| Switch | § | Description |
| -1 | See this section | Consider successful only if exactly one key is matched ( ldap only) |
| -A | -A | Append values for duplicate keys |
| -a | -a | Append tag on successful match |
| -b | See this section | Base from which to begin the search ( ldap only) |
| -b | See this section | Use basic, not extended, regular expression matching ( regex only) |
| -D | -D | Don't use this database map if DeliveryMode= defer |
| -d | See this section | DN to bind to server as ( ldap only) |
| -d | See this section | The delimiting string ( regex only) |
| -d | See this section | The res_search ( ) _res. retry interval ( dns and host only) |
| -f | -f | Preserve case |
| -h | See this section | Hosts that serve this network database ( ldap only) |
| -h | See this section | Hosts that serve this network database ( ph only) |
| -k | -k | Specify column for key |
| -k | See this section | The search query ( ldap only) |
| -k | netinfo | The property that is searched ( netinfo only) |
| -k | See this section | Specify a list of fields to query ( ph only) |
| -L | syslog | The logging level at which to log ( syslog only) |
| -l | -l (lowercase L) | Time limit to timeout connection ( ldap and ph only) |
| -M | See this section | The method to use for binding ( ldap only) |
| -m | -m | Suppress replacement on match |
| -N | -N | Append a null byte to all keys |
| -n | See this section | Retrieve attribute names only, not values ( ldap only) |
| -n | See this section | NOT, that is, invert the test ( regex only) |
| -O | -O | Never add a null byte |
| -o | -o | The database map is optional |
| -P | See this section | The secret password to use for binding ( ldap only) |
| -p | See this section | Port to use when connecting to host ( ldap only) |
| -q | -q | Don't strip quotes from key |
| -R | See this section | Don't auto-chase referrals ( ldap only) |
| -R | dns | Record type to look up ( dns only) |
| -r | See this section | Allow dereferencing of aliases ( ldap only) |
| -r | See this section | The res_search ( ) _res.retries limit ( dns and host only) |
| -S | -S | Space replacement character for database map |
| -s | See this section | Search scope of "base," "one," or "sub" ( ldap only) |
| -s | See this section | Substring to match and return ( regex only) |
| -T | -T | Suffix to append on temporary failure |
| -t | -t | Ignore temporary errors |
| -V | See this section | Specify return attribute list separator ( ldap only) |
| -v | -v | Specify the value's column |
| -v | netinfo | The property to return ( netinfo only) |
| -v | ph | Specify a list of fields to return ( ph only, deprecated) |
| -v | See this section | Specify the list of attributes to return ( ldap only) |
| | See this section | Limit the number of matches to return ( ldap only) |
| -z | -z | Specify the column delimiter |