HP-UX Directory Server Administrator Guide HP-UX Directory Server Version 8.1 (5900-3098, May 2013)

The set of attributes returned here can be limited by specifying the attribute names at the end of
the search line. For example, the following ldapsearch command performs both searches but
returns only the DN and the givenname and sn attributes of each entry:
ldapsearch -h mozilla -f searchdb sn givenname
B.2.4.8 Specifying DNs that contain commas in search filters
When a DN within a search filter contains a comma as part of its value, the comma must be
escaped with a backslash (\). For example, to find everyone in the example.com Bolivia,
S.A. subtree, use the following command:
ldapsearch -h mozilla -s base -b "l=Bolivia\,S.A.,dc=example,dc=com" "objectclass=*"
B.2.4.9 Using client authentication when searching
This example shows user bjensen searching the directory using client authentication:
ldapsearch -h mozilla -p 636 -b "dc=example,dc=com" -N "bjensenscertname"
-Z -W certdbpassword -P /home/bjensen/certdb/cert8.db "givenname=Richard"
B.3 LDAP search filters
Search filters select the entries to be returned for a search operation. They are most commonly
used with the ldapsearch command line utility. When using ldapsearch, there can be multiple
search filters in a file, with each filter on a separate line in the file, or a search filter can be specified
directly on the command line.
For example, the following filter specifies a search for the common name Babs Jensen:
cn=babs jensen
This search filter returns all entries that contain the common name Babs Jensen. Searches for
common name values are not case sensitive.
When the common name attribute has values associated with a language tag, all the values are
returned. Thus, the following two attribute values both match this filter:
cn: babs jensen
cn;lang-fr: babs jensen
For a list of all the supported language tags, see Table 85 (page 574).
The basic syntax of a search filter is:
attribute operator value
For example:
buildingname>=alpha
In this example, buildingname is the attribute, >= is the operator, and alpha is the value. Filters
can also be defined that use different attributes combined together with Boolean operators.
Search filters are described in detail in the following sections:
• “Using attributes in search filters” (page 560)
• “Using operators in search filters” (page 561)
• “Using compound search filters” (page 561)
• “Search filter examples” (page 562)
B.3.1 Using attributes in search filters
When searching for an entry, the attributes associated with that type of entry can be specified,
such as using the cn attribute to search for people with a specific common name.
Examples of attributes that people entries include are the following:
• cn for the person's common name.
• sn for the person's surname, last name, or family name.
• telephoneNumber for the person's telephone number.
560 Finding Directory Entries