Bug#1144741: slapd: /var/lib/ldap is not created when slapd/no_configuration is set

[Ryan Tandy]

Hello, thanks for the report.

On Tue, Aug 18, 2026 at 03:13:24PM +0200, Daniel Teichmann wrote:
>When slapd is installed with “slapd/no_configuration=true” (manual configuration, as done e.g. by the Debian Edu installer for the main server Tjener), /var/lib/ldap is no longer created since openldap 2.6.13+dfsg-1, breaking slapadd, slapd itself and the Debian Edu tjener LDAP bootstrap.

I apologize for the unexpected and undocumented change.

I'm actually wondering if the change might be an improvement. When 
slapd/no_configuration is requested, we don't know where the database 
will eventually be stored, or whether a file-backed one will even be 
used. I don't see a reason to assume the admin will use, or wants, 
/var/lib/ldap.

To put it differently, if someone had opened a bug pointing out that 
slapd/no_configuration still created an unnecessary /var/lib/ldap 
directory, I might have acted on it.

Would it be a challenge for Debian Edu to adapt and handle creating its 
desired database directory itself?

Would you mind pointing me to the relevant code that installs and 
configures slapd for Debian Edu? I'm interested in why 
slapd/no_configuration is the best solution for its needs.

thanks,
Ryan