The data managed by OpenLDAP (objects in the directory service and the configuration settings) can be accessed in various ways. Here, the offline and online access options fulfil partially or completely identical functions. For online access, the LDAP protocol is used to access the data; for offline access, the database files are accessed directly. If these options are mixed or the respective method of operation for offline or online access is not understood, numerous errors can occur. As a result, the restored database will be inconsistent for OpenLDAP and thus no longer usable.