Error: aeGroup could not be null or empty during LDAP Sync

Products

• CA Automic Workload Automation - Automation Engine

Issue/Introduction

LDAP Sync utility fails during the group mapping phase with a null pointer exception or an illegal argument exception.

Symptoms:

The following error appears in the LDAP Sync logs: 'ERROR aeGroup could not be null or empty'
Sync fails immediately after the message: INFO Load group mapping from the client config file.

Full error:

[main] c.a.s.l.LDAPSynchronizer                 ERROR  aeGroup could not be null or empty.

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: aeGroup could not be null or empty.

at com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkArgument(Preconditions.java:143)

at com.automic.sara.ldapsync.steps.BaseSynchronizationStep$SyncGroupMapping.<init>(BaseSynchronizationStep.java:42)

at com.automic.sara.ldapsync.steps.BaseSynchronizationStep.loadSyncGroupMappingFromConfig(BaseSynchronizationStep.java:166)

at com.automic.sara.ldapsync.steps.BaseSynchronizationStep.loadSyncGroupMapping(BaseSynchronizationStep.java:124)

at com.automic.sara.ldapsync.steps.BaseSynchronizationStep.execute(BaseSynchronizationStep.java:100)

at com.automic.sara.ldapsync.SynchronizationStepChain.execute(SynchronizationStepChain.java:30)

at com.automic.sara.ldapsync.LDAPSynchronizer.run(LDAPSynchronizer.java:60)

at com.automic.sara.ldapsync.LDAPSynchronizer.main(LDAPSynchronizer.java:29)

Environment

Automic Automation Engine 21.x, 24.x, 26.x
LDAP Sync Utility: 21.x, 24.x, 26.x

Cause

This error occurs when the LDAP Sync utility cannot resolve a valid AE group name from the configuration.

Resolution

-The aeGroup definition in client_####.xml or defaults.xml is written in UPPERCASE (the utility often requires lowercase for mapping). Ensure that all AE Group mappings (the aeGroup 'ae' attribute specifically, not the group itself) in your client_XXX.xml and defaults.xml are written in all lower case.
-The mapping reference in the XML is empty or points to a non-existent VARA object.

Resolution:

1. Open the configuration file (e.g., client_1000.xml or defaults.xml, or both) used by the LDAP Sync utility.
2. Locate the the following within the mapping section in defaults.xml:

<GroupMappings>
 <map AE="ADMINS" ldap="123456" />
 </GroupMappings>
 
Change that to (lower case for ae):
 
 <GroupMappings>
<map ae="ADMINS" ldap="123456" />
</GroupMappings>

3. In your client_XXX.xml, locate this section:
 
 <GroupMappings>
<map AE="ADMINS" ldap="CN=ABC,OU=ABC,OU=Distribution List,OU=abc,DC=abc,DC=abc" />
</GroupMappings>
 
change that to (lower case for ae):
 
 <GroupMappings>
 <map ae="ADMINS" ldap="CN=ABC,OU=ABC,OU=Distribution List,OU=abc,DC=abc,DC=abc" />
 </GroupMappings>

4. If using UC_LDAP_MAPPING in Client 0, verify the VARA object contains the correct keys and values.
5. Save the file and restart the LDAP Sync.

Additional Information: Ensure that the AE groups defined in the XML actually exist within the target Automic client before running the sync.