slapd: way of configuration

Hello list,

I want to know what the recommended way is to configure slapd. I'm using openldap package 2.4.28 under ubuntu precise. As default there is no /etc/ldap/slapd.conf and the whole configuration is located under /etc/ldap/slapd.d/ in ldif format.

1. Must I use ldapmodify to change slapd configuration in cn=config backend or can I just change configuration directives directly in the appropriate ldif file under /etc/ldap/slapd.d/cn=config/* ? If the latter, have I to restart slapd after configuration changes?

2. Will the old school way to configure slapd via slapd.conf be deprecated and not available at all in future?

Thanks and kind regards, Tobias Hachmer