diff --git a/docs/roles/debian/ldap_server.md b/docs/roles/debian/ldap_server.md
index 2bcd0b378..62421b9be 100644
--- a/docs/roles/debian/ldap_server.md
+++ b/docs/roles/debian/ldap_server.md
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ ldap_server:
     purge: false
     backup: false # set to true to create local backups of LDAP
     backup_path: /opt/slap-bak
+    backup_script: /usr/local/bin/slap-bak # full filename of the backup script
+    slapcat_path: /usr/sbin # path to the location of slapcat on the server
     on_calendar: "*-*-* 23:45:00" # see systemd.time documentation - https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/systemd.time.html#Calendar%20Events
   # TLS settings in LDAP are not separately handled, you need to manually set it up or use the config import feature.
   # If you use 'manual' SSL handling you need to provide a separate CA certificate.
diff --git a/roles/debian/ldap_server/README.md b/roles/debian/ldap_server/README.md
index 2bcd0b378..62421b9be 100644
--- a/roles/debian/ldap_server/README.md
+++ b/roles/debian/ldap_server/README.md
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ ldap_server:
     purge: false
     backup: false # set to true to create local backups of LDAP
     backup_path: /opt/slap-bak
+    backup_script: /usr/local/bin/slap-bak # full filename of the backup script
+    slapcat_path: /usr/sbin # path to the location of slapcat on the server
     on_calendar: "*-*-* 23:45:00" # see systemd.time documentation - https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/systemd.time.html#Calendar%20Events
   # TLS settings in LDAP are not separately handled, you need to manually set it up or use the config import feature.
   # If you use 'manual' SSL handling you need to provide a separate CA certificate.
diff --git a/roles/debian/ldap_server/defaults/main.yml b/roles/debian/ldap_server/defaults/main.yml
index 249fff7ec..6924e7741 100644
--- a/roles/debian/ldap_server/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/debian/ldap_server/defaults/main.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ ldap_server:
     purge: false
     backup: false # set to true to create local backups of LDAP
     backup_path: /opt/slap-bak
+    backup_script: /usr/local/bin/slap-bak # full filename of the backup script
+    slapcat_path: /usr/sbin # path to the location of slapcat on the server
     on_calendar: "*-*-* 23:45:00" # see systemd.time documentation - https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/systemd.time.html#Calendar%20Events
   # TLS settings in LDAP are not separately handled, you need to manually set it up or use the config import feature.
   # If you use 'manual' SSL handling you need to provide a separate CA certificate.
diff --git a/roles/debian/ldap_server/tasks/main.yml b/roles/debian/ldap_server/tasks/main.yml
index e9a2ae55c..709e454a0 100644
--- a/roles/debian/ldap_server/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/debian/ldap_server/tasks/main.yml
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@
 - name: Create the slapd backup script.
   ansible.builtin.template:
     src: slap-bak.j2
-    dest: /usr/local/bin/slap-bak
+    dest: "{{ ldap_server.config.backup_script }}"
     owner: root
     group: root
     mode: 0755
@@ -181,6 +181,6 @@
   vars:
     timers:
       slapd_backups:
-        timer_command: "/usr/local/bin/slap-bak && find /opt/slap-bak/ -type f -mtime +60 -print0 | xargs -0 -r rm"
+        timer_command: "{{ ldap_server.config.backup_script }} &> ldap-backup-$( date +%y%m%d-%H%M ).log && find {{ ldap_server.config.backup_path }}/ -type f -mtime +60 -print0 | xargs -0 -r rm"
         timer_OnCalendar: "{{ ldap_server.config.on_calendar }}"
   when: ldap_server.config.backup
diff --git a/roles/debian/ldap_server/templates/slap-bak.j2 b/roles/debian/ldap_server/templates/slap-bak.j2
index 6ab8b38f2..759107f86 100644
--- a/roles/debian/ldap_server/templates/slap-bak.j2
+++ b/roles/debian/ldap_server/templates/slap-bak.j2
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 BACKUPDIR="{{ ldap_server.config.backup_path }}"
-mkdir -p "$BACKUPDIR"
+/usr/bin/mkdir -p "$BACKUPDIR"
 
 CONFIG_LDAPBK="ldap-config-$( date +%y%m%d-%H%M ).ldif"
-slapcat -n 0 > "$BACKUPDIR/$CONFIG_LDAPBK"
-gzip -9 "$BACKUPDIR/$CONFIG_LDAPBK"
+{{ ldap_server.config.slapcat_path }}/slapcat -n 0 > "$BACKUPDIR/$CONFIG_LDAPBK"
+/usr/bin/gzip -9 "$BACKUPDIR/$CONFIG_LDAPBK"
 
 DATA_LDAPBK="ldap-data-$( date +%y%m%d-%H%M ).ldif"
-slapcat -n 1 > "$BACKUPDIR/$DATA_LDAPBK"
-gzip -9 "$BACKUPDIR/$DATA_LDAPBK"
+{{ ldap_server.config.slapcat_path }}/slapcat -n 1 > "$BACKUPDIR/$DATA_LDAPBK"
+/usr/bin/gzip -9 "$BACKUPDIR/$DATA_LDAPBK"