SLAPD-SHELL(5)

NAME
slapd-shell - Shell backend to slapd

SYNOPSIS
/usr/local/etc/openldap/slapd.conf

DESCRIPTION
The Shell backend to slapd(8) executes external programs to implement operations, and is designed to make it easy to tie an existing database to the slapd front-end.

This backend is is primarily intended to be used in prototypes.

WARNING
This backend's calling conventions have changed since OpenLDAP 2.0. The abandon operation now gets a new "pid:" line. The "msgid:" lines will be removed in a future version.

CONFIGURATION
These slapd.conf options apply to the SHELL backend database. That is, they must follow a "database shell" line and come before any subsequent "backend" or "database" lines. Other database options are described in the slapd.conf(5) manual page.

These options specify the pathname and arguments of the program to execute in response to the given LDAP operation. Each option is followed by the input lines that the program receives:

abandon <pathname> <argument>...
    ABANDON
    msgid: <message ID of operation to abandon>
    <repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
    pid: <process ID of operation to abandon>

add <pathname> <argument>...
    ADD
    msgid: <message id>
    <repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
    <entry in LDIF format>

bind <pathname> <argument>...
    BIND
    msgid: <message id>
    <repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
    dn: <DN>
    method: <method number>
    credlen: <length of <credentials>>
    cred: <credentials>

compare <pathname> <argument>...
    COMPARE
    msgid: <message id>
    <repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
    dn: <DN>
    <attribute>: <value>

delete <pathname> <argument>...
    DELETE
    msgid: <message id>
    <repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
    dn: <DN>

modify <pathname> <argument>...
    MODIFY
    msgid: <message id>
    <repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
    dn: <DN>
    <repeat {
        <"add"/"delete"/"replace">: <attribute>
        <repeat { <attribute>: <value> }>
        -
    }>

modrdn <pathname> <argument>...
    MODRDN
    msgid: <message id>
    <repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
    dn: <DN>
    newrdn: <new RDN>
    deleteoldrdn: <0 or 1>
    <if new superior is specified: "newSuperior: <DN>">

search <pathname> <argument>...
    SEARCH
    msgid: <message id>
    <repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
    base: <base DN>
    scope: <0-2, see ldap.h>
    deref: <0-3, see ldap.h>
    sizelimit: <size limit>
    timelimit: <time limit>
    filter: <filter>
    attrsonly: <0 or 1>
    attrs: <"all" or space-separated attribute list>

unbind <pathname> <argument>...
    UNBIND
    msgid: <message id>
    <repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
    dn: <bound DN>

Note that you need only supply configuration lines for those commands you want the backend to handle. Operations for which a command is not supplied will be refused with an "unwilling to perform" error.

The commands - except abandon and unbind - should output:
    RESULT
    code: <integer>
    matched: <matched DN>
    info: <text>
where only RESULT is mandatory. The search RESULT should be preceded by the entries in LDIF format, each entry followed by a blank line. Lines starting with `#' or `DEBUG:' are ignored.

EXAMPLE
There is an example search script in the slapd/back-shell/ directory in the OpenLDAP source tree.

LIMITATIONS
The shell backend does not support threaded environments. When using the shell backend, slapd(8) should be built --without-threads.

FILES

/usr/local/etc/openldap/slapd.conf
    default slapd configuration file

SEE ALSO
slapd.conf(5), slapd(8), sh(1).