After you configure GSSAPI, it is added along with the other SASL methods to the supportedSASLMechanisms attribute in rootDSE. RootDSE (DSA [Directory System Agent] Specific Entry) is an entry that is located at the root of the Directory Information Tree (DIT). For more information, refer to the Novell eDirectory 8.8 Administration Guide.
The LDAP server queries SASL for the installed mechanisms when it gets its configuration and automatically supports whatever is installed. The LDAP server also reports the current supported SASL mechanisms in its rootDSE by using the supportedSASLMechanisms attribute.
Therefore, when you configure GSSAPI, it becomes the default mechanism. However, to specifically do an LDAP operation over the SASL GSSAPI mechanism, you can mention GSSAPI at the command line.
For example, to do a search in OpenLDAP using the GSSAPI mechanism, you would enter the following:
ldapsearch -Y GSSAPI -h 164.99.146.48 -b "" -s base