SHELLDAP(1)

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

paginate
    Integer. If enabled, shelldap will attempt to use server side pagination to build listings. Note: if you're using this to avoid sizelimit errors, you'll likely need server configuration to raise the limits for paginated results.

            --paginate 100

promptpass
    Force password prompting. Useful to temporarily override cached credentials.

sasl
    A space separated list of SASL mechanisms. Requires the Authen::SASL module.

        --sasl "PLAIN CRAM-MD5 GSSAPI"

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

less
    Like cat, but uses the configured pager to display output.

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. The -v flag prints the entries out for review before delete.

        delete uid=mahlon
        delete uid=ma*
        rm -v uid=mahlon,ou=People,dc=example,o=company l=office

    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 hierarchy (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.

    aliased to: id

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>