ldapsearch -x -h ldap://ldap2.smb-ldap.org -D "cn=Manager,dc=smb-ldap,dc=org" -s base -W ldapsearch -x -H ldaps://ldap2.smb-ldap.org -D "cn=Manager,dc=smb-ldap,dc=org" -s base -W Would it be because you specified -h instead of -H when specifying a URL for the first command? Hopefully not.