BE THE CODER > Java > LDAP Directory Access > How to Query password attribute of LDAP Entry

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) is based on X.500 standard. Its a hierarchical data structure with Entries organized in a tree like structure called Directory Information Tree (DIT). The following example shows retrieving 'userPassword' attribute of all entries having objectclass as 'person'. The attributes such as user role and password are not grouped under default attributes. In such cases we have to explicitly specify the list of attributes to be queried. The password string returned by LDAP Server can be an encrypted string which depends on the LDAP Server password encryption strategy.

File Name :	com/bethecoder/tutorials/ldap/QueryPasswordAttributeTest.java
Author :	Sudhakar KV
Email :	[email protected]


package com.bethecoder.tutorials.ldap;



import java.util.Hashtable;



import javax.naming.Context;

import javax.naming.NameNotFoundException;

import javax.naming.NamingEnumeration;

import javax.naming.NamingException;

import javax.naming.directory.Attribute;

import javax.naming.directory.Attributes;

import javax.naming.directory.DirContext;

import javax.naming.directory.InitialDirContext;

import javax.naming.directory.SearchControls;

import javax.naming.directory.SearchResult;





public class QueryPasswordAttributeTest {



  /**

   * @param args

   */

  public static void main(String[] args) {



    //Setup the environment to login as 'Directory Manager'

    String rootDN = "cn=Directory Manager";

    String rootPWD = "abcd1234";

    

    Hashtable<String, String> environment = new Hashtable<String, String>();

    environment.put(Context.INITIAL_CONTEXT_FACTORY, "com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory");

    environment.put(Context.PROVIDER_URL, "ldap://localhost:389/dc=test,dc=com");

    environment.put(Context.SECURITY_AUTHENTICATION, "simple");

    environment.put(Context.SECURITY_PRINCIPAL, rootDN);

    environment.put(Context.SECURITY_CREDENTIALS, rootPWD);



    DirContext dirContext = null;

    NamingEnumeration<?> results = null;

    

    try {

      dirContext = new InitialDirContext(environment);



      /**

       * Retrieve the specific attributes 

       */

      SearchControls controls = new SearchControls();

      controls.setSearchScope(SearchControls.SUBTREE_SCOPE);

      controls.setReturningAttributes(new String [] { 

          "nsRole", 

          "userPassword",

                "uid",

                "objectClass",

                "givenName",

                "sn",

                "cn"

      });



      //Get entries having objectclass=person

      String filter = "(objectclass=person)";

      results = dirContext.search("", filter, controls);



      while (results.hasMore()) {

        SearchResult searchResult = (SearchResult) results.next();

        Attributes attributes = searchResult.getAttributes();

        

        NamingEnumeration<? extends Attribute> attrs = attributes.getAll();



        while (attrs.hasMore()) {

          System.out.println(attrs.next());

        }



        //Password string depends on LDAP password policy

        Attribute pwd = attributes.get("userPassword");

        System.out.println("=> userPassword : " + new String((byte[])pwd.get()));

        System.out.println();

      }



    } catch (NameNotFoundException e) {

      e.printStackTrace();

    } catch (NamingException e) {

      e.printStackTrace();

    } finally {

      if (results != null) {

        try {

          results.close();

        } catch (Exception e) {

        }

      }



      if (dirContext != null) {

        try {

          dirContext.close();

        } catch (Exception e) {

        }

      }

    }



  }



}