cvtsudoers
CVTSUDOERS(1) BSD General Commands Manual CVTSUDOERS(1)
NAME
cvtsudoers -- convert between sudoers file formats
SYNOPSIS
cvtsudoers [-ehMpV] [-b dn] [-c conf_file] [-d deftypes]
[-f output_format] [-i input_format] [-I increment]
[-l log_file] [-m filter] [-o output_file] [-O start_point]
[-P padding] [-s sections] [input_file ...]
DESCRIPTION
The cvtsudoers utility accepts one or more security policies in either
sudoers or LDIF format as input, and generates a single policy of the
specified format as output. The default input format is sudoers. The de-
fault output format is LDIF. It is only possible to convert a policy
file that is syntactically correct.
If no input_file is specified, or if it is '-', the policy is read from
the standard input. Input files may be optionally prefixed with a host
name followed by a colon (':') to make the policy rules specific to a
host when merging multiple files. By default, the result is written to
the standard output.
The options are as follows:
-b dn, --base=dn
The base DN (distinguished name) that will be used when per-
forming 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.
-c conf_file, --config=conf_file
Specify the path to the configuration file. Defaults to
/etc/cvtsudoers.conf.
-d 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 Defaults section in sudoers(5) for more information.
If the -d option is not specified, all Defaults entries will
be converted.
-e, --expand-aliases
Expand aliases in input_file. Aliases are preserved by de-
fault when the output format is JSON or sudoers.
-f output_format, --output-format=output_format
Specify the output format (case-insensitive). The following
formats are supported:
CSV CSV (comma-separated value) files are often used by
spreadsheets and report generators. For CSV out-
put, cvtsudoers double quotes strings that contain
commas. For each literal double quote character
present inside the string, two double quotes are
output. This method of quoting commas is compati-
ble with most spreadsheet programs.
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 ambi-
guity 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:
o Command, host, runas, and user-specific Defaults
lines cannot be translated as they don't have an
equivalent in the sudoers LDAP schema.
o 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 in-
clude files will be output inline.
--group-file=file
When the -M option is also specified, perform group queries
using file instead of the system group database.
-h, --help Display a short help message to the standard output and exit.
-i input_format, --input-format=input_format
Specify the input format. The following formats are sup-
ported:
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.
-I increment, --increment=increment
When generating LDIF output, increment each sudoOrder attri-
bute by the specified number. Defaults to an increment of 1.
-l log_file, --logfile=log_file
Log conversion warnings to log_file instead of to the stan-
dard error. This is particularly useful when merging multi-
ple sudoers files, which can generate a large number of warn-
ings.
-m filter, --match=filter
Only output rules that match the specified filter. A filter
expression is made up of one or more key = value pairs, sepa-
rated by a comma (','). The key may be "cmnd" (or "cmd"),
"host", "group", or "user". For example, user = operator or
host = www. An upper-case Cmnd_Alias, Host_alias, or
Host_Alias may be specified as the "cmnd", "host", or "user".
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 con-
sulted 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.
-M, --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 auto-
matically be added to the filter. If the -M is not speci-
fied, 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.
-o 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.
-O 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 de-
tails. Defaults to a starting point of 1. A starting point
of 0 will disable the generation of sudoOrder attributes in
the resulting LDIF file.
--passwd-file=file
When the -M option is also specified, perform passwd queries
using file instead of the system passwd database.
-p, --prune-matches
When the -m option is also specified, cvtsudoers will prune
out non-matching users, groups, and hosts from matching en-
tries.
-P 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.
-s sections, --suppress=sections
Suppress the output of specific sections of the security pol-
icy. One or more section names may be specified, separated
by a comma (','). The supported section name are: defaults,
aliases and privileges (which may be shortened to privs).
-V, --version
Print the cvtsudoers and sudoers grammar versions and exit.
Merging multiple files
When multiple input files are specified, cvtsudoers will attempt to merge
them into a single policy file. It is assumed that user and group names
are consistent among the policy files to be merged. For example, user
"bob" on one host is the same as user "bob" on another host.
When merging policy files, it is possible to prefix the input file name
with a host name, separated by a colon (':'). When the files are merged,
the host name will be used to restrict the policy rules to that specific
host where possible.
The merging process is performed as follows:
o Each input file is parsed into internal sudoers data structures.
o Aliases are merged and renamed as necessary to avoid conflicts. In
the event of a conflict, the first alias found is left as-is and sub-
sequent aliases of the same name are renamed with a numeric suffix
separated with a underscore ('_'). For example, if there are two dif-
ferent aliases named SERVERS, the first will be left as-is and the
second will be renamed SERVERS_1. References to the renamed alias are
also updated in the policy file. Duplicate aliases (those with iden-
tical contents) are pruned.
o Defaults settings are merged and duplicates are removed. If there are
conflicts in the Defaults settings, a warning is emitted for each con-
flict. If a host name is specified with the input file, cvtsudoers
will change the global Defaults settings in that file to be host-spe-
cific. A warning is emitted for command, user, or runas-specific De-
faults settings which cannot be made host-specific.
o Per-user rules are merged and duplicates are removed. If a host name
is specified with the input file, cvtsudoers will change rules that
specify a host name of ALL to the host name associated with the policy
file being merged. The merging of rules is currently fairly simplis-
tic but will be improved in a later release.
It is possible to merge policy files with differing formats.
The cvtsudoers.conf file
Options in the form "keyword = value" may also be specified in a configu-
ration file, /etc/cvtsudoers.conf by default. The following keywords are
recognized:
defaults = deftypes
See the description of the -d command line option.
expand_aliases = yes | no
See the description of the -e command line option.
group_file = file
See the description of the --group-file command line option.
input_format = ldif | sudoers
See the description of the -i command line option.
match = filter
See the description of the -m command line option.
match_local = yes | no
See the description of the -M command line option.
order_increment = increment
See the description of the -I command line option.
order_start = start_point
See the description of the -O command line option.
output_format = csv | json | ldif | sudoers
See the description of the -f command line option.
padding = padding
See the description of the -P command line option.
passwd_file = file
See the description of the --passwd-file command line option.
prune_matches = yes | no
See the description of the -p command line option.
sudoers_base = dn
See the description of the -b command line option.
suppress = sections
See the description of the -s command line option.
Options on the command line will override values from the configuration
file.
FILES
/etc/cvtsudoers.conf default configuration for cvtsudoers
EXAMPLES
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 re-
sult 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 ambrose on host
hastur:
$ 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
Merge a global sudoers file with two host-specific policy files from the
hosts "xyzzy" and "plugh":
$ cvtsudoers -f sudoers -o sudoers.merged sudoers \
xyzzy:sudoers.xyzzy plugh:sudoers.plugh
SEE ALSO
sudoers(5), sudoers.ldap(5), sudo(8)
AUTHORS
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.
BUGS
If you feel you have found a bug in cvtsudoers, please submit a bug re-
port at https://bugzilla.sudo.ws/
SUPPORT
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.
DISCLAIMER
cvtsudoers is provided "AS IS" and any express or implied warranties, in-
cluding, 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 com-
plete details.
Sudo 1.9.9 January 19, 2022 Sudo 1.9.9
Man Pages Copyright Respective Owners. Site Copyright (C) 1994 - 2025
Hurricane Electric.
All Rights Reserved.