	List of explicit attribute names to return as Buffer objects

Example:

const { searchEntries, searchReferences } = await client.search(searchDN, {
  filter: '(mail=peter.parker@marvel.com)',
});

Please see Client tests for more search examples

searchPaginated

search(baseDN, options, [controls])

Performs a search operation against the LDAP server and retrieve results in a paginated way.

The searchPagination the same options with search method but returns an iterator.

Example:

const paginator = client.searchPaginated('o=5be4c382c583e54de6a3ff52,dc=jumpcloud,dc=com', {
  filter: 'objectclass=*',
  paged: {
    pageSize: 10,
  },
});

let total = 0;
for await (const searchResult of paginator) {
  total += searchResult.searchEntries.length;
  console.log(searchResult.searchEntries);
}

console.log(`total results: ${total}`);

Filter Strings

The easiest way to write search filters is to write them compliant with RFC2254, which is "The string representation of LDAP search filters."

Assuming you don't really want to read the RFC, search filters in LDAP are basically are a "tree" of attribute/value assertions, with the tree specified in prefix notation. For example, let's start simple, and build up a complicated filter. The most basic filter is equality, so let's assume you want to search for an attribute email with a value of foo@bar.com. The syntax would be:

const filter = `(email=foo@bar.com)`;

ldapts requires all filters to be surrounded by '()' blocks. Ok, that was easy. Let's now assume that you want to find all records where the email is actually just anything in the "@bar.com" domain and the location attribute is set to Seattle:

const filter = `(&(email=*@bar.com)(l=Seattle))`;

Now our filter is actually three LDAP filters. We have an and filter (single amp &), an equality filter (the l=Seattle), and a substring filter. Substrings are wildcard filters. They use * as the wildcard. You can put more than one wildcard for a given string. For example you could do (email=*@*bar.com) to match any email of @bar.com or its subdomains like "".

Now, let's say we also want to set our filter to include a specification that either the employeeType not be a manager nor a secretary:

const filter = `(&(email=*@bar.com)(l=Seattle)(!(|(employeeType=manager)(employeeType=secretary))))`;

The not character is represented as a !, the or as a single pipe |. It gets a little bit complicated, but it's actually quite powerful, and lets you find almost anything you're looking for.

Return buffer for specific attribute

Sometimes you may want to get a buffer back instead of a string for an attribute value. Depending on the server software, you may be able to append ;binary (the binary attribute subtype) to the attribute name, to have the value returned as a Buffer.

const searchResults = await ldapClient.search('ou=Users,o=5be4c382c583e54de6a3ff52,dc=jumpcloud,dc=com', {
  filter: '(mail=peter.parker@marvel.com)',
  attributes: ['jpegPhoto;binary'],
});

However, some servers are very strict when it comes to the binary attribute subtype and will only acknowledge it if there is an associated AN.1 type or valid BER encoding. In those cases, you can tell ldapts to explicitly return a Buffer for an attribute:

const searchResult = await client.search('ou=Users,o=5be4c382c583e54de6a3ff52,dc=jumpcloud,dc=com', {
  filter: '(mail=peter.parker@marvel.com)',
  explicitBufferAttributes: ['jpegPhoto'],
});

unbind

unbind()

Used to indicate that the client wants to close the connection to the directory server.

Example:

await client.unbind();

Usage Examples

Authenticate example

const { Client } = require('ldapts');

const url = 'ldap://ldap.forumsys.com:389';
const bindDN = 'cn=read-only-admin,dc=example,dc=com';
const password = 'password';

const client = new Client({
  url,
});

let isAuthenticated;
try {
  await client.bind(bindDN, password);
  isAuthenticated = true;
} catch (ex) {
  isAuthenticated = false;
} finally {
  await client.unbind();
}

Search example

const { Client } = require('ldapts');

const url = 'ldaps://ldap.jumpcloud.com';
const bindDN = 'uid=tony.stark,ou=Users,o=5be4c382c583e54de6a3ff52,dc=jumpcloud,dc=com';
const password = 'MyRedSuitKeepsMeWarm';
const searchDN = 'ou=Users,o=5be4c382c583e54de6a3ff52,dc=jumpcloud,dc=com';

const client = new Client({
  url,
  tlsOptions: {
    rejectUnauthorized: args.rejectUnauthorized,
  },
});

try {
  await client.bind(bindDN, password);

  const { searchEntries, searchReferences } = await client.search(searchDN, {
    scope: 'sub',
    filter: '(mail=peter.parker@marvel.com)',
  });
} catch (ex) {
  throw ex;
} finally {
  await client.unbind();
}

Delete Active Directory entry example

const { Client } = require('ldapts');

const url = 'ldap://127.0.0.1:1389';
const bindDN = 'uid=foo,dc=example,dc=com';
const password = 'bar';
const dnToDelete = 'uid=foobar,dc=example,dc=com';

const client = new Client({
  url,
});

try {
  await client.bind(bindDN, password);

  await client.del(dnToDelete);
} catch (ex) {
  if (ex instanceof InvalidCredentialsError) {
    // Handle authentication specifically
  }

  throw ex;
} finally {
  await client.unbind();
}

using declaration with Typescript

For more details look have a look at using Declarations and Explicit Resource Management

{
  await using client = new Client({
    url: 'ldap://127.0.0.1:1389',
  });
  await client.bind(bindDN, password);
}
// unbind is called

Development

Generate certificates

Use certyaml to generate certificates for tests:

(cd tests/certs && ./certyaml -d .)

Start test OpenLDAP server

docker compose up -d

Close test OpenLDAP server

docker compose down