To query the ldap server (from your own box or from CLIC): Anonymously: ldapsearch -h ldap.columbia.edu -b "" "(uni=joe123)" Authenticated: ldapsearch -h ldap.columbia.edu -D "uni=you123,ou=People,o=Columbia University,c=US" -W -Z -b "" -x "(uni=them1234)" You must have this line in your ldap.conf (in /etc/openldap/ or /etc/ldap/). Already configured on CLIC. Add this: TLS_REQCERT allow Authenticated (query self): ldapsearch -h ldap.columbia.edu -D "uni=you123,ou=People,o=Columbia University,c=US" -W -Z -b "" -x "(uni=you123)" Same config restrictions as above apply. As the LDAP server implements no rate limiting, you can quick-loop a list of all UNIs to the anonymous lookup to build your own database for research of interesting statistics. To query all UNIs from CUNIX: ssh you123@cunix.columbia.edu 'ls /u/*/*/' | sort | uniq It is also trivially possible to scrape UNIs from the Columbia directory, though you probably shouldn't do this.