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.