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] [-P {2|3}] [-e [!]ext[=extparam]]
12 [-E [!]ext[=extparam]] [-o opt[=optparam]] [-O security-properties]
13 [-I] [-Q] [-N] [-U authcid] [-R realm] [-X authzid] [-Y mech] [-Z[Z]]
14 [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 ef‐
34 fect.
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 -P {2|3}
84 Specify the LDAP protocol version to use.
85 -e [!]ext[=extparam]
87 -E [!]ext[=extparam]
89 Specify general extensions with -e and delete extensions with
91 -E. ´!´ indicates criticality.
92 General extensions:
94 [!]assert=<filter> (an RFC 4515 Filter)
95 !authzid=<authzid> ("dn:<dn>" or "u:<user>")
96 [!]bauthzid (RFC 3829 authzid control)
97 [!]chaining[=<resolve>[/<cont>]]
98 [!]manageDSAit
99 [!]noop
100 ppolicy
101 [!]postread[=<attrs>] (a comma-separated attribute list)
102 [!]preread[=<attrs>] (a comma-separated attribute list)
103 [!]relax
104 sessiontracking[=<username>]
105 abandon,cancel,ignore (SIGINT sends abandon/cancel,
106 or ignores response; if critical, doesn't wait for SIGINT.
107 not really controls)
108 Delete extensions:
110 (none)
111 -o opt[=optparam]
113 Specify any ldap.conf(5) option or one of the following:
115 nettimeout=<timeout> (in seconds, or "none" or "max")
116 ldif_wrap=<width> (in columns, or "no" for no wrapping)
117 -O security-properties
120 Specify SASL security properties.
121 -I Enable SASL Interactive mode. Always prompt. Default is to
123 prompt only as needed.
124 -Q Enable SASL Quiet mode. Never prompt.
126 -N Do not use reverse DNS to canonicalize SASL host name.
128 -U authcid
130 Specify the authentication ID for SASL bind. The form of the
131 identity depends on the actual SASL mechanism used.
132 -R realm
134 Specify the realm of authentication ID for SASL bind. The form
135 of the realm depends on the actual SASL mechanism used.
136 -X authzid
138 Specify the requested authorization ID for SASL bind. authzid
139 must be one of the following formats: dn:<distinguished name> or
140 u:<username>
141 -Y mech
143 Specify the SASL mechanism to be used for authentication. If
144 it's not specified, the program will choose the best mechanism
145 the server knows.
146 -Z[Z] Issue StartTLS (Transport Layer Security) extended operation. If
148 you use -ZZ, the command will require the operation to be suc‐
149 cessful.
150
152 The following command:
153 ldapdelete "cn=Delete Me,dc=example,dc=com"
155 will attempt to delete the entry named "cn=Delete Me,dc=exam‐
157 ple,dc=com". Of course it would probably be necessary to supply au‐
158 thentication credentials.
159
161 Exit status is 0 if no errors occur. Errors result in a non-zero exit
162 status and a diagnostic message being written to standard error.
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165 ldap.conf(5), ldapadd(1), ldapmodify(1), ldapmodrdn(1), ldapsearch(1),
166 ldap(3), ldap_delete_ext(3)
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169 The OpenLDAP Project <http://www.openldap.org/>
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172 OpenLDAP Software is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project
173 <http://www.openldap.org/>. OpenLDAP Software is derived from the Uni‐
174 versity of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release.
175OpenLDAP 2.6.6 2023/07/31 LDAPDELETE(1)