diff --git a/optfs/eduldap/lib/common b/optfs/eduldap/lib/common
index b14a912..9bf1a3c 100644
--- a/optfs/eduldap/lib/common
+++ b/optfs/eduldap/lib/common
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ CONFIG_DIR=${OPENLDAP_ETC}/slapd.d
 DATABASE_FILE=${EDULDAP_HOME}/bootstrap/databases/${DATABASE}.ldif
 SEED_FILE=${EDULDAP_HOME}/bootstrap/seeds/${SEED}.ldif
 
+ADMIN_SECRET_FILE=${ADMIN_SECRET_FILE:-"/dev/null"}
+
+if  [[ -f $ADMIN_SECRET_FILE ]]; then
+  ADMIN_SECRET=`cat $ADMIN_SECRET_FILE | tr -d '\n'`
+fi
+
 ADMIN_SECRET=${ADMIN_SECRET:-`cat /dev/urandom | tr -dc 'a-zA-Z0-9' | fold -w 32 | head -n 1`}
 DATABASE_SUFFIX=`grep olcSuffix $DATABASE_FILE | head -1 | cut -d':' -f 2 | sed 's/^ //'`
 ONA=$(dn_to_na $DATABASE_SUFFIX)
@@ -31,4 +37,4 @@ NNA=$(dn_to_na $BASE_DN)
 #if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
 #  echo "This script must be run with root privileges (as root or via sudo)" 1>&2
 #  exit 1
-#fi
\ No newline at end of file
+#fi