6.3.5. Moving Entries

When you rename an entry with child entries, the directory has to move all the entries underneath.

[Note] Note

The modify DN operation only works when moving entries in the same backend, under the same suffix. Also, depending on the number of entries you move, this can be a resource-intensive operation.

With the ldapmodify command, authorized users can move entries in the directory.

Example 6.17. Move: Merging Customer and Employees Under ou=People

The following example moves ou=Customers,dc=example,dc=com to ou=People,dc=example,dc=com, and then moves each employee under ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com under ou=People,dc=example,dc=com as well, finally removing the empty ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com container. Here, deleteoldrdn: 1 indicates that the old RDN, ou: Customers, should be removed from the entry. For employees, deleteoldrdn: 0 indicates that old RDNs, in this case uid attribute values, should be preserved. 

$ cat move-customers.ldif 
dn: ou=Customers,dc=example,dc=com
changetype: modrdn
newrdn: ou=People
deleteoldrdn: 1
newsuperior: dc=example,dc=com

$ ldapmodify
 --port 1389
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager"
 --bindPassword password
 --filename move-customers.ldif 
Processing MODIFY DN request for ou=Customers,dc=example,dc=com
MODIFY DN operation successful for DN ou=Customers,dc=example,dc=com
$ cat move-employees.pl 
#!/usr/bin/perl -w

# For each employee, construct a spec to move under ou=People.
while (<>)
{
    # Next line folded for readability only. Should not be split.
    $_ =~ s/dn: (.*?)(,.*)/dn: $1$2\nchangetype: moddn\nnewrdn: $1\n
     deleteoldrdn: 0\nnewsuperior: ou=People,dc=example,dc=com/;
    print;
}
$ ldapsearch --port 1389 --baseDN ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com uid=* - |
 move-employees.pl > /tmp/move-employees.ldif
$ head -n 6 /tmp/move-employees.ldif 
dn: uid=abarnes,ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com
changetype: moddn
newrdn: uid=abarnes
deleteoldrdn: 0
newsuperior: ou=People,dc=example,dc=com

$ ldapmodify
 --port 1389
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager"
 --bindPassword password
 --filename /tmp/move-employees.ldif
Processing MODIFY DN request for uid=abarnes,ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com
MODIFY DN operation successful for DN uid=abarnes,ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com
Processing MODIFY DN request for uid=abergin,ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com
MODIFY DN operation successful for DN uid=abergin,ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com
...
Processing MODIFY DN request for uid=wlutz,ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com
MODIFY DN operation successful for DN uid=wlutz,ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com
$ ldapdelete
 --port 1389
 --bindDN "cn=Directory Manager"
 --bindPassword password
 ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com
Processing DELETE request for ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com
DELETE operation successful for DN ou=Employees,dc=example,dc=com