Network Working Group                                        K. Zeilenga
Request for Comments: 3352                           OpenLDAP Foundation
Obsoletes: 1798                                               March 2003
Category: Informational


     Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (CLDAP)
                           to Historic Status


Status of this Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   The Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (CLDAP)
   technical specification, RFC 1798, was published in 1995 as a
   Proposed Standard.  This document discusses the reasons why the CLDAP
   technical specification has not been furthered on the Standard Track.
   This document recommends that RFC 1798 be moved to Historic status.

1. Background

   Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (CLDAP)
   [RFC1798] was published in 1995 as a Proposed Standard.  The protocol
   was targeted at applications which require lookup of small amounts of
   information held in the directory.  The protocol avoids the overhead
   of establishing (and closing) a connection and the session bind and
   unbind operations needed in connection-oriented directory access
   protocols.  The CLDAP was designed to complement version 2 of the
   Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAPv2) [RFC1777], now
   Historic [HISTORIC].

   In the seven years since its publication, CLDAP has not become widely
   deployed on the Internet.  There are a number of probable reasons for
   this:

   - Limited functionality:
        + anonymous only,
        + read only,
        + small result sizes only, and

   - Insufficient security capabilities:
        + no integrity protection,
        + no confidentiality protection
   - Inadequate internationalization support;
   - Insufficient extensibility; and
   - Lack of multiple independently developed implementations.

   The CLDAP technical specification has normative references to
   multiple obsolete technical specifications including X.501(88),
   X.511(88), RFC 1487 (the predecessor to RFC 1777, the now Historic
   LDAPv2 technical specification).  Unless the technical specification
   were to be updated, CLDAP cannot remain on the standards track
   because of the Normative reference to a Historic RFC.

   The community recognized in the mid-1990s that CLDAP needed to be
   updated.  In response to this, the IETF chartered the LDAP Extensions
   Working Group (LDAPext WG) in 1997 to undertake this update.  The
   LDAPext WG is concluding without producing an update to CLDAP.
   Currently, there is no standardization effort to update CLDAP.

   It should be noted that the community still has interest in
   developing a "connection-less" directory access protocol.  However,
   based on operational experience, has determined that further
   experimentation is necessary to address outstanding technical issues.
   In particular, security considerations associated with
   "connection-less" services need to be addressed.

2. Recommendation

   As there is no viable standardization effort to update CLDAP as
   necessary to keep it on the standards track and the community
   currently considers this an area requiring further experimentation,
   RFC 1798 must be moved to Historic status.

   It is recommended that those interested in connection-less access to
   X.500-based directory services experiment with [LDAPUDP] and other
   alternatives which might become available.

3. Security Considerations

   The security of the Internet will not be impacted by the retirement
   of CLDAP.

4. Acknowledgment

   The author would like to thank the designers of CLDAP for their
   contribution to the Internet community.

5. Normative References

   [HISTORIC] Zeilenga, K., "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
              version 2 (LDAPv2) to Historic Status", RFC 3494, February
              2003.

   [CLDAP]    Young, A. "Connection-less Lightweight Directory Access
              Protocol," RFC 1798, June 1995.

6. Informative References

   [LDAPUDP]  Johansson, L. and R. Hedberg, "Lightweight Directory
              Access Protocol over UDP/IP," Work in Progress.

   [RFC1777]  Yeong, W., Howes, T. and S. Kille, "Lightweight Directory
              Access Protocol", RFC 1777, March 1995.

   [RFC3377]  Hodges, J. and R. Morgan, "Lightweight Directory Access
              Protocol (v3): Technical Specification", RFC 3377,
              September 2002.

   [X501]     The Directory: Models.  CCITT Recommendation X.501 ISO/IEC
              JTC 1/SC21; International Standard 9594-2, 1988.

   [X511]     The Directory: Abstract Service Definition.  CCITT
              Recommendation X.511, ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC21; International
              Standard 9594-3, 1988.

7. Author's Address

   Kurt D. Zeilenga
   OpenLDAP Foundation

   EMail: Kurt@OpenLDAP.org

8.  Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
   included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
   Internet Society.