def managed(name, entries, connect_spec=None):
    '''Ensure the existence (or not) of LDAP entries and their attributes

    Example:

    .. code-block:: yaml

        ldapi:///:
          ldap.managed:
            - connect_spec:
                bind:
                  method: sasl

            - entries:

              # make sure the entry doesn't exist
              - cn=foo,ou=users,dc=example,dc=com:
                - delete_others: True

              # make sure the entry exists with only the specified
              # attribute values
              - cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com:
                - delete_others: True
                - replace:
                    cn:
                      - admin
                    description:
                      - LDAP administrator
                    objectClass:
                      - simpleSecurityObject
                      - organizationalRole
                    userPassword:
                      - {{pillar.ldap_admin_password}}

              # make sure the entry exists, its olcRootDN attribute
              # has only the specified value, the olcRootDN attribute
              # doesn't exist, and all other attributes are ignored
              - 'olcDatabase={1}hdb,cn=config':
                - replace:
                    olcRootDN:
                      - cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com
                    # the admin entry has its own password attribute
                    olcRootPW: []

              # note the use of 'default'.  also note how you don't
              # have to use list syntax if there is only one attribute
              # value
              - cn=foo,ou=users,dc=example,dc=com:
                - delete_others: True
                - default:
                    userPassword: changeme
                    shadowLastChange: 0
                    # keep sshPublicKey if present, but don't create
                    # the attribute if it is missing
                    sshPublicKey: []
                - replace:
                    cn: foo
                    uid: foo
                    uidNumber: 1000
                    gidNumber: 1000
                    gecos: Foo Bar
                    givenName: Foo
                    sn: Bar
                    homeDirectory: /home/foo
                    loginShell: /bin/bash
                    objectClass:
                      - inetOrgPerson
                      - posixAccount
                      - top
                      - ldapPublicKey
                      - shadowAccount

    :param name:
        The URL of the LDAP server.  This is ignored if
        ``connect_spec`` is either a connection object or a dict with
        a ``'url'`` entry.

    :param entries:
        A description of the desired state of zero or more LDAP
        entries.

        ``entries`` is an iterable of dicts.  Each of these dict's
        keys are the distinguished names (DNs) of LDAP entries to
        manage.  Each of these dicts is processed in order.  A later
        dict can reference an LDAP entry that was already mentioned in
        an earlier dict, which makes it possible for later dicts to
        enhance or alter the desired state of an LDAP entry.

        The DNs are mapped to a description of the LDAP entry's
        desired state.  These LDAP entry descriptions are themselves
        iterables of dicts.  Each dict in the iterable is processed in
        order.  They contain directives controlling the entry's state.
        The key names the directive type and the value is state
        information for the directive.  The specific structure of the
        state information depends on the directive type.

        The structure of ``entries`` looks like this::

            [{dn1: [{directive1: directive1_state,
                     directive2: directive2_state},
                    {directive3: directive3_state}],
              dn2: [{directive4: directive4_state,
                     directive5: directive5_state}]},
             {dn3: [{directive6: directive6_state}]}]

        These are the directives:

        * ``'delete_others'``
            Boolean indicating whether to delete attributes not
            mentioned in this dict or any of the other directive
            dicts for this DN.  Defaults to ``False``.

            If you don't want to delete an attribute if present, but
            you also don't want to add it if it is missing or modify
            it if it is present, you can use either the ``'default'``
            directive or the ``'add'`` directive with an empty value
            list.

        * ``'default'``
            A dict mapping an attribute name to an iterable of default
            values for that attribute.  If the attribute already
            exists, it is left alone.  If not, it is created using the
            given list of values.

            An empty value list is useful when you don't want to
            create an attribute if it is missing but you do want to
            preserve it if the ``'delete_others'`` key is ``True``.

        * ``'add'``
            Attribute values to add to the entry.  This is a dict
            mapping an attribute name to an iterable of values to add.

            An empty value list is useful when you don't want to
            create an attribute if it is missing but you do want to
            preserve it if the ``'delete_others'`` key is ``True``.

        * ``'delete'``
            Attribute values to remove from the entry.  This is a dict
            mapping an attribute name to an iterable of values to
            delete from the attribute.  If the iterable is empty, all
            of the attribute's values are deleted.

        * ``'replace'``
            Attributes to replace.  This is a dict mapping an
            attribute name to an iterable of values.  Any existing
            values for the attribute are deleted, then the given
            values are added.  The iterable may be empty.

        In the above directives, the iterables of attribute values may
        instead be ``None``, in which case an empty list is used, or a
        scalar such as a string or number, in which case a new list
        containing the scalar is used.

        Note that if all attribute values are removed from an entry,
        the entire entry is deleted.

    :param connect_spec:
        See the description of the ``connect_spec`` parameter of the
        :py:func:`ldap3.connect <salt.modules.ldap3.connect>` function
        in the :py:mod:`ldap3 <salt.modules.ldap3>` execution module.
        If this is a dict and the ``'url'`` entry is not specified,
        the ``'url'`` entry is set to the value of the ``name``
        parameter.

    :returns:
        A dict with the following keys:

        * ``'name'``
            This is the same object passed to the ``name`` parameter.

        * ``'changes'``
            This is a dict describing the changes made (or, in test
            mode, the changes that would have been attempted).  If no
            changes were made (or no changes would have been
            attempted), then this dict is empty.  Only successful
            changes are included.

            Each key is a DN of an entry that was changed (or would
            have been changed).  Entries that were not changed (or
            would not have been changed) are not included.  The value
            is a dict with two keys:

            * ``'old'``
                The state of the entry before modification.  If the
                entry did not previously exist, this key maps to
                ``None``.  Otherwise, the value is a dict mapping each
                of the old entry's attributes to a list of its values
                before any modifications were made.  Unchanged
                attributes are excluded from this dict.

            * ``'new'``
                The state of the entry after modification.  If the
                entry was deleted, this key maps to ``None``.
                Otherwise, the value is a dict mapping each of the
                entry's attributes to a list of its values after the
                modifications were made.  Unchanged attributes are
                excluded from this dict.

            Example ``'changes'`` dict where a new entry was created
            with a single attribute containing two values::

                {'dn1': {'old': None,
                         'new': {'attr1': ['val1', 'val2']}}}

            Example ``'changes'`` dict where a new attribute was added
            to an existing entry::

                {'dn1': {'old': {},
                         'new': {'attr2': ['val3']}}}

        * ``'result'``
            One of the following values:

            * ``True`` if no changes were necessary or if all changes
              were applied successfully.
            * ``False`` if at least one change was unable to be applied.
            * ``None`` if changes would be applied but it is in test
              mode.
    '''
    if connect_spec is None:
        connect_spec = {}
    try:
        connect_spec.setdefault('url', name)
    except AttributeError:
        # already a connection object
        pass

    connect = __salt__['ldap3.connect']

    # hack to get at the ldap3 module to access the ldap3.LDAPError
    # exception class.  https://github.com/saltstack/salt/issues/27578
    ldap3 = inspect.getmodule(connect)

    with connect(connect_spec) as l:

        old, new = _process_entries(l, entries)

        # collect all of the affected entries (only the key is
        # important in this dict; would have used an OrderedSet if
        # there was one)
        dn_set = OrderedDict()
        dn_set.update(old)
        dn_set.update(new)

        # do some cleanup
        dn_to_delete = set()
        for dn in dn_set:
            o = old.get(dn, {})
            n = new.get(dn, {})
            for x in o, n:
                to_delete = set()
                for attr, vals in six.iteritems(x):
                    if not vals:
                        # clean out empty attribute lists
                        to_delete.add(attr)
                for attr in to_delete:
                    del x[attr]
            if o == n:
                # clean out unchanged entries
                dn_to_delete.add(dn)
        for dn in dn_to_delete:
            for x in old, new:
                x.pop(dn, None)
            del dn_set[dn]

        ret = {
            'name': name,
            'changes': {},
            'result': None,
            'comment': '',
        }

        if old == new:
            ret['comment'] = 'LDAP entries already set'
            ret['result'] = True
            return ret

        if __opts__['test']:
            ret['comment'] = 'Would change LDAP entries'
            changed_old = old
            changed_new = new
            success_dn_set = dn_set
        else:
            # execute the changes
            changed_old = OrderedDict()
            changed_new = OrderedDict()
            # assume success; these will be changed on error
            ret['result'] = True
            ret['comment'] = 'Successfully updated LDAP entries'
            errs = []
            success_dn_set = OrderedDict()
            for dn in dn_set:
                o = old.get(dn, {})
                n = new.get(dn, {})

                try:
                    # perform the operation
                    if o:
                        if n:
                            op = 'modify'
                            assert o != n
                            __salt__['ldap3.change'](l, dn, o, n)
                        else:
                            op = 'delete'
                            __salt__['ldap3.delete'](l, dn)
                    else:
                        op = 'add'
                        assert n
                        __salt__['ldap3.add'](l, dn, n)

                    # update these after the op in case an exception
                    # is raised
                    changed_old[dn] = o
                    changed_new[dn] = n
                    success_dn_set[dn] = True
                except ldap3.LDAPError as err:
                    log.exception('failed to %s entry %s (%s)', op, dn, err)
                    errs.append((op, dn, err))
                    continue

            if errs:
                ret['result'] = False
                ret['comment'] = 'failed to ' \
                                 + ', '.join((op + ' entry ' + dn + '(' + six.text_type(err) + ')'
                                              for op, dn, err in errs))

    # set ret['changes'].  filter out any unchanged attributes, and
    # convert the value sets to lists before returning them to the
    # user (sorted for easier comparisons)
    for dn in success_dn_set:
        o = changed_old.get(dn, {})
        n = changed_new.get(dn, {})
        changes = {}
        ret['changes'][dn] = changes
        for x, xn in ((o, 'old'), (n, 'new')):
            if not x:
                changes[xn] = None
                continue
            changes[xn] = dict(((attr, sorted(vals))
                                for attr, vals in six.iteritems(x)
                                if o.get(attr, ()) != n.get(attr, ())))

    return ret