LDAP\_CONTROLS(3) Library Functions Manual LDAP\_CONTROLS(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

ldap\_control\_create, ldap\_control\_find, ldap\_control\_dup, ldap\_controls\_dup, ldap\_control\_free, ldap\_controls\_free - LDAP control manipulation routines

# [LIBRARY](#LIBRARY)

OpenLDAP LDAP (libldap, -lldap)

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**#include <ldap.h>**

**int ldap\_control\_create(const char \*oid, int iscritical, struct berval \*value, int dupval, LDAPControl \*\*ctrlp);**

**LDAPControl \*ldap\_control\_find( const char \*oid, LDAPControl \*\*ctrls, LDAPControl \*\*\*nextctrlp);**

**LDAPControl \*ldap\_control\_dup(LDAPControl \*ctrl);**

**LDAPControl \*\*ldap\_controls\_dup(LDAPControl \*\*ctrls);**

**void ldap\_control\_free(LDAPControl \*ctrl);**

**void ldap\_controls\_free(LDAPControl \*\*ctrls);**

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

These routines are used to manipulate structures used for LDAP controls.

**ldap\_control\_create**() creates a control with the specified *OID* using the contents of the *value* parameter for the control value, if any. The content of *value* is duplicated if *dupval* is non-zero. The *iscritical* parameter must be non-zero for a critical control. The created control is returned in the *ctrlp* parameter. The routine returns **LDAP\_SUCCESS** on success or some other error code on failure. The content of *value*, for supported control types, can be prepared using helpers provided by this implementation of libldap, usually in the form **ldap\_create\_<control name>\_control\_value**(). Otherwise, it can be BER-encoded using the functionalities of liblber.

**ldap\_control\_find**() searches the NULL-terminated *ctrls* array for a control whose OID matches the *oid* parameter. The routine returns a pointer to the control if found, NULL otherwise. If the parameter *nextctrlp* is not NULL, on return it will point to the next control in the array, and can be passed to the **ldap\_control\_find**() routine for subsequent calls, to find further occurrences of the same control type. The use of this function is discouraged; the recommended way of handling controls in responses consists in going through the array of controls, dealing with each of them in the returned order, since it could matter.

**ldap\_control\_dup**() duplicates an individual control structure, and **ldap\_controls\_dup**() duplicates a NULL-terminated array of controls.

**ldap\_control\_free**() frees an individual control structure, and **ldap\_controls\_free**() frees a NULL-terminated array of controls.

# [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO)

[**ldap**(3)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.6/ldap.3), [**ldap\_error**(3)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.6/ldap_error.3)

# [ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS](#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.

2026/10/21 OpenLDAP 2.6.16

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Document: ldap_control_create(3) from openldap-2.6 2.6.16-r0 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://git.openldap.org/openldap/openldap.git