passbolt/passbolt_api · error · RuntimeException

New directory settings could not be saved.

Error message

New directory settings could not be saved.

What it means

Thrown by UpdateDirectorySettingsService::updateSettings when the CakePHP save() of the directorySync organization settings entity fails. It wraps the persistence failure (validation errors, DB write failure) into a RuntimeException so the caller knows the new LDAP/directory settings were not persisted.

Solutions

1. Check the save() result's entity errors first (log $directorySyncSettings->getErrors()) to find the validation rule that failed
2. Verify database connectivity and run `ddev refresh` or migrations to ensure the organization_settings table is intact
3. Validate the incoming settings payload (fields like domains, usersParentGroup, customFilters) before calling save()
4. Retry after clearing cache if a stale OrganizationSettings cache entry is interfering

Example fix

// before
$result = $OrganizationSettings->save($directorySyncSettings);
if (!$result) {
    throw new RuntimeException(__('New directory settings could not be saved.'));
}
// after
$result = $OrganizationSettings->save($directorySyncSettings);
if (!$result) {
    $errors = $directorySyncSettings->getErrors();
    Log::error('Directory settings save failed: ' . json_encode($errors));
    throw new RuntimeException(__('New directory settings could not be saved.') . ' ' . json_encode($errors));
}

$table = $this->fetchTable('OrganizationSettings');
$entity = $table->newEntity($data);
if ($entity->getErrors()) { /* reject before save */ }

try {
    $service->updateSettings($payload);
} catch (RuntimeException $e) {
    $this->log($e->getMessage());
    return $this->respondWithError('500', __('Directory settings could not be saved. Check server logs and database connectivity.'));
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling updateSettings with a settings entity whose value fails entity validation, or when the underlying database write fails (connection issue, lock, constraint).

Common situations: Admin saves directory sync settings via the EE DirectorySync settings endpoint while the database is unavailable or the payload produces an invalid OrganizationSettings entity; MySQL/Postgres connection drops mid-save.

Related errors

• Could not save the action.
• Could not save the action log.
• Could not save the entity history.
• The data could not be saved. Metadata key could not be…
• Could not parse the self registration settings found in…

AI-assisted analysis of passbolt/passbolt_api@31c1bbc10f (2026-09-17). Data as JSON: /api/errors/23d1db169e3882d0. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/PassboltEe/DirectorySync/src/Service/DirectorySettings/UpdateDirectorySettingsService.php:75

            foreach ($value['ldap']['domains'] as $domain => $config) {
                if (array_key_exists('servers', $config)) {
                    $value['ldap']['domains'][$domain]['hosts'] = $config['servers'];
                    unset($value['ldap']['domains'][$domain]['servers']);
                }
            }
        }

        // keep compatibility with old library default class value
        if (empty($value['groupObjectClass'])) {
            $value['groupObjectClass'] = 'groupOfNames';
        }
        $value['enabled'] = false;

        $directorySyncSettings->set('value', json_encode($value));
        $result = $OrganizationSettings
            ->save($directorySyncSettings);
        if (!$result) {
            throw new RuntimeException(__('New directory settings could not be saved.'));
        }
    }
}

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