The problem was in the schma file. I had objectClasses: ( 1.1.2.2.1 NAME 'vennHost' ... and attributetype: ( 1.1.2.1.2 NAME 'vennClass' ...

I removed the colons and made 'objectClasses' -> 'objectClass' and restarted slapd and was able to add/modify normally.

On Sun, 9 Nov 2008, James S. White wrote:

I cannot add a custom objectclass to a directory entry. When I remove my custom objectclass and attributes, I can modify the entry normally. When I add them, I get an "Invalid Syntax (21)" error. I've googled extensively, and can find other cases of this happening, but not an effective solution. What am I missing here?

Details:

#/etc/ldap/schema/venn.schema attributetype ( 1.1.2.1.1 NAME 'vennBase' SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.15 SINGLE-VALUE ) attributetype ( 1.1.2.1.2 NAME 'vennClass' DESC 'A single set this host belongs to' SYNTAX 1.3.6.1.4.1.1466.115.121.1.15 ) objectClass ( 1.1.2.2.1 NAME 'vennHost' SUP top AUXILIARY MUST ( vennBase $ vennClass ) )

#added to /etc/ldap/slapd.conf include /etc/ldap/schema/venn.schema

# command /etc/init.d/slapd restart

#freyr.ldif dn: cn=freyr,ou=Hosts,dc=websages,dc=com cn: freyr objectclass: top objectclass: ipHost objectclass: device objectclass: vennHost ipHostNumber: 72.14.177.235 vennBase: debian-etch vennClass: ldap_server vennClass: bind9_server vennClass: cfengine_server vennClass: openldap_server vennClass: irc_server

# command ldapmodify -xh freyr.websages.com -D "cn=root,dc=websages,dc=com" -f freyr.ldif -W

#error modifying entry "cn=freyr,ou=Hosts,dc=websages,dc=com" ldap_modify: Invalid syntax (21) additional info: objectclass: value #3 invalid per syntax

if I remove all the venn* stuff from the .ldif, everything works fine...

Any help would be appreciated.