Puzzling Password Issues Affecting Migration Tools

I was so hoping for a cooler acryonym, but couldn't think of any.

So, here's the scoop:  we have a PITA of a password policy.  Due in part to PCI regulations, but due mostly to the fact that our users can't "be bothered" to change their passwords beyond once a year.  (Until 2 years ago they NEVER had to change their password - EVER!) 

New policy:  15 characters, at least 2 character sets.
New problem:  The Server Migration Utility and the GroupWise Migration Utility can't handle our root passwords

Symptoms:  Works great in a testbed - where of course I use a much simpler password.  In production the tools will validate the root user account and password just fine.  But when it comes to SSH/Putty processes it fails, with a fairly generic "Failed to Authenticate" error.  When it comes to the Server Migration Utility, it's an eDir/LUM authentication failure, but for GW Migration, it's a root account authentication on the Linux box that fails.

Solution:  Make your root password less than 8 characters, no spaces, no punctuation marks - just alphanumeric characters.  It will work like a charm.  You can change it back after the migration and things will work just fine.

There is no TID on this (I've requested one be made) and you'll only find 1 forum reference (at this time) if you do a Google search on the error message listed in the log files.