diff --git a/ab-openldap/ab-openldap.sh b/ab-openldap/ab-openldap.sh
index 305e378..ce33905 100755
--- a/ab-openldap/ab-openldap.sh
+++ b/ab-openldap/ab-openldap.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@
 
 
 ### functions
+consoleError () {
+    printf "%s\n%s\n" "$err" "$2"
+    printf "Exiting.\n\n%s" "$norm"
+    exit "$1"
+}
+
 textblock () {
     printf "%s\n" "$1" | fold -w "$width" -s
 }
@@ -85,14 +91,13 @@ scriptHelp () {
 # is user root or in the docker group?
 if [ ! "$( id -u )" -eq 0 ]; then
     if ! id -Gn | grep docker > /dev/null; then
-        printf "%s\nYou must either be root or in the 'docker' group to run this script since you must be able to actually start the container! Exiting.\n%s" "$err" "$norm"
-        exit 2
+        consoleError '2' "You must either be root or in the 'docker' group to run this script since you must be able to actually start the container!"
     fi
 fi
 
 # does the params file exist?
 if [ ! -f "./ab-openldap.params" ]; then
-    printf "%s\nCannot find 'ab-openldap.params' file in the same directory as this script. Exiting.\n%s" "$err" "$norm"
+    consoleError '3' "Cannot find 'ab-openldap.params' file in the same directory as this script."
     exit 3
 fi
 
@@ -102,19 +107,13 @@ fi
 # check for certs if using TLS
 if [ "$TLS_CERT" ]; then
     if [ ! -f "$TLS_CERT" ]; then
-        printf "%s\nCannot find specified TLS certificate file. Exiting.%s\n" \
-            "$err" "$norm"
-        exit 5
+        consoleError '5' 'Cannot find specified TLS certificate file.'
     fi
     if [ ! -f "$TLS_KEY" ]; then
-        printf "%s\nCannot find specified TLS private key file. Exiting.%s\n" \
-            "$err" "$norm"
-        exit 5
+        consoleError '5' 'Cannot find specified TLS private key file.'
     fi
     if [ ! -f "$TLS_CHAIN" ]; then
-        printf "%s\nCannot find specified TLS certificate chain file. Exiting.%s\n" \
-            "$err" "$norm"
-        exit 5
+        consoleError '5' 'Cannot find specified TLS certificate chain file.'
     fi
 fi
 
@@ -145,9 +144,7 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
         -n|--name)
             # container name
             if [ -z "$2" ]; then
-                printf "%s\nNo container name specified. Exiting.\n%s" \
-                    "$err" "$norm"
-                exit 1
+                consoleError '1' 'No container name specified.'
             fi
             container_name="$2"
             shift
@@ -155,9 +152,7 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
         --data)
             # data volume name
             if [ -z "$2" ]; then
-                printf "%s\nNo name specified for data volume. Exiting.\n%s" \
-                    "$err" "$norm"
-                exit 1
+                consoleError '1' 'No name specified for data volume.'
             fi
             volume_data="$2"
             shift
@@ -165,9 +160,7 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
         --ldif)
             # ldif volume name
             if [ -z "$2" ]; then
-                printf "%s\nNo name specified for LDIF volume. Exiting.\n%s" \
-                    "$err" "$norm"
-                exit 1
+                consoleError '1' 'No name specified for LDIF volume.'
             fi
             volume_ldif="$2"
             shift
@@ -175,9 +168,7 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
         --backupdir)
             # location of backup files to restore
             if [ -z "$2" ]; then
-                printf "%s\nLocation of your backup files not provided. Exiting.\n%s" \
-                    "$err" "$norm"
-                exit 1
+                consoleError '1' 'Location of your backup files not provided.'
             fi
             backup_dir="$2"
             shift
@@ -185,9 +176,7 @@ while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
         -t|--tag)
             # specify container tag
             if [ -z "$2" ]; then
-                printf "%s\nNo tag specified. Exiting.\n%s" \
-                    "$err" "$norm"
-                exit 1
+                consoleError '1' 'No tag specified.'
             fi
             tag="$2"
             shift
@@ -233,9 +222,7 @@ if [ $clean = true ]; then
     containers=$(docker ps -a --no-trunc --filter "label=org.label-schema.name=ab-openldap" --format "{{ .Names }}")
     # check for null value -- no containers to remove
     if [ -z "$containers" ]; then
-        printf "%sNo openldap containers to remove. Exiting.%s\n\n" \
-            "$err" "$norm"
-        exit 0
+        consoleError '0' 'No openldap containers to remove.'
     fi
 
     # iterate containers, stop them and remove straggling volumes