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LDAPDELETE(1)               General Commands Manual              LDAPDELETE(1)



NAME
       ldapdelete - LDAP delete entry tool

SYNOPSIS
       ldapdelete [-V[V]] [-d debuglevel] [-n] [-v] [-c] [-f file] [-r]
       [-z sizelimit] [-M[M]] [-x] [-D binddn] [-W] [-w passwd]
       [-y passwdfile] [-H ldapuri] [-h ldaphost] [-p ldapport] [-P {2|3}]
       [-e [!]ext[=extparam]] [-E [!]ext[=extparam]] [-o opt[=optparam]]
       [-O security-properties] [-I] [-Q] [-N] [-U authcid] [-R realm]
       [-X authzid] [-Y mech] [-Z[Z]] [DN [...]]

DESCRIPTION
       ldapdelete is a shell-accessible interface to the ldap_delete_ext(3)
       library call.

       ldapdelete opens a connection to an LDAP server, binds, and deletes one
       or more entries.  If one or more DN arguments are provided, entries
       with those Distinguished Names are deleted.  Each DN should be provided
       using the LDAPv3 string representation as defined in RFC 4514.  If no
       DN arguments are provided, a list of DNs is read from standard input
       (or from file if the -f flag is used).

OPTIONS
       -V[V]  Print version info.  If -VV is given, only the version
              information is printed.

       -d debuglevel
              Set the LDAP debugging level to debuglevel.  ldapdelete must be
              compiled with LDAP_DEBUG defined for this option to have any
              effect.

       -n     Show what would be done, but don't actually delete entries.
              Useful for debugging in conjunction with -v.

       -v     Use verbose mode, with many diagnostics written to standard
              output.

       -c     Continuous operation mode.  Errors  are  reported,  but
              ldapdelete will  continue  with  deletions.   The default is to
              exit after reporting an error.

       -f file
              Read a series of DNs from file, one per line, performing an LDAP
              delete for each.

       -r     Do a recursive delete.  If the DN specified isn't a leaf, its
              children, and all their children are deleted down the tree.  No
              verification is done, so if you add this switch, ldapdelete will
              happily delete large portions of your tree.  Use with care.

       -z sizelimit
              Use sizelimit when searching for children DN to delete, to
              circumvent any server-side size limit.  Only useful in
              conjunction with -r.

       -M[M]  Enable manage DSA IT control.  -MM makes control critical.

       -x     Use simple authentication instead of SASL.

       -D binddn
              Use the Distinguished Name binddn to bind to the LDAP directory.
              For SASL binds, the server is expected to ignore this value.

       -W     Prompt for simple authentication.  This is used instead of
              specifying the password on the command line.

       -w passwd
              Use passwd as the password for simple authentication.

       -y passwdfile
              Use complete contents of passwdfile as the password for simple
              authentication.

       -H ldapuri
              Specify URI(s) referring to the ldap server(s); only the
              protocol/host/port fields are allowed; a list of URI, separated
              by whitespace or commas is expected.

       -h ldaphost
              Specify an alternate host on which the ldap server is running.
              Deprecated in favor of -H.

       -p ldapport
              Specify an alternate TCP port where the ldap server is
              listening.  Deprecated in favor of -H.

       -P {2|3}
              Specify the LDAP protocol version to use.

       -e [!]ext[=extparam]

       -E [!]ext[=extparam]

              Specify general extensions with -e and delete extensions with
              -E.  '!' indicates criticality.

              General extensions:
                [!]assert=<filter>    (an RFC 4515 Filter)
                !authzid=<authzid>    ("dn:<dn>" or "u:<user>")
                [!]bauthzid           (RFC 3829 authzid control)
                [!]chaining[=<resolve>[/<cont>]]
                [!]manageDSAit
                [!]noop
                ppolicy
                [!]postread[=<attrs>] (a comma-separated attribute list)
                [!]preread[=<attrs>]  (a comma-separated attribute list)
                [!]relax
                sessiontracking
                abandon,cancel,ignore (SIGINT sends abandon/cancel,
                or ignores response; if critical, doesn't wait for SIGINT.
                not really controls)

              Delete extensions:
                (none)

       -o opt[=optparam]

              Specify general options.

              General options:
                nettimeout=<timeout>  (in seconds, or "none" or "max")
                ldif-wrap=<width>     (in columns, or "no" for no wrapping)

       -O security-properties
              Specify SASL security properties.

       -I     Enable SASL Interactive mode.  Always prompt.  Default is to
              prompt only as needed.

       -Q     Enable SASL Quiet mode.  Never prompt.

       -N     Do not use reverse DNS to canonicalize SASL host name.

       -U authcid
              Specify the authentication ID for SASL bind. The form of the
              identity depends on the actual SASL mechanism used.

       -R realm
              Specify the realm of authentication ID for SASL bind. The form
              of the realm depends on the actual SASL mechanism used.

       -X authzid
              Specify the requested authorization ID for SASL bind.  authzid
              must be one of the following formats: dn:<distinguished name> or
              u:<username>

       -Y mech
              Specify the SASL mechanism to be used for authentication. If
              it's not specified, the program will choose the best mechanism
              the server knows.

       -Z[Z]  Issue StartTLS (Transport Layer Security) extended operation. If
              you use -ZZ, the command will require the operation to be
              successful.

EXAMPLE
       The following command:

           ldapdelete "cn=Delete Me,dc=example,dc=com"

       will attempt to delete the entry named "cn=Delete
       Me,dc=example,dc=com".  Of course it would probably be necessary to
       supply authentication credentials.

DIAGNOSTICS
       Exit status is 0 if no errors occur.  Errors result in a non-zero exit
       status and a diagnostic message being written to standard error.

SEE ALSO
       ldap.conf(5), ldapadd(1), ldapmodify(1), ldapmodrdn(1), ldapsearch(1),
       ldap(3), ldap_delete_ext(3)

AUTHOR
       The OpenLDAP Project <http://www.openldap.org/>

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
       OpenLDAP Software is developed and maintained by The OpenLDAP Project
       <http://www.openldap.org/>.  OpenLDAP Software is derived from the
       University of Michigan LDAP 3.3 Release.



OpenLDAP 2.4.50                   2020/04/28                     LDAPDELETE(1)