Bug 1663063

Particularly odd given that both php-ldap and python3-ldap are available... this is analogous to those packages, except for Perl.

It's quite normal that packages are removed between major RHEL versions. Removal of perl-LDAP is documented in Release Notes <https://access.redhat.com/documentation/en-us/red_hat_enterprise_linux/8-beta/html-single/8.0_beta_release_notes/index#removed_packages>.

If you need perl-LDAP for you business, please contact Red Hat support.

The question was why, which is *not* in the release notes.  Again, this is a basic *fundamental* package for utilizing LDAP via Perl.

changing bug access to Public

Is there a perl LDAP api library provided with RHEL8?

(In reply to Rich Megginson from comment #5)
> Is there a perl LDAP api library provided with RHEL8?

The only one I could find is the Mozilla C SDK one, which is not really equivalent.

There is no other than perl-Mozilla-LDAP.

(In reply to Petr Pisar from comment #7)
> There is no other than perl-Mozilla-LDAP.

Again, not even remotely equivalent.

This is a serious bug and needs review from someone.  Removing Net::LDAP, which again is the reference implementation for accessing LDAP via perl, is problematic and does not line up with other languages which continue to have solid LDAP support (i.e., python and php as noted above).

The perl-Mozilla-LDAP module in no way is a suitable replacement for Net::LDAP as it lacks numerous features available via Net::LDAP.  Examples include but are not limited to RFC4533 support.


Additionally, I would note that the Mozilla LDAP C SDK for Perl is abandonware while Net::LDAP continues to be developed (See https://wiki.mozilla.org/LDAP_C_SDK#Latest_News_-_10.2F13.2F2017) and the Mozilla::LDAP module hasn't had an update since 1999 (https://metacpan.org/release/perldap).

Hello,

perl-LDAP is needed by a lot of applications running on RHEL, like LemonLDAP::NG (https://www.lemonldap-ng.org) or LTB Nagios Plugins (https://ltb-project.org/documentation#monitoring).

Will this module be available in EPEL?

(In reply to Quanah Gibson-Mount from comment #9)
> This is a serious bug and needs review from someone.  Removing Net::LDAP,
> which again is the reference implementation for accessing LDAP via perl, is
> problematic and does not line up with other languages which continue to have
> solid LDAP support (i.e., python and php as noted above).
> 
> The perl-Mozilla-LDAP module in no way is a suitable replacement for
> Net::LDAP as it lacks numerous features available via Net::LDAP.  Examples
> include but are not limited to RFC4533 support.

Not only that, but even if it is possible to use perl-Mozilla-LDAP, the syntax of perl-Mozilla-LDAP is significantly different than Net::LDAP - it will require a significant rewrite of code that uses Net::LDAP to use perl-Mozilla-LDAP instead.

> Additionally, I would note that the Mozilla LDAP C SDK for Perl is
> abandonware while Net::LDAP continues to be developed (See
> https://wiki.mozilla.org/LDAP_C_SDK#Latest_News_-_10.2F13.2F2017) and the
> Mozilla::LDAP module hasn't had an update since 1999
> (https://metacpan.org/release/perldap).

+1 - perl-Mozilla-LDAP hasn't been actively developed for over a decade or more

(In reply to Clément OUDOT from comment #10)
> Hello,
> 
> perl-LDAP is needed by a lot of applications running on RHEL, like
> LemonLDAP::NG (https://www.lemonldap-ng.org) or LTB Nagios Plugins
> (https://ltb-project.org/documentation#monitoring).
> 
> Will this module be available in EPEL?

Please file a separate request to have it added to EPEL - not sure how that happens but see https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/EPEL

> Please file a separate request to have it added to EPEL - not sure how that happens but see https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/EPEL

I'll do it if this bug is closed without correction, which would be a very bad news.

Note that we are using Bugzilla, a Perl software, to discuss about this issue. I'm pretty sure Bugzilla is using perl-LDAP, it means we could not use Bugzilla on RHEL 8...

(In reply to Clément OUDOT from comment #13)
> > Please file a separate request to have it added to EPEL - not sure how that happens but see https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/EPEL
> 
> I'll do it if this bug is closed without correction, which would be a very
> bad news.

I think that if perl-LDAP is not in RHEL 8 at this late stage, it will be more difficult to get it back into RHEL 8, than to add it to EPEL - and the longer you wait before starting the EPEL process, the longer you will have to wait until you get a working perl-LDAP . . .

> 
> Note that we are using Bugzilla, a Perl software, to discuss about this
> issue. I'm pretty sure Bugzilla is using perl-LDAP, it means we could not
> use Bugzilla on RHEL 8...

Sure.  There are a lot of packages that you have mentioned, and others, that use perl-LDAP, that would be able to use perl-LDAP from EPEL.

> I think that if perl-LDAP is not in RHEL 8 at this late stage, it will be more difficult to get it back into RHEL 8, than to add it to EPEL - and the longer you wait before starting the EPEL process, the longer you will have to wait until you get a working perl-LDAP

Or you can consider there is a mistake/bug and try to fix this, we indeed have no explanation for this choice, which has a lot of impacts.

> Sure.  There are a lot of packages that you have mentioned, and others, that use perl-LDAP, that would be able to use perl-LDAP from EPEL.

Does this mean that you will need to run your own infra (Bugzilla) on other systems that RedHat if EPEL don't package perl-LDAP?

(In reply to Clément OUDOT from comment #15)
> > I think that if perl-LDAP is not in RHEL 8 at this late stage, it will be more difficult to get it back into RHEL 8, than to add it to EPEL - and the longer you wait before starting the EPEL process, the longer you will have to wait until you get a working perl-LDAP
> 
> Or you can consider there is a mistake/bug and try to fix this, we indeed
> have no explanation for this choice, which has a lot of impacts.

If you have a customer account, I would highly recommend opening a support case against the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 product illustrating your needs.

> > Sure.  There are a lot of packages that you have mentioned, and others, that use perl-LDAP, that would be able to use perl-LDAP from EPEL.
> 
> Does this mean that you will need to run your own infra (Bugzilla) on other
> systems that RedHat if EPEL don't package perl-LDAP?

No, it does not.  That's not a logical conclusion.  Any particular user in need of that package could package it themselves for internal use.

In total agreement with Quanah, Rich, Clement, and others I think that it is a severe bug to drop a well maintained and heavily used standard library for LDAP access. By now RH is our prefered platform. Such a hurtful gap (we still do a lot of perl programming) might want us to change to another distro as preferred platform and to consult our customers to do so as well. 

What on earth could be the reason to drop perl-ldap anyway?  Is there any document on or pointer to the packaging strategy for RHEL, where one could find reasons for this?

(In reply to Josh Boyer from comment #16)
> (In reply to Clément OUDOT from comment #15)
> > > I think that if perl-LDAP is not in RHEL 8 at this late stage, it will be more difficult to get it back into RHEL 8, than to add it to EPEL - and the longer you wait before starting the EPEL process, the longer you will have to wait until you get a working perl-LDAP
> > 
> > Or you can consider there is a mistake/bug and try to fix this, we indeed
> > have no explanation for this choice, which has a lot of impacts.
> 
> If you have a customer account, I would highly recommend opening a support
> case against the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 product illustrating your needs.

+10

> 
> > > Sure.  There are a lot of packages that you have mentioned, and others, that use perl-LDAP, that would be able to use perl-LDAP from EPEL.
> > 
> > Does this mean that you will need to run your own infra (Bugzilla) on other
> > systems that RedHat if EPEL don't package perl-LDAP?
> 
> No, it does not.  That's not a logical conclusion.  Any particular user in
> need of that package could package it themselves for internal use.

Can perl-LDAP from CPAN be used?

(In reply to Rich Megginson from comment #18)

> > No, it does not.  That's not a logical conclusion.  Any particular user in
> > need of that package could package it themselves for internal use.
> 
> Can perl-LDAP from CPAN be used?

Many organizations have prohibitions on using software that is not provided by the distribution.  So it's simply not always an option.

Hello,

we OpenSides https://www.opensides.be/ are the publisher of FusionDirectory https://www.fusiondirectory.org/ and Argonaut https://www.argonaut-project.org/ we use perl-ldap extensively in in perl framework. In Rhel 7 is as become more and more difficult to support our software on RedHat platform.

FusionDirectory is largely utilized French educational system and Research communities. so please can you consider to add back the perl-ldap libraries, there is no sense to removing them. keeping the state of RedHat 8 without OpenLDAP and perl-ldap will force suppliers as us to advise customers to stay out of Redhat.

Thank you

Radiator, one of the leading RADIUS implementation and very popular in Academia and Telcos, needs perl-LDAP top be useful (LDAP is the main RADIUS backend). The main attraction of using RHEL or CentOS for Radiator are the prepackaged modules.

Hello,

Similarly to other people who have posted before, I use perl-LDAP and OpenLDAP very often, for my personnal and professional usage.
I am quite amazed that this reference in the LDAP world has been removed - for no reason it seems.
Could you consider integrating it back please?

Since the problem described in this bug report should be
resolved in a recent advisory, it has been closed with a
resolution of ERRATA.

For information on the advisory, and where to find the updated
files, follow the link below.

If the solution does not work for you, open a new bug report.

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHEA-2020:1575