LDAPCOMPARE(1) General Commands Manual LDAPCOMPARE(1) # [NAME](#NAME) ldapcompare - LDAP compare tool # [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS) **ldapcompare** \[**-V**\[**V**]] \[**-d debuglevel]** \[**-n**] \[**-v**] \[**-z**] \[**-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* {**attr:value** | **attr::b64value}** # [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION) *ldapcompare* is a shell-accessible interface to the [**ldap\_compare\_ext**(3)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.5/ldap_compare_ext.3) library call. **ldapcompare** opens a connection to an LDAP server, binds, and performs a compare using specified parameters. The *DN* should be a distinguished name in the directory. *Attr* should be a known attribute. If followed by one colon, the assertion *value* should be provided as a string. If followed by two colons, the base64 encoding of the value is provided. The result code of the compare is provided as the exit code and, unless ran with **-z**, the program prints TRUE, FALSE, or UNDEFINED on standard output. # [OPTIONS](#OPTIONS) [**-V**\[**V**\]](#V) Print version info. If **-VV** is given, only the version information is printed. [**-d debuglevel**](#d) Set the LDAP debugging level to *debuglevel*. **ldapcompare** must be compiled with LDAP\_DEBUG defined for this option to have any effect. [**-n**](#n) Show what would be done, but don't actually perform the compare. Useful for debugging in conjunction with **-v**. [**-v**](#v) Run in verbose mode, with many diagnostics written to standard output. [**-z**](#z) Run in quiet mode, no output is written. You must check the return status. Useful in shell scripts. [**-M**\[**M**\]](#M) Enable manage DSA IT control. **-MM** makes control critical. [**-x**](#x) Use simple authentication instead of SASL. [**-D binddn**](#D) Use the Distinguished Name *binddn* to bind to the LDAP directory. For SASL binds, the server is expected to ignore this value. [**-W**](#W) Prompt for simple authentication. This is used instead of specifying the password on the command line. [**-w passwd**](#w) Use *passwd* as the password for simple authentication. [**-y passwdfile**](#y) Use complete contents of *passwdfile* as the password for simple authentication. Note that *complete* means that any leading or trailing whitespaces, including newlines, will be considered part of the password and, unlike other software, they will not be stripped. As a consequence, passwords stored in files by commands like [**echo**(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.5/echo.1) will not behave as expected, since [**echo**(1)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.5/echo.1) by default appends a trailing newline to the echoed string. The recommended portable way to store a cleartext password in a file for use with this option is to use [**slappasswd**(8)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.5/slappasswd.8) with *{CLEARTEXT}* as hash and the option **-n**. [**-H ldapuri**](#H) 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**}](#P) Specify the LDAP protocol version to use. [**-e** \[**!**\]***ext***\[**=*extparam***\]](#e) [**-E** \[**!**\]***ext***\[**=*extparam***\]](#E) Specify general extensions with **-e** and compare extensions with **-E**. ´**!**´ indicates criticality. General extensions: ``` [!]assert= (an RFC 4515 Filter) !authzid= ("dn:" or "u:") [!]bauthzid (RFC 3829 authzid control) [!]chaining[=[/]] [!]manageDSAit [!]noop ppolicy [!]postread[=] (a comma-separated attribute list) [!]preread[=] (a comma-separated attribute list) [!]relax sessiontracking[=] abandon,cancel,ignore (SIGINT sends abandon/cancel, or ignores response; if critical, doesn't wait for SIGINT. not really controls) ``` Compare extensions: ``` !dontUseCopy ``` [**-o opt\[=optparam\]**](#o) Specify any [**ldap.conf**(5)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.5/ldap.conf.5) option or one of the following: ``` nettimeout= (in seconds, or "none" or "max") ldif_wrap= (in columns, or "no" for no wrapping) ``` [**-O security-properties**](#O) Specify SASL security properties. [**-I**](#I) Enable SASL Interactive mode. Always prompt. Default is to prompt only as needed. [**-Q**](#Q) Enable SASL Quiet mode. Never prompt. [**-N**](#N) Do not use reverse DNS to canonicalize SASL host name. [**-U authcid**](#U) Specify the authentication ID for SASL bind. The form of the ID depends on the actual SASL mechanism used. [**-R realm**](#R) Specify the realm of authentication ID for SASL bind. The form of the realm depends on the actual SASL mechanism used. [**-X authzid**](#X) Specify the requested authorization ID for SASL bind. *authzid* must be one of the following formats: **dn:<distinguished name>** or **u:<username>** [**-Y mech**](#Y) 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**\[**Z**\]](#Z) Issue StartTLS (Transport Layer Security) extended operation. If you use **-ZZ**, the command will require the operation to be successful. # [EXAMPLES](#EXAMPLES) ``` ldapcompare "uid=babs,dc=example,dc=com" sn:Jensen ldapcompare "uid=babs,dc=example,dc=com" sn::SmVuc2Vu ``` are all equivalent. # [LIMITATIONS](#LIMITATIONS) Requiring the value be passed on the command line is limiting and introduces some security concerns. The command should support a mechanism to specify the location (file name or URL) to read the value from. # [SEE ALSO](#SEE_ALSO) [**ldap.conf**(5)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.5/ldap.conf.5), [**ldif**(5)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.5/ldif.5), [**ldap**(3)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.5/ldap.3), [**ldap\_compare\_ext**(3)](/man/enterprise-packages/openldap-2.5/ldap_compare_ext.3) # [AUTHOR](#AUTHOR) The OpenLDAP Project <http://www.openldap.org/> # [ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS](#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. 2025/05/22 OpenLDAP 2.5.20 --- Document: ldapcompare(1) from openldap-2.5 2.5.20-r9 (Chainguard OS) Source: https://git.openldap.org/openldap/openldap.git