text based tool for ldap queries

Question

I need a way to do LDAP queries through a text based interface. I use jXplorer on my own machine but that is a graphical client. Btw, I'm running Ubuntu server 14.04.

The background:

A server in my environment have trouble synchronizing a user database for a system it is running. The hostname is correct, it resolves to the correct IP, I can do a connection test but when I try to do a user query it fails with an error "no route to host". So I need a way to test this query command line.

Solution

The command you're looking for is called ldapsearch. It's a bit of a pain to use, though. Here are some usage examples:

• To get a full listing of all entries in the directory (depending on whether your server and/or network can handle this query):

ldapsearch -h ldapserver.example.cm -b "dc=example,dc=com" -s sub "objectclass=*"

• To search for a particular user:

ldapsearch -h ldapserver.example.com -b "dc=example,dc=com" "cn=babs jensen"

You can find lots of examples if you do a web search for "ldapsearch examples"; there'll be something you can adapt to your own use.