authentication - PHP ldap_get_entries() return count=zero -

i trying authenticate users' login against ldap(server mac el capitan).
i can connect , bind ldap server.
i can search , sort result.
but when perform "ldap_get_entries",i received "zero" entry.
i've tried stackoverflow google's second page.
any suggestions or idea why might happening?

code -

    <?php     session_start(); // starting session     $error=''; // variable store error message     if (isset($_post['submit'])) {     if (empty($_post['email']) || empty($_post['password'])) {     $error = "username or password invalid";     }     else     {     $usernamelogin=$_post['email'];     $passwordlogin=$_post['password'];     $username  = stripslashes($usernamelogin);     $password  = stripslashes($passwordlogin);     echo "user name ".$username;     echo "</br>";     $ldapuser  = "uid=xxxxxx,cn=users,dc=dns1,dc=xxxxxxxx,dc=com";     $ldappass  = "xxxxxxxxxxx";     $url       = "ldap://dns1.xxxxxxx.com:389";     $ldap      = ldap_connect("$url") or die("could not connect ldap server.");     $basedn    = "cn=users,dc=dns1,dc=xxxxxxxxx,dc=com";           ldap_set_option($ldap, ldap_opt_protocol_version, 3);     ldap_set_option($ldap, ldap_opt_referrals,0);     $bind      = ldap_bind($ldap, $ldapuser, $ldappass);      if($bind) {         echo "connected ldap";         echo "</br>";         $filter="(samaccountname=$username)";         echo "filter = ".$filter;         echo "</br>";         $result = ldap_search($ldap,$basedn,$filter) or die("could not search.");         echo "result = ".$result;         echo "</br>";         $sort = ldap_sort($ldap,$result,"uid");         echo "sort = ".$sort;         echo "</br>";         $number = ldap_count_entries($ldap, $result);         echo "count entries = ".$number;         echo "</br>";         $info = ldap_get_entries($ldap, $result);         echo "data " . $info["count"] . " items returned:<p>";         echo "info = ".$info;         echo "</br>";         echo '<pre>'; print_r($info); echo '</pre>';         echo "</br>";         $fentry= ldap_first_entry($ldap, $result);         echo "first entry = ".$fentry;           ($i=0; $i<$info["count"]; $i++)             {                 if($info['count'] > 1)                     break;                 echo "<p>you accessing <strong> ". $info[$i]["sn"][0] .", " . $info[$i]["givenname"][0] ."</strong><br /> (" . $info[$i]["samaccountname"][0] .")</p>\n";                 echo '<pre>';                 var_dump($info);                 echo '</pre>';                 $userdn = $info[$i]["distinguishedname"][0];              }          ldap_close($ldap);      }     else{         echo "cannot connect ldap.";     }       }}     ?> 

i can connect - bind - search "ldap_get_entries()" returns zero.

first: can skip or die "could not connect ldap server" never happen. ldap_connect checks parameter syntactical correctness , not connect server. actual connection happens on first call server ldap_bind. that's why conncetion issues surface on ldap_bind , not on ldap_connect.

second: did samaccountname from? that's field that's used activedirectory. in apples opendirectory user identified uid-attribute. filter should sprintf('uid=%s', $username).

third: doubt users in group "open directory administrators" allowed bind agains ldap. sure ones allowed edit directory every other user can bind well.

fourth: ldap_sort deprecated now. it's not sorting on server side on client side. returned results sorted. when have paged results means - though sorted result - there still entries fit right in between results. i'm working on way use server-sided sorting relies on feature available on server. can use ldap_sort can implement own sorting on result set.

so change filter uid=$username , you'll expected results. mail attribute might contain full email-address , might therefore fail! can adapt filter search more 1 field. have @ this slide short examples.