A.0 LDAP Expression Syntax for Searching and Matching

Regular expressions or LDAP-style syntax is used in Operations Center in two primary functions:

  • Filtering searches

  • Matching and selecting elements based on element DName

Operations Center filter and match attributes adheres to the standard LDAP syntax defined in RFC2254, The String Representation of LDAP Search Filters. For a comprehensive description of the search and filter syntax, see the RFC2254 document web page.

The syntax allows entering one or more attr/value pairs, surrounded by parentheses, and logically combined with "and" (&) or "or" (|) operators. The following operators can be used in the search criteria:

=, <, >, <= , >=

For example, to find an object named server1, enter (cn=server1), where cn represents common name, which is a standard way of identifying an object name.

Table A-1 LDAP Expression Examples

To find…

Do this….

All objects starting with the same letters.

Specify wildcards using one or more asterisks (*).For example, to find all objects that begin with server, enter the query as: (cn=server*).

All host objects.

Enter (objectClass=*host*) to find all hostname objects, all ServerHosts, and so on.

All hosts whose names begin with the letters server.

Combine two (attr=value) clauses using the logical "and" operator:

(&(cn=server*)(objectClass=*host*))

Notice how the logical operator appears before the two clauses; this is called prefix notation.

All hosts whose names begin with the letters server and are in a CRITICAL state.

Enter:

(&(&(cn=server*)(objectClass=*host*))(condition=CRITICAL))

All hosts whose names begin with the letters server and are in either a CRITICAL or WARNING state.

Enter:

(&(&(cn=server*)(objectClass=*host*))(|(condition=CRITICAL)(condition=WARNING)))

Hostnames that begin with specific letters and are members of a specific object class.

Enter:

&(objectClass=Router)(hostname>B*)

Elements that are members of a specific class and have a response time greater than or equal to a specified threshold value.

Enter:

&(objectClass=server)(responseTime>=3.4)