---
name: "nslcd"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "nss-pam-ldapd"
version: "0.9.13-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/nslcd"
---

# nslcd(8)

local LDAP name service daemon

## NAME

nslcd - local LDAP name service daemon

## SYNOPSIS

FC**nslcd**F\[0\]  \[*options*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**nslcd** is a daemon that will do LDAP queries for local processes that want to do user, group and other naming lookups (NSS) or do user authentication, authorisation or password modification (PAM).

**nslcd** is configured through a configuration file (see [**nslcd.conf**(5)](/nslcd.conf/5.md)).

See the included README for information on configuring the LDAP server.

## OPTIONS

**nslcd** accepts the following options:

- FC**-c**F\[0\], FC**--check**F\[0\]

  Check if the daemon is running. This causes **nslcd** to return 0 if the daemon is already running and 1 if it is not.

- FC**-d**F\[0\], FC**--debug**F\[0\]

  Enable debugging mode. **nslcd** will not put itself in the background and sends verbose debugging info to stderr. **nslcd** will handle connections as usual. This option is for debugging purposes only. Specify this option multiple times to also include more detailed logging from the LDAP library.

- FC**-n**F\[0\], FC**--nofork**F\[0\]

  Do not fork or daemonise and run **nslcd** in the foreground.

- FC**-f**F\[0\], FC**--config**F\[0\] *FILE*

  Parse the supplied configuration file in place of the default FC*/etc/nslcd.conf*F\[0\] file.

- FC**-t**F\[0\], FC**--test**F\[0\]

  Validate the configuration and exit. This performs syntax checking of the configuration, checks for presence of files referred in the configuration and does some minimal other sanity checking. This causes **nslcd** to return 0 if the configuration appears valid and 1 if it is not.

- FC**--help**F\[0\]

  Display short help and exit.

- FC**-V**F\[0\], FC**--version**F\[0\]

  Output version information and exit.

## SIGNALS

- FC**SIGTERM**F\[0\]/FC**SIGINT**F\[0\]

  Cancel any running queries and exit.

- FC**SIGUSR1**F\[0\]

  Cause **nslcd** to retry any failing connections to the LDAP server, regardless of the FC**reconnect\_sleeptime**F\[0\] and FC**reconnect\_retrytime**F\[0\] options.

## FILES

FC*/etc/nslcd.conf*F\[0\] - the configuration file (see [**nslcd.conf**(5)](/nslcd.conf/5.md))

## SEE ALSO

[**nslcd.conf**(5)](/nslcd.conf/5.md)

## AUTHOR

This manual was written by Arthur de Jong \<arthur@arthurdejong.org\>.