Sudo
GitHub Blog Toggle Dark/Light/Auto mode Toggle Dark/Light/Auto mode Toggle Dark/Light/Auto mode Back to homepage

Cvtsudoers Manual

cvtsudoersconvert between sudoers file formats

cvtsudoers [-ehMpV] [-b dn] [-c conf_file] [-d deftypes] [-f output_format] [-i input_format] [-I increment] [-m filter] [-o output_file] [-O start_point] [-P padding] [-s sections] [input_file]

cvtsudoers can be used to convert between sudoers security policy file formats. The default input format is sudoers. The default output format is LDIF. It is only possible to convert a sudoers file that is syntactically correct.

If no input_file is specified, or if it is ‘-’, the policy is read from the standard input. By default, the result is written to the standard output.

The options are as follows:

dn, --base=dn
The base DN (distinguished name) that will be used when performing LDAP queries. Typically this is of the form ou=SUDOers,dc=my-domain,dc=com for the domain my-domain.com. If this option is not specified, the value of the SUDOERS_BASE environment variable will be used instead. Only necessary when converting to LDIF format.
conf_file, --config=conf_file
Specify the path to the configuration file. Defaults to /etc/cvtsudoers.conf.
deftypes, --defaults=deftypes
Only convert Defaults entries of the specified types. One or more Defaults types may be specified, separated by a comma (‘,’). The supported types are:
all
All Defaults entries.
global
Global Defaults entries that are applied regardless of user, runas, host or command.
user
Per-user Defaults entries.
runas
Per-runas user Defaults entries.
host
Per-host Defaults entries.
command
Per-command Defaults entries.

See the section in sudoers(5) for more information.

If the -d option is not specified, all Defaults entries will be converted.

, --expand-aliases
Expand aliases in input_file. Aliases are preserved by default when the output format is JSON or sudoers.
output_format, --output-format=output_format
Specify the output format (case-insensitive). The following formats are supported:
JSON
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) files are usually easier for third-party applications to consume than the traditional sudoers format. The various values have explicit types which removes much of the ambiguity of the sudoers format.
LDIF
LDIF (LDAP Data Interchange Format) files can be imported into an LDAP server for use with sudoers.ldap(5).

Conversion to LDIF has the following limitations:

  • Command, host, runas and user-specific Defaults lines cannot be translated as they don't have an equivalent in the sudoers LDAP schema.
  • Command, host, runas and user aliases are not supported by the sudoers LDAP schema so they are expanded during the conversion.
sudoers
Traditional sudoers format. A new sudoers file will be reconstructed from the parsed input file. Comments are not preserved and data from any include files will be output inline.
, --help
Display a short help message to the standard output and exit.
input_format, --input-format=input_format
Specify the input format. The following formats are supported:
LDIF
LDIF (LDAP Data Interchange Format) files can be exported from an LDAP server to convert security policies used by sudoers.ldap(5). If a base DN (distinguished name) is specified, only sudoRole objects that match the base DN will be processed. Not all sudoOptions specified in a sudoRole can be translated from LDIF to sudoers format.
sudoers
Traditional sudoers format. This is the default input format.
increment, --increment=increment
When generating LDIF output, increment each sudoOrder attribute by the specified number. Defaults to an increment of 1.
filter, --match=filter
Only output rules that match the specified filter. A filter expression is made up of one or more key = value pairs, separated by a comma (‘,’). The key may be “user”, “group” or “host”. For example, = operator or = www. An upper-case User_Alias or Host_Alias may be specified as the “user” or “host”.

A matching sudoers rule may also include users, groups and hosts that are not part of the filter. This can happen when a rule includes multiple users, groups or hosts. To prune out any non-matching user, group or host from the rules, the -p option may be used.

By default, the password and group databases are not consulted when matching against the filter so the users and groups do not need to be present on the local system (see the -M option). Only aliases that are referenced by the filtered policy rules will be displayed.

, --match-local
When the -m option is also specified, use password and group database information when matching users and groups in the filter. Only users and groups in the filter that exist on the local system will match, and a user's groups will automatically be added to the filter. If the -M is specified, users and groups in the filter do not need to exist on the local system, but all groups used for matching must be explicitly listed in the filter.
output_file, --output=output_file
Write the converted output to output_file. If no output_file is specified, or if it is ‘-’, the converted sudoers policy will be written to the standard output.
start_point, --order-start=start_point
When generating LDIF output, use the number specified by start_point in the sudoOrder attribute of the first sudoRole object. Subsequent sudoRole object use a sudoOrder value generated by adding an increment, see the -I option for details. Defaults to a starting point of 1. A starting point of 0 will disable the generation of sudoOrder attributes in the resulting LDIF file.
, --prune-matches
When the -m option is also specified, cvtsudoers will prune out non-matching users, groups and hosts from matching entries.
padding, --padding=padding
When generating LDIF output, construct the initial sudoOrder value by concatenating order_start and increment, padding the increment with zeros until it consists of padding digits. For example, if order_start is 1027, padding is 3, and increment is 1, the value of sudoOrder for the first entry will be 1027000, followed by 1027001, 1027002, etc. If the number of sudoRole entries is larger than the padding would allow, cvtsudoers will exit with an error. By default, no padding is performed.
sections, --suppress=sections
Suppress the output of specific sections of the security policy. One or more section names may be specified, separated by a comma (‘,’). The supported section name are: defaults, and (which may be shortened to ).
, --version
Print the cvtsudoers and sudoers grammar versions and exit.

Options in the form “keyword = value” may also be specified in a configuration file, /etc/cvtsudoers.conf by default. The following keywords are recognized:

deftypes
See the description of the -d command line option.
yes | no
See the description of the -e command line option.
ldif | sudoers
See the description of the -i command line option.
filter
See the description of the -m command line option.
increment
See the description of the -I command line option.
start_point
See the description of the -O command line option.
json | ldif | sudoers
See the description of the -f command line option.
padding
See the description of the -P command line option.
yes | no
See the description of the -p command line option.
dn
See the description of the -b command line option.
sections
See the description of the -s command line option.

Options on the command line will override values from the configuration file.

/etc/cvtsudoers.conf
default configuration for cvtsudoers

Convert /etc/sudoers to LDIF (LDAP Data Interchange Format) where the ldap.conf file uses a sudoers_base of my-domain,dc=com, storing the result in sudoers.ldif:

$ cvtsudoers -b ou=SUDOers,dc=my-domain,dc=com -o sudoers.ldif \
             /etc/sudoers

Convert /etc/sudoers to JSON format, storing the result in sudoers.json:

$ cvtsudoers -f json -o sudoers.json /etc/sudoers

Parse /etc/sudoers and display only rules that match user on host :

$ cvtsudoers -f sudoers -m user=ambrose,host=hastur /etc/sudoers

Same as above, but expand aliases and prune out any non-matching users and hosts from the expanded entries.

$ cvtsudoers -ep -f sudoers -m user=ambrose,host=hastur /etc/sudoers

Convert sudoers.ldif from LDIF to traditional sudoers format:

$ cvtsudoers -i ldif -f sudoers -o sudoers.new sudoers.ldif

sudoers(5), sudoers.ldap(5), sudo(8)

Many people have worked on sudo over the years; this version consists of code written primarily by:

Todd C. Miller

See the CONTRIBUTORS file in the sudo distribution (https://www.sudo.ws/contributors.html) for an exhaustive list of people who have contributed to sudo.

If you feel you have found a bug in cvtsudoers, please submit a bug report at https://bugzilla.sudo.ws/

Limited free support is available via the sudo-users mailing list, see https://www.sudo.ws/mailman/listinfo/sudo-users to subscribe or search the archives.

cvtsudoers is provided “AS IS” and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. See the LICENSE file distributed with sudo or https://www.sudo.ws/license.html for complete details.