1LDAPDELETE(1) General Commands Manual LDAPDELETE(1)
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6 ldapdelete - LDAP delete entry tool
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9 ldapdelete [-V[V]] [-d debuglevel] [-n] [-v] [-c] [-f file] [-r]
10 [-z sizelimit] [-M[M]] [-x] [-D binddn] [-W] [-w passwd] [-y passwd‐
11 file] [-H ldapuri] [-h ldaphost] [-p ldapport] [-P {2|3}]
12 [-e [!]ext[=extparam]] [-E [!]ext[=extparam]] [-o opt[=optparam]]
13 [-O security-properties] [-I] [-Q] [-N] [-U authcid] [-R realm]
14 [-X authzid] [-Y mech] [-Z[Z]] [DN [...]]
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17 ldapdelete is a shell-accessible interface to the ldap_delete_ext(3)
18 library call.
19 ldapdelete opens a connection to an LDAP server, binds, and deletes one
21 or more entries. If one or more DN arguments are provided, entries
22 with those Distinguished Names are deleted. Each DN should be provided
23 using the LDAPv3 string representation as defined in RFC 4514. If no
24 DN arguments are provided, a list of DNs is read from standard input
25 (or from file if the -f flag is used).
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28 -V[V] Print version info. If -VV is given, only the version informa‐
29 tion is printed.
30 -d debuglevel
32 Set the LDAP debugging level to debuglevel. ldapdelete must be
33 compiled with LDAP_DEBUG defined for this option to have any
34 effect.
35 -n Show what would be done, but don't actually delete entries.
37 Useful for debugging in conjunction with -v.
38 -v Use verbose mode, with many diagnostics written to standard out‐
40 put.
41 -c Continuous operation mode. Errors are reported, but
43 ldapdelete will continue with deletions. The default is to
44 exit after reporting an error.
45 -f file
47 Read a series of DNs from file, one per line, performing an LDAP
48 delete for each.
49 -r Do a recursive delete. If the DN specified isn't a leaf, its
51 children, and all their children are deleted down the tree. No
52 verification is done, so if you add this switch, ldapdelete will
53 happily delete large portions of your tree. Use with care.
54 -z sizelimit
56 Use sizelimit when searching for children DN to delete, to cir‐
57 cumvent any server-side size limit. Only useful in conjunction
58 with -r.
59 -M[M] Enable manage DSA IT control. -MM makes control critical.
61 -x Use simple authentication instead of SASL.
63 -D binddn
65 Use the Distinguished Name binddn to bind to the LDAP directory.
66 For SASL binds, the server is expected to ignore this value.
67 -W Prompt for simple authentication. This is used instead of spec‐
69 ifying the password on the command line.
70 -w passwd
72 Use passwd as the password for simple authentication.
73 -y passwdfile
75 Use complete contents of passwdfile as the password for simple
76 authentication.
77 -H ldapuri
79 Specify URI(s) referring to the ldap server(s); only the proto‐
80 col/host/port fields are allowed; a list of URI, separated by
81 whitespace or commas is expected.
82 -h ldaphost
84 Specify an alternate host on which the ldap server is running.
85 Deprecated in favor of -H.
86 -p ldapport
88 Specify an alternate TCP port where the ldap server is listen‐
89 ing. Deprecated in favor of -H.
90 -P {2|3}
92 Specify the LDAP protocol version to use.
93 -e [!]ext[=extparam]
95 -E [!]ext[=extparam]
97 Specify general extensions with -e and delete extensions with
99 -E. ´!´ indicates criticality.
100 General extensions:
102 [!]assert=<filter> (an RFC 4515 Filter)
103 !authzid=<authzid> ("dn:<dn>" or "u:<user>")
104 [!]bauthzid (RFC 3829 authzid control)
105 [!]chaining[=<resolve>[/<cont>]]
106 [!]manageDSAit
107 [!]noop
108 ppolicy
109 [!]postread[=<attrs>] (a comma-separated attribute list)
110 [!]preread[=<attrs>] (a comma-separated attribute list)
111 [!]relax
112 sessiontracking
113 abandon,cancel,ignore (SIGINT sends abandon/cancel,
114 or ignores response; if critical, doesn't wait for SIGINT.
115 not really controls)
116 Delete extensions:
118 (none)
119 -o opt[=optparam]
121 Specify general options.
123 General options:
125 nettimeout=<timeout> (in seconds, or "none" or "max")
126 ldif-wrap=<width> (in columns, or "no" for no wrapping)
127 -O security-properties
129 Specify SASL security properties.
130 -I Enable SASL Interactive mode. Always prompt. Default is to
132 prompt only as needed.
133 -Q Enable SASL Quiet mode. Never prompt.
135 -N Do not use reverse DNS to canonicalize SASL host name.
137 -U authcid
139 Specify the authentication ID for SASL bind. The form of the
140 identity depends on the actual SASL mechanism used.
141 -R realm
143 Specify the realm of authentication ID for SASL bind. The form
144 of the realm depends on the actual SASL mechanism used.
145 -X authzid
147 Specify the requested authorization ID for SASL bind. authzid
148 must be one of the following formats: dn:<distinguished name> or
149 u:<username>
150 -Y mech
152 Specify the SASL mechanism to be used for authentication. If
153 it's not specified, the program will choose the best mechanism
154 the server knows.
155 -Z[Z] Issue StartTLS (Transport Layer Security) extended operation. If
157 you use -ZZ, the command will require the operation to be suc‐
158 cessful.
159
161 The following command:
162 ldapdelete "cn=Delete Me,dc=example,dc=com"
164 will attempt to delete the entry named "cn=Delete Me,dc=exam‐
166 ple,dc=com". Of course it would probably be necessary to supply
167 authentication credentials.
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170 Exit status is 0 if no errors occur. Errors result in a non-zero exit
171 status and a diagnostic message being written to standard error.
172
174 ldap.conf(5), ldapadd(1), ldapmodify(1), ldapmodrdn(1), ldapsearch(1),
175 ldap(3), ldap_delete_ext(3)
176
178 The OpenLDAP Project <http://www.openldap.org/>
179
181 OpenLDAP Software is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project
182 <http://www.openldap.org/>. OpenLDAP Software is derived from the Uni‐
183 versity of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release.
184OpenLDAP 2.4.50 2020/04/28 LDAPDELETE(1)