Provided by: shelldap_1.0.2-1_all 
NAME
Shelldap - A program for interacting with an LDAP server via a shell-like interface
DESCRIPTION
Shelldap /LDAP::Shell is a program for interacting with an LDAP server via a shell-like
interface.
This is not meant to be an exhaustive LDAP editing and browsing interface, but rather an
intuitive shell for performing basic LDAP tasks quickly and with minimal effort.
SYNPOSIS
shelldap --server example.net [--help]
FEATURES
- Upon successful authenticated binding, credential information is
auto-cached to ~/.shelldap.rc -- future loads require no command line
flags.
- Custom 'description maps' for entry listings. (See the 'list' command.)
- History and autocomplete via readline, if installed.
- Automatic reconnection attempts if the connection is lost with the
LDAP server.
- Basic schema introspection for quick reference.
- It feels like a semi-crippled shell, making LDAP browsing and editing
at least halfway pleasurable.
OPTIONS
All command line options follow getopts long conventions.
shelldap --server example.net --basedn dc=your,o=company
You may also optionally create a ~/.shelldap.rc file with command line defaults. This
file should be valid YAML. (This file is generated automatically on a successful bind
auth.)
Example:
server: ldap.example.net
binddn: cn=Manager,dc=your,o=company
bindpass: xxxxxxxxx
basedn: dc=your,o=company
tls: yes
tls_cacert: /etc/ssl/certs/cacert.pem
tls_cert: ~/.ssl/client.cert.pem
tls_key: ~/.ssl/private/client.key.pem
configfile
Optional. Use an alternate configuration file, instead of the default ~/.shelldap.rc.
--configfile /tmp/alternate-config.yml
-f /tmp/alternate-config.yml
This config file overrides values found in the default config, so you can easily have
separate config files for connecting to your cn=monitor or cn=log overlays (for
example.)
server
Required. The LDAP server to connect to. This can be a hostname, IP address, or a
URI.
--server ldaps://ldap.example.net
-H ldaps://ldap.example.net
binddn
The full dn of a user to authenticate as. If not specified, defaults to an anonymous
bind. You will be prompted for a password.
--binddn cn=Manager,dc=your,o=company
-D cn=Manager,dc=your,o=company
basedn
The directory 'root' of your LDAP server. If omitted, shelldap will try and ask the
server for a sane default.
--basedn dc=your,o=company
-b dc=your,o=company
promptpass
Force password prompting. Useful to temporarily override cached credentials.
tls Enables TLS over what would normally be an insecure connection. Requires server side
support.
tls_cacert
Specify CA Certificate to trust.
--tls_cacert /etc/ssl/certs/cacert.pem
tls_cert
The TLS client certificate.
--tls_cert ~/.ssl/client.cert.pem
tls_key
The TLS client key. Not specifying a key will connect via TLS without key
verification.
--tls_key ~/.ssl/private/client.key.pem
cacheage
Set the time to cache directory lookups in seconds.
By default, directory lookups are cached for 300 seconds, to speed autocomplete up
when changing between different basedns.
Modifications to the directory automatically reset the cache. Directory listings are
not cached. (This is just used for autocomplete.) Set it to 0 to disable caching
completely.
timeout
Set the maximum time an LDAP operation can take before it is cancelled.
debug
Print extra operational info out, and backtrace on fatal error.
version
Display the version number.
SHELL COMMANDS
cat
Display an LDIF dump of an entry. Globbing is supported. Specify either the full dn,
or an rdn. For most commands, rdns are local to the current search base. ('cwd', as
translated to shell speak.) You may additionally add a list of attributes to display.
Use '+' for server side attributes.
cat uid=mahlon
cat ou=*
cat uid=mahlon,ou=People,dc=example,o=company
cat uid=mahlon + userPassword
cd
Change directory. Translated to LDAP, this changes the current basedn. All commands
after a 'cd' operate within the new basedn.
cd change to 'home' basedn
cd ~ change to the binddn, or basedn if anonymously bound
cd - change to previous node
cd ou=People change to explicit path below current node
cd .. change to parent node
cd ../../ou=Groups change to node ou=Groups, which is a sibling
to the current node's grandparent
Since LDAP doesn't actually limit what can be a container object, you can actually cd
into any entry. Many commands then work on '.', meaning "wherever I currently am."
cd uid=mahlon
cat .
clear
Clear the screen.
copy
Copy an entry to a different dn path. All copies are relative to the current basedn,
unless a full dn is specified. All attributes are copied, then an LDAP moddn() is
performed.
copy uid=mahlon uid=bob
copy uid=mahlon ou=Others,dc=example,o=company
copy uid=mahlon,ou=People,dc=example,o=company uid=mahlon,ou=Others,dc=example,o=company
aliased to: cp
create
Create an entry from scratch. Arguments are space separated objectClass names.
Possible objectClasses are derived automatically from the server, and will tab-
complete.
After the classes are specified, an editor will launch. Required attributes are
listed first, then optional attributes. Optionals are commented out. After the
editor exits, the resulting LDIF is validated and added to the LDAP directory.
create top person organizationalPerson inetOrgPerson posixAccount
aliased to: touch
delete
Remove an entry from the directory. Globbing is supported. All deletes are sanity-
prompted.
delete uid=mahlon
delete uid=ma*
aliased to: rm
edit
Edit an entry in an external editor. After the editor exits, the resulting LDIF is
sanity checked, and changes are written to the LDAP directory.
edit uid=mahlon
aliased to: vi
env
Show values for various runtime variables.
grep
Search for arbitrary LDAP filters, and return matching dn results. The search string
must be a valid LDAP filter.
grep uid=mahlon
grep uid=mahlon ou=People
grep -r (&(uid=mahlon)(objectClass=*))
aliased to: search
inspect
View schema information about a given entry, or a list of arbitrary objectClasses,
along with the most common flags for the objectClass attributes.
inspect uid=mahlon
inspect posixAccount organizationalUnit
inspect _schema
The output is a list of found objectClasses, their schema heirarchy (up to 'top'),
whether or not they are a structural class, and then a merged list of all valid
attributes for the given objectClasses. Attributes are marked as either required or
optional, and whether they allow multiple values or not.
If you ask for the special "_schema" object, the raw server schema is dumped to
screen.
list
List entries for the current basedn. Globbing is supported.
aliased to: ls
ls -l
ls -lR uid=mahlon
list uid=m*
In 'long' mode, descriptions are listed as well, if they exist. There are some
default 'long listing' mappings for common objectClass types. You can additionally
specify your own mappings in your .shelldap.rc, like so:
...
descmaps:
objectClass: attributename
posixAccount: gecos
posixGroup: gidNumber
ipHost: ipHostNumber
mkdir
Creates a new 'organizationalUnit' entry.
mkdir containername
mkdir ou=whatever
move
Move an entry to a different dn path. Usage is identical to copy.
aliased to: mv
passwd
If supported server side, change the password for a specified entry. The entry must
have a 'userPassword' attribute.
passwd uid=mahlon
pwd
Print the 'working directory' - aka, the current ldap basedn.
setenv
Modify various runtime variables normally set from the command line.
setenv debug 1
export debug=1
whoami
Show current auth credentials. Unless you specified a binddn, this will just show an
anonymous bind.
TODO
Referral support. Currently, if you try to write to a replicant slave, you'll just get a
referral. It would be nice if shelldap automatically tried to follow it.
For now, it only makes sense to connect to a master if you plan on doing any writes.
BUGS / LIMITATIONS
There is no support for editing binary data. If you need to edit base64 stuff, just feed
it to the regular ldapmodify/ldapadd/etc tools.
AUTHOR
Mahlon E. Smith <mahlon@martini.nu>