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]  [-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.

       -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[=<username>]
                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 any ldap.conf(5) option or one of the following:
                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.