Searching
Introduction
Using the LdapRecord query builder makes building LDAP queries feel effortless.
It allows you to generate LDAP filters using a fluent and convenient interface, similar to Eloquent in Laravel.
The LdapRecord query builder escapes all fields & values given to its
where()
methods. There is no need to clean or escape strings before passing them into the query builder.
Creating a new Query
To create a new search query, call the query()
method on your Connection
instance:
$query = $connection->query();
Or you can chain all your methods if you'd prefer:
$results = $connection->query()->where('cn', '=', 'John Doe')->get();
Querying your LDAP connection manually will return raw LDAP results in a
Collection
. You must query using models themselves if you would like them to be returned instead.
Selects
Fields are case in-sensitive. For example, you can insert
CN
,cn
orcN
, they will return the same result.
Selecting only the LDAP attributes you need will increase the speed of your queries.
// Passing in an array of attributes
$query->select(['cn', 'samaccountname', 'telephone', 'mail']);
// Passing in each attribute as an argument
$query->select('cn', 'samaccountname', 'telephone', 'mail');
Executing Searches
Finding a record
If you're trying to find a single record, you must use the find()
method
and insert the distinguished name of the record you are looking for:
$record = $query->find('cn=John Doe,dc=acme,dc=org');
if ($record) {
// Record was found!
} else {
// Hmm, looks like we couldn't find anything...
}
Finding a record (or failing)
If you'd like to try and find a single record and throw an exception when
it hasn't been found, use the findOrFail()
method:
try {
$record = $query->findOrFail('cn=John Doe,dc=acme,dc=org');
} catch (LdapRecord\Models\ModelNotFoundException $e) {
// Record wasn't found!
}
Finding a record by a specific attribute
If you're looking for a single record with a specific attribute, use the findBy()
method:
// We're looking for a record with the 'samaccountname' of 'jdoe'.
$record = $query->findBy('samaccountname', 'jdoe');
You can also use findByOrFail()
to generate an exception when a record is not found.
Retrieving results
To get the results from a search, simply call the get()
method:
$results = $query->select(['cn', 'samaccountname'])->get();
Results will be returned inside of an LdapRecord\Query\Collection
instance.
Retrieving the first record
To retrieve the first record of a search, call the first()
method:
$record = $query->first();
Results will return the model instance only.
You can also use firstOrFail()
to generate an exception when no records are found.
Limit
To limit the results records returned from your LDAP server and increase the
speed of your queries, you can use the limit()
method:
// This will only return 5 records that contain the name of 'John':
$records = $query->where('cn', 'contains', 'John')->limit(5)->get();
Wheres
To perform a where clause on the search object, use the where()
function:
$query->where('cn', '=', 'John Doe');
This query would look for a record with the common name of 'John Doe' and return the results.
We can also perform a 'where equals' without including the operator:
$query->whereEquals('cn', 'John Doe');
We can also supply an array of key - value pairs to quickly add multiple wheres:
$wheres = [
'givenname' => 'John',
'company' => 'Acme',
];
$query->where($wheres);
Or, if you require conditionals, you can quickly add multiple wheres with nested arrays:
$query->where([
['cn', '=', 'John Doe'],
['manager', '!', 'Suzy Doe'],
]);
Where Starts With
We could also perform a search for all objects beginning with the common name of 'John' using the starts_with
operator:
$results = $query->where('cn', 'starts_with', 'John')->get();
// Or:
$results = $query->whereStartsWith('cn', 'John')->get();
Where Ends With
We can also search for all objects that end with the common name of Doe
using the ends_with
operator:
$results = $query->where('cn', 'ends_with', 'Doe')->get();
// Or:
$results = $query->whereEndsWith('cn', 'Doe')->get();
Where Between
To search for records between two values, use the whereBetween
method.
For the example below, we'll retrieve all records that were created between two dates:
$from = (new DateTime('October 1st 2016'))->format('YmdHis.0\Z');
$to = (new DateTime('January 1st 2017'))->format('YmdHis.0\Z');
$users = $query->whereBetween('whencreated', [$from, $to])->get();
Where Contains
We can also search for all objects with a common name that contains John Doe
using the contains
operator:
$results = $query->where('cn', 'contains', 'John Doe')->get();
// Or:
$results = $query->whereContains('cn', 'John Doe')->get();
Where Not Contains
You can use a 'where not contains' to perform the inverse of a 'where contains':
$results = $query->where('cn', 'not_contains', 'John Doe')->get();
// Or:
$results = $query->whereNotContains('cn', 'John Doe');
Where Has
Or we can retrieve all objects that have a common name attribute using the wildcard operator (*
):
$results = $query->where('cn', '*')->get();
// Or:
$results = $query->whereHas('cn')->get();
This type of filter syntax allows you to clearly see what your searching for.
Where Not Has
You can use a 'where not has' to perform the inverse of a 'where has':
$results = $query->where('cn', '!*')->get();
// Or:
$results = $query->whereNotHas($field)->get();
Where Deleted
To retrieve only deleted models from your LDAP server, use the whereDeleted
method:
$results = $query->whereDeleted()->get();
If you would like to include deleted models from your LDAP
server in your query results, use the withDeleted
method:
$results = $query->withDeleted()->get();
Or Wheres
To perform an or where
clause on the search object, use the orWhere()
method.
For example:
$results = $query->where('cn', '=', 'John Doe')
->orWhere('cn', '=', 'Suzy Doe')
->get();
This query will return objects that have the common name of John Doe
or Suzy Doe
.
You can also use all
where
methods as an or where, for example:orWhereHas()
,orWhereContains()
,orWhereStartsWith()
,orWhereEndsWith()
Dynamic Wheres
To perform a dynamic where, simply suffix a where
with the field you're looking for.
This feature was directly ported from Laravel's Eloquent.
Here's an example:
// This query:
$result = $query->where('cn', '=', 'John Doe')->first();
// Can be converted to:
$result = $query->whereCn('John Doe')->first();
You can perform this on any attribute:
$result = $query->whereTelephonenumber('555-555-5555')->first();
You can also chain them:
$result = $query->whereTelephonenumber('555-555-5555')
->whereGivenname('John Doe')
->whereSn('Doe')
->first();
You can even perform multiple dynamic wheres by separating your fields by an And
:
// This would perform a search for a user with the
// first name of 'John' and last name of 'Doe'.
$result = $query->whereGivennameAndSn('John', 'Doe')->first();
Nested Filters
By default, the LdapRecord query builder automatically wraps your queries in and
/ or
filters for you.
However, if any further complexity is required, nested filters allow you
to construct any query fluently and easily.
andFilter
The andFilter
method accepts a closure which allows you to construct a query inside of an and
LDAP filter:
// Creates the filter: (&(givenname=John)(sn=Doe))
$results = $query->andFilter(function (LdapRecord\Query\Builder $q) {
$q->where('givenname', '=', 'John')
->where('sn', '=', 'Doe');
})->get();
The above query would return records that contain the first name John
and the last name Doe
.
orFilter
The orFilter
method accepts a closure which allows you to construct a query inside of an or
LDAP filter:
// Creates the filter: (|(givenname=John)(sn=Doe))
$results = $query->orFilter(function (LdapRecord\Query\Builder $q) {
$q->where('givenname', '=', 'John')
->where('sn', '=', 'Doe');
})->get();
The above query would return records that contain the first name John
or the last name Doe
.
notFilter
The notFilter
method accepts a closure which allows you to construct a query inside a not
LDAP filter:
// Creates the filter: (!(givenname=John)(sn=Doe))
$results = $query->notFilter(function (LdapRecord\Query\Builder $q) {
$q->where('givenname', '=', 'John')
->where('sn', '=', 'Doe');
})->get();
The above query would return records that do not contain the first name John
or the last name Doe
.
Complex Nesting
The above methods andFilter
/ orFilter
can be chained together and nested
as many times as you'd like for larger complex queries:
$query = $query->orFilter(function (LdapRecord\Query\Builder $q) {
$q->where('givenname', '=', 'John')->where('sn', '=', 'Doe');
})->andFilter(function (LdapRecord\Query\Builder $q) {
$q->where('department', '=', 'Accounting')->where('title', '=', 'Manager');
})->getUnescapedQuery();
echo $query; // Returns '(&(|(givenname=John)(sn=Doe))(&(department=Accounting)(title=Manager)))'
Raw Filters
Raw filters are not escaped. Do not accept user input into the raw filter method.
Sometimes you might just want to add a raw filter without using the query builder.
You can do so by using the rawFilter()
method:
$results = $query->rawFilter('(samaccountname=jdoe)')->get();
// Or use an array
$filters = [
'(samaccountname=jdoe)',
'(surname=Doe)',
];
$results = $query->rawFilter($filters)->get();
// Or use multiple arguments
$results = $query->rawFilter($filters[0], $filters[1])->get();
// Multiple raw filters will be automatically wrapped into an `and` filter:
$query = $query->getUnescapedQuery();
echo $query; // Returns (&(samaccountname=jdoe)(surname=Doe))
Paginating
Paginating your search results will allow you to return more results than your LDAP cap (usually 1000).
For example, if your LDAP server contains 10,000 records and you paginate by 1000, 10 queries will be executed.
Calling
paginate()
will retrieve all records from your LDAP server for the current query. Be careful with large result sets, as you may run out of memory.
// Perform global "all" search, paginating by 1000 records:
$results = $query->paginate(1000);
foreach ($results as $result) {
//
}
Base DN
To set the base DN of your search you can use one of two methods:
// Using the `in()` method:
$results = $query->in('ou=Accounting,dc=acme,dc=org')->get();
// Using the `setDn()` method:
$results = $query->setDn('ou=Accounting,dc=acme,dc=org')->get();
Either option will return the same results. Use which ever method you prefer to be more readable.
Root DSE
To fetch the Root DSE object in your directory, execute the below query:
$rootDse = $query->query()
->in(null)
->read()
->whereHas('objectclass')
->first();
Search Options
Recursive
By default, all searches performed are recursive.
If you'd like to disable recursive search and perform a single level search, use the listing()
method:
$result = $query->listing()->get();
This would perform an ldap_listing()
instead of an ldap_search()
.
Read
If you'd like to perform a read instead of a listing or a recursive search, use the read()
method:
$result = $query->read()->where('objectClass', '*')->get();
This would perform an ldap_read()
instead of an ldap_listing()
or an ldap_search()
.
Performing a
read()
will always return one record in your result.
Custom Controls
If you'd like to add server controls to your query, use the addControl
method:
$result = $query->addControl('1.2.840.113556.1.4.417', $isCritical = true)->get();
Retrieving the ran query
If you'd like to retrieve the current query to save or run it at another
time, use the getQuery()
method on the query builder.
This will return the escaped filter.
$query = $query->where('cn', '=', 'John Doe')->getQuery();
echo $query; // Returns '(cn=\4a\6f\68\6e\20\44\6f\65)'
To retrieve the unescaped filter, call the getUnescapedQuery()
method:
$query = $query->where('cn', '=', 'John Doe')->getUnescapedQuery();
echo $query; // Returns '(cn=John Doe)'
Now that you know how to search your directory, lets move onto creating / modifying LDAP records.