LDAP, zimbra 7.2, and localconfig.xml relationship

[JDunphy]

Greetings,
I am preparing to do a migration of 32 to 64. On a working 7.2 Network/Pro zimbra colloboration suite, I notice this behavior. File permission are set with localconfig.xml as 640 owned by zimbra and group zimbra... same as original. I have already updated the mysql passwords to be the same on both the 32 and 64 machines and this was a non issue getting the two in sync.
1) If I shutdown working zimbra

2) Update the localconfig.xml with new passwords from my 32 bit instance and restart

3) It will fail on startup with:
Starting ldap...Done.

Unable to determine enabled services from ldap.

Enabled services read from cache. Service list may be inaccurate.
then
1) If I put back the old localconfig.xml and restart its good
I tried to come at it from another way using zmldapasswd but think I am missing the relationship between localconfig.xml, zmldapasswd, etc.
I can use zmldappasswd to set the zimbra_ldap_passwd but then next command like zmlpasswd -r ldap_root_password will fail
Thought I would give myself a headstart by getting most of the passwords the same before I start messing around with ldap structure but not getting very far.
I was hoping to understand what is going on before I regenerate certs, remove redologs, etc and start mucking around with a working configuration given the many solutions I have found that people have tried.
I am following along the "Network Edition: Moving from 32-bit to 64-bit Server document" where they mention to edit localconfig.xml
If I diff my two localconfig.xml - it shows nothing different other than passwords. If I grep for the ldap password in the backup of my ldap dumps, I don't it in there either... Is there a place that these passwords might be stored somewhere else? I am at a loss of what is going on here.
Any pointers would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Jim

[JDunphy]

A little more info about my problem.

[LDAP: error code 49 - Invalid Credentials])
Fixed it by this article. Apparently it also works for version 7 and not just version 5 as listed
Setting zimbra admin password in LDAP - Zimbra :: Wiki
There must be a simpler way but I couldn't find it.
I did waste a huge amount of time going down wrong paths like DNS, regenerating certs, etc, etc. LOL
Hope this help others.
Jim