ldapsearch: ldap_search_ext: Bad search filter (-7) (Resolved)

I was trying to setup a non Windows directory service to  run some test with SharePoint 2010. So i downloaded and installed OpenLDAP on my Windows 7 machine.

While trying to configure the OpenLDAP Server, i had to a run a command to check that the server was running and everything was setup correctly. The command from the OpenLDAP document is

   ldapsearch -x -b '' -s base '(objectclass=*)' namingContexts

Then i got this error ldapsearch: ldap_search_ext: Bad search filter (-7).


After a couple of search, i couldn't find anything specific but i later figured out the solution. Replace ' with "". I reckon it has to do with how windows and linux handle the character single quote.

So i changed the command to ldapsearch -x -b "" -s base "(objectclass=*)" namingContexts and it worked.

I hope this helps someone.