LDAP_TLS(3)

💖 LDAP_TLS(3) — the TLS glow-up page 💖

okay so bestie, this is LDAP_TLS(3) from the Library Functions Manual, and it's literally the page about the LDAP TLS initialization routines. ngl it's short but it's iconic. let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

ldap_start_tls, ldap_start_tls_s, ldap_tls_inplace, ldap_install_tls — the LDAP TLS initialization routines. yes babes, all four of them, we're doing the whole squad 💅

🎀 LIBRARY 🎀

OpenLDAP LDAP (libldap, -lldap) — that's the lib, that's the flag, that's the vibe ✨

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <ldap.h>

int ldap_start_tls(LDAP *ld);

int ldap_start_tls_s(LDAP *ld, LDAPControl **serverctrls, LDAPControl
**clientctrls);

int ldap_tls_inplace(LDAP *ld);

int ldap_install_tls(LDAP *ld);

look at them, all tidy and typed and everything 😌 four little int-returning functions, and every single one of them takes your LDAP *ld session. ldap_start_tls_s is the extra one with the serverctrls and clientctrls — she's got Range ✨

🌈 DESCRIPTION 🌈

so like, these routines are what you use to initiate TLS processing on an LDAP session. it's giving "put a little encrypted blanket on your connection" 🧚 but fr fr, here's the breakdown:

• ldap_start_tls_s() — she's the full-service one 👑 she sends a StartTLS request to a server, waits for the reply, and then installs the TLS handlers on the session if the request succeeded. the routine returns LDAP_SUCCESS if everything succeeded, otherwise it returns an LDAP error code. so like, no surprises, you get a real answer either way.
• ldap_start_tls() — the minimalist icon 💅 she sends a StartTLS request to a server and does nothing else. that's it. that's the whole job. she returns LDAP_SUCCESS if the request was sent successfully, and that's all she's promising you — sending, not installing.
• ldap_tls_inplace() — the vibe check function 🦋 returns 1 if TLS handlers have been installed on the specified session, 0 otherwise. yes, a literal yes/no, we stan a binary queen.
• ldap_install_tls() — she does the actual installing of the TLS handlers on the given session. but heads up: she returns LDAP_LOCAL_ERROR if TLS is already installed. so don't be out here double-installing, she will call you out 💀

lowkey the difference that matters: ldap_start_tls_s() sends and installs, ldap_start_tls() only sends, and ldap_install_tls() only installs. don't mix 'em up bestie, that's the whole point of the page 🌸

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

• ldap(3)
• ldap_error(3)

go read those next, iykyk 📚

💜 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 💜

OpenLDAP Software is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project <http://www.openldap.org/>. OpenLDAP Software is derived from the University of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release. like, shoutout to the whole project, absolute legends for real 🫶

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and that's the page! signing off from OpenLDAP 2.6.16, dated 2026/10/21, manual page LDAP_TLS(3) — mwah, go encrypt something 💋✨