ldapjs

What is ldapjs?

ldapjs is a pure JavaScript, from-scratch framework for implementing LDAP clients and servers in Node.js. It is designed to be simple, extensible, and robust, making it suitable for a wide range of LDAP-related tasks.

What are ldapjs's main functionalities?

Creating an LDAP Client

This feature allows you to create an LDAP client and bind to an LDAP server. The code sample demonstrates how to connect to an LDAP server running on localhost and bind using a distinguished name (DN) and password.

const ldap = require('ldapjs');
const client = ldap.createClient({
  url: 'ldap://127.0.0.1:389'
});

client.bind('cn=root', 'secret', (err) => {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Error binding to LDAP server:', err);
  } else {
    console.log('Successfully bound to LDAP server');
  }
});

Searching the LDAP Directory

This feature allows you to search the LDAP directory. The code sample demonstrates how to perform a search for entries with the surname 'Smith' and retrieve their distinguished names, surnames, and common names.

const ldap = require('ldapjs');
const client = ldap.createClient({
  url: 'ldap://127.0.0.1:389'
});

client.bind('cn=root', 'secret', (err) => {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Error binding to LDAP server:', err);
    return;
  }

  const opts = {
    filter: '(sn=Smith)',
    scope: 'sub',
    attributes: ['dn', 'sn', 'cn']
  };

  client.search('o=example', opts, (err, res) => {
    if (err) {
      console.error('Error searching LDAP directory:', err);
      return;
    }

    res.on('searchEntry', (entry) => {
      console.log('Entry:', entry.object);
    });
    res.on('searchReference', (referral) => {
      console.log('Referral:', referral.uris.join());
    });
    res.on('error', (err) => {
      console.error('Search error:', err);
    });
    res.on('end', (result) => {
      console.log('Search result:', result);
    });
  });
});

Adding an Entry to the LDAP Directory

This feature allows you to add an entry to the LDAP directory. The code sample demonstrates how to add a new entry with common name 'John Doe', surname 'Doe', and email '[e-mail]' to the directory.

const ldap = require('ldapjs');
const client = ldap.createClient({
  url: 'ldap://127.0.0.1:389'
});

client.bind('cn=root', 'secret', (err) => {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Error binding to LDAP server:', err);
    return;
  }

  const entry = {
    cn: 'John Doe',
    sn: 'Doe',
    email: '[e-mail]',
    objectclass: 'inetOrgPerson'
  };

  client.add('cn=John Doe, o=example', entry, (err) => {
    if (err) {
      console.error('Error adding entry to LDAP directory:', err);
    } else {
      console.log('Entry added successfully');
    }
  });
});

Modifying an Entry in the LDAP Directory

This feature allows you to modify an entry in the LDAP directory. The code sample demonstrates how to replace the email attribute of an existing entry with a new email address.

const ldap = require('ldapjs');
const client = ldap.createClient({
  url: 'ldap://127.0.0.1:389'
});

client.bind('cn=root', 'secret', (err) => {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Error binding to LDAP server:', err);
    return;
  }

  const change = new ldap.Change({
    operation: 'replace',
    modification: {
      email: '[e-mail]'
    }
  });

  client.modify('cn=John Doe, o=example', change, (err) => {
    if (err) {
      console.error('Error modifying entry in LDAP directory:', err);
    } else {
      console.log('Entry modified successfully');
    }
  });
});

Deleting an Entry from the LDAP Directory

This feature allows you to delete an entry from the LDAP directory. The code sample demonstrates how to delete an entry with the distinguished name 'cn=John Doe, o=example' from the directory.

const ldap = require('ldapjs');
const client = ldap.createClient({
  url: 'ldap://127.0.0.1:389'
});

client.bind('cn=root', 'secret', (err) => {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Error binding to LDAP server:', err);
    return;
  }

  client.del('cn=John Doe, o=example', (err) => {
    if (err) {
      console.error('Error deleting entry from LDAP directory:', err);
    } else {
      console.log('Entry deleted successfully');
    }
  });
});

Other packages similar to ldapjs

activedirectory

The 'activedirectory' package is a simple Node.js library for Active Directory LDAP integration. It provides a higher-level abstraction over LDAP operations, making it easier to work with Active Directory. Compared to ldapjs, it is more specialized for Active Directory environments and offers simpler interfaces for common tasks like user authentication and group membership checks.

ldapauth-fork

The 'ldapauth-fork' package is a Node.js library for authenticating users against an LDAP server. It is a fork of the original 'ldapauth' package and provides a straightforward way to authenticate users. Compared to ldapjs, it is more focused on authentication and less on general LDAP operations, making it a good choice for applications that primarily need to authenticate users.

README

LDAPjs

LDAPjs makes the LDAP protocol a first class citizen in Node.js.

Usage

For full docs, head on over to http://ldapjs.org.

var ldap = require('ldapjs');

var server = ldap.createServer();

server.search('dc=example', function(req, res, next) {
  var obj = {
    dn: req.dn.toString(),
    attributes: {
      objectclass: ['organization', 'top'],
      o: 'example'
    }
  };

  if (req.filter.matches(obj.attributes))
  res.send(obj);

  res.end();
});

server.listen(1389, function() {
  console.log('ldapjs listening at ' + server.url);
});

To run that, assuming you've got the OpenLDAP client on your system:

ldapsearch -H ldap://localhost:1389 -x -b dc=example objectclass=*

Installation

npm install ldapjs

Node.js Version Support

As of ldapjs@3 we only support the active Node.js LTS releases. See https://github.com/nodejs/release#release-schedule for the LTS release schedule.

For a definitive list of Node.js version we support, see the version matrix we test against in our CI configuration.

Note: given the release date of ldapjs@3, and the short window of time that Node.js v14 had remaining on its LTS window, we opted to not support Node.js v14 with ldapjs@3 (we released late February 2023 and v14 goes into maintenance in late April 2023). Also, Node.js v14 will be end-of-life (EOL) on September 11, 2023; this is a very shortened EOL timeline and makes it even more reasonable to not support it at this point.

License

MIT.

Bugs

See https://github.com/ldapjs/node-ldapjs/issues.