ldapsearch password file format

Solution 1:

Keep in mind that ldapsearch will use the entire contents of the file for the password--which means it WILL include a terminating newline character if one exists. To verify if this is in fact your problem, try creating a file without one:

echo -n ThisIsaBadPassword > .pass.txt

(UPDATE: Included '-n')

Solution 2:

Assuming it is the newline/carriage reuturn try the following:

cat .pass.txt | tr -d '\n\r' > .pass2.txt

Then use the .pass2.txt file. You can always check for new lines and carriage returns with cat -vE and they will show up as $ and ^M respectively.

You could also probably do -y <(cat .pass.txt | tr -d '\n\r') directly in the ldapsearch command.