A String Representation of Distinguished Names
RFC 1779
Document | Type |
RFC - Historic
(March 1995; No errata)
Obsoletes RFC 1485
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Author | Steve Kille | ||
Last updated | 2013-03-02 | ||
Stream | IETF | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized bibtex | ||
Stream | WG state | (None) | |
Document shepherd | No shepherd assigned | ||
This information refers to IESG processing after the RFC was initially published: | |||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 1779 (Historic) | |
Action Holders |
(None)
|
||
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | Patrik Fältström | ||
Send notices to | <ammar@cc.gatech.edu>, <rrt@bellcore.com> |
Network Working Group S. Kille Request for Comments: 1779 ISODE Consortium Obsoletes: 1485 March 1995 Category: Standards Track A String Representation of Distinguished Names Status of this Memo This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Abstract The OSI Directory uses distinguished names as the primary keys to entries in the directory. Distinguished Names are encoded in ASN.1. When a distinguished name is communicated between to users not using a directory protocol (e.g., in a mail message), there is a need to have a user-oriented string representation of distinguished name. This specification defines a string format for representing names, which is designed to give a clean representation of commonly used names, whilst being able to represent any distinguished name. Table of Contents 1. Why a notation is needed ................................... 2 2. A notation for Distinguished Name .......................... 2 2.1 Goals ................................................ 2 2.2 Informal definition .................................. 2 2.3 Formal definition .................................... 4 3. Examples ................................................... 6 4. Acknowledgements ........................................... 7 5. References ................................................. 7 6. Security Considerations .................................... 8 7. Author's Address ........................................... 8 Kille [Page 1] RFC 1779 DN Representation March 1995 1. Why a notation is needed Many OSI Applications make use of Distinguished Names (DN) as defined in the OSI Directory, commonly known as X.500 [1]. This specification assumes familiarity with X.500, and the concept of Distinguished Name. It is important to have a common format to be able to unambiguously represent a distinguished name. This might be done to represent a directory name on a business card or in an email message. There is a need for a format to support human to human communication, which must be string based (not ASN.1) and user oriented. This notation is targeted towards a general user oriented system, and in particular to represent the names of humans. Other syntaxes may be more appropriate for other uses of the directory. For example, the OSF Syntax may be more appropriate for some system oriented uses. (The OSF Syntax uses "/" as a separator, and forms names in a manner intended to resemble UNIX filenames). 2. A notation for Distinguished Name 2.1 Goals The following goals are laid out: o To provide an unambiguous representation of a distinguished name o To be an intuitive format for the majority of names o To be fully general, and able to represent any distinguished name o To be amenable to a number of different layouts to achieve an attractive representation. o To give a clear representation of the contents of the distinguished name 2.2 Informal definition This notation is designed to be convenient for common forms of name. Some examples are given. The author's directory distinguished name would be written: CN=Steve Kille, O=ISODE Consortium, C=GB Kille [Page 2] RFC 1779 DN Representation March 1995 This may be folded, perhaps to display in multi-column format. For example: CN=Steve Kille, O=ISODE Consortium, C=GB Another name might be: CN=Christian Huitema, O=INRIA, C=FR Semicolon (";") may be used as an alternate separator. The separators may be mixed, but this usage is discouraged. CN=Christian Huitema; O=INRIA; C=FR In running text, this would be written as <CN=Christian Huitema; O=INRIA; C=FR>. Another example, shows how different attribute types are handled: CN=James Hacker, L=Basingstoke, O=Widget Inc, C=GB Here is an example of a multi-valued Relative Distinguished Name, where the namespace is flat within an organisation, and department is used to disambiguate certain names: OU=Sales + CN=J. Smith, O=Widget Inc., C=US The final examples show both methods quoting of a comma in an Organisation name: CN=L. Eagle, O="Sue, Grabbit and Runn", C=GB CN=L. Eagle, O=Sue\, Grabbit and Runn, C=GBShow full document text