7.6. Deleting Resources

To delete a resource, perform an HTTP DELETE on the resource URL. On success, the operation returns the resource you deleted. 

$ curl
 --request DELETE
 --user kvaughan:bribery
 http://opendj.example.com:8080/users/newuser?_prettyPrint=true
{
  "_rev" : "000000003a5f3cb2",
  "schemas" : [ "urn:scim:schemas:core:1.0" ],
  "contactInformation" : {
    "telephoneNumber" : "+1 408 555 1212",
    "emailAddress" : "newuser@example.com"
  },
  "_id" : "newuser",
  "name" : {
    "familyName" : "New",
    "givenName" : "User"
  },
  "userName" : "newuser@example.com",
  "displayName" : "New User",
  "meta" : {
    "created" : "2013-04-11T09:58:27Z"
  },
  "manager" : [ {
    "_id" : "kvaughan",
    "displayName" : "Kirsten Vaughan"
  } ]
}

To delete a resource only if the resource matches a particular version, use an If-Match: revision header. 

$ curl
 --user kvaughan:bribery
 http://opendj.example.com:8080/users/newuser?_fields=_rev
{"_rev":"000000006d8d7358"}
$ curl
 --request DELETE
 --user kvaughan:bribery
 --header "If-Match: 000000006d8d7358"
 http://opendj.example.com:8080/users/newuser?_prettyPrint=true
{
  "_rev" : "00000000383f3cae",
  "schemas" : [ "urn:scim:schemas:core:1.0" ],
  "contactInformation" : {
    "telephoneNumber" : "+1 408 555 1212",
    "emailAddress" : "newuser@example.com"
  },
  "_id" : "newuser",
  "name" : {
    "familyName" : "New",
    "givenName" : "User"
  },
  "userName" : "newuser@example.com",
  "displayName" : "New User",
  "meta" : {
    "created" : "2013-04-11T12:48:48Z"
  },
  "manager" : [ {
    "_id" : "kvaughan",
    "displayName" : "Kirsten Vaughan"
  } ]
}

To delete a resource and all its children, you must change the configuration, get the REST LDAP gateway or HTTP Connection Handler to reload its configuration, and perform the operation as a user who has the access rights required. The following steps show one way to do this with the HTTP Connection Handler.

In this case the LDAP view of the user to delete shows two child entries. 

$ ldapsearch --port 1389 --baseDN uid=nbohr,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com "(&)" dn
dn: uid=nbohr,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com

dn: cn=quantum dot,uid=nbohr,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com

dn: cn=qubit generator,uid=nbohr,ou=People,dc=example,dc=com

  1. In the configuration file for the HTTP Connection Handler, by default /path/to/opendj/config/http-config.json, set "useSubtreeDelete" : true.

    [Note] Note

    After this change, only users who have access to request a tree delete can delete resources.

  2. Force the HTTP Connection Handler to reread its configuration.

    $ dsconfig
 set-connection-handler-prop
 --hostname opendj.example.com
 --port 4444
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager"
 --bindPassword password
 --handler-name "HTTP Connection Handler"
 --set enabled:false
 --no-prompt
$ dsconfig
 set-connection-handler-prop
 --hostname opendj.example.com
 --port 4444
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager"
 --bindPassword password
 --handler-name "HTTP Connection Handler"
 --set enabled:true
 --no-prompt

  3. Delete as a user who has rights to perform a subtree delete on the resource. 

    $ curl
 --request DELETE
 --user kvaughan:bribery
 http://opendj.example.com:8080/users/nbohr?_prettyPrint=true
{
  "_rev" : "000000003d912113",
  "schemas" : [ "urn:scim:schemas:core:1.0" ],
  "contactInformation" : {
    "telephoneNumber" : "+1 408 555 1212",
    "emailAddress" : "nbohr@example.com"
  },
  "_id" : "nbohr",
  "name" : {
    "familyName" : "Bohr",
    "givenName" : "Niels"
  },
  "userName" : "nbohr@example.com",
  "displayName" : "Niels Bohr"
}