.TH SLAPD-SHELL 5 "RELEASEDATE" "OpenLDAP LDVERSION"
.\" Copyright 1998-2003 The OpenLDAP Foundation All Rights Reserved.
.\" Copying restrictions apply.  See COPYRIGHT/LICENSE.
.\" $OpenLDAP$
.SH NAME
slapd-shell \- Shell backend to slapd
.SH SYNOPSIS
ETCDIR/slapd.conf
.SH DESCRIPTION
The Shell backend to
.BR slapd (8)
executes external programs to implement operations, and is designed to
make it easy to tie an existing database to the
.B slapd
front-end.
.SH WARNING
.B "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.
.SH CONFIGURATION
These
.B 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
.BR slapd.conf (5)
manual page.
.LP
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:
.TP
.B abandon  <pathname> <argument>...
.nf
ABANDON
msgid: <message ID of operation to abandon>
<repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
pid: <process ID of operation to abandon>
.fi
.TP
.B add      <pathname> <argument>...
.nf
ADD
msgid: <message id>
<repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
<entry in LDIF format>
.fi
.TP
.B bind     <pathname> <argument>...
.nf
BIND
msgid: <message id>
<repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
dn: <DN>
method: <method number>
credlen: <length of <credentials>>
cred: <credentials>
.fi
.TP
.B compare  <pathname> <argument>...
.nf
COMPARE
msgid: <message id>
<repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
dn: <DN>
<attribute>: <value>
.fi
.TP
.B delete   <pathname> <argument>...
.nf
DELETE
msgid: <message id>
<repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
dn: <DN>
.fi
.TP
.B modify   <pathname> <argument>...
.nf
MODIFY
msgid: <message id>
<repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
dn: <DN>
<repeat {
    <"add"/"delete"/"replace">: <attribute>
    <repeat { <attribute>: <value> }>
    -
}>
.fi
.TP
.B modrdn   <pathname> <argument>...
.nf
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>">
.fi
.TP
.B search   <pathname> <argument>...
.nf
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>
.fi
.TP
.B unbind   <pathname> <argument>...
.nf
UNBIND
msgid: <message id>
<repeat { "suffix:" <database suffix DN> }>
dn: <bound DN>
.fi
.LP
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.
.LP
The commands - except \fBabandon\fP and \fBunbind\fP - should output:
.RS
.nf
RESULT
code: <integer>
matched: <matched DN>
info: <text>
.fi
.RE
where only RESULT is mandatory.
The \fBsearch\fP RESULT should be preceded by the entries in LDIF
format, each entry followed by a blank line.
Lines starting with `#' or `DEBUG:' are ignored.
.SH EXAMPLE
There is an example search script in the slapd/back-shell/ directory
in the OpenLDAP source tree.
.SH LIMITATIONS
The shell backend does not support threaded environments.
When using the shell backend, 
.BR slapd (8)
should be built
.IR --without-thread .
.SH FILES
.TP
ETCDIR/slapd.conf
default slapd configuration file
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR slapd.conf (5),
.BR slapd (8),
.BR sh (1).