pentaho/pentaho-kettle · error · KettleException

LDAPOutput.Error.OldDNFieldMissing

LDAPOutput.Error.OldDNFieldMissing

Error message

LDAPOutput.Error.OldDNFieldMissing

What it means

Thrown in LDAPOutput.processRows when the operation type is RENAME but the configured 'Old DN' field name is empty (after environment substitution). Renaming an LDAP entry requires knowing the entry's current DN from an input field; without it the rename cannot be performed.

Solutions

  1. Open the LDAP Output dialog (Rename operation) and set the 'Old DN field name' to an incoming field containing the current DN
  2. Also set the 'New DN field name' (the same check throws NewDNFieldMissing next)
  3. Verify any variable used in these settings resolves at runtime
  4. Ensure the upstream step actually emits a field with that name containing valid DNs

Example fix

// before
Operation: Rename entry, Old DN field: (empty)
// after
Operation: Rename entry, Old DN field: old_dn, New DN field: new_dn
Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

// Validate rename settings before execution
LDAPOutputMeta meta = (LDAPOutputMeta) stepMeta.getStepMetaInterface();
if (meta.getOperationType() == LDAPOutputMeta.OPERATION_TYPE_RENAME) {
  if (meta.getOldDnFieldName() == null || meta.getOldDnFieldName().isEmpty()) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Rename requires an Old DN field name");
  }
  if (meta.getNewDnFieldName() == null || meta.getNewDnFieldName().isEmpty()) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Rename requires a New DN field name");
  }
}

Try / catch

try {
  runTransformation();
} catch (KettleException e) {
  if (e.getMessage().contains("OldDNFieldMissing") || e.getMessage().contains("NewDNFieldMissing")) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Set Old DN / New DN field names in the LDAP Output rename settings");
  }
  throw e;
}

Prevention

When it happens

Trigger: meta.getOperationType() == OPERATION_TYPE_RENAME and Utils.isEmpty(environmentSubstitute(meta.getOldDnFieldName())) — the Old DN field was never set, or its variable resolved to empty.

Common situations: User switched the operation to 'Rename entry' but forgot to fill the Old DN / New DN field names; a variable holding the field name is undefined in the target environment; transformation copied with settings cleared.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is required", "must be set", "missing required field": configuration validation errors across open-source libraries — this error's family across 36 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of pentaho/pentaho-kettle@f3058517a1 (2026-09-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/556733550ba5d792. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at plugins/ldap/impl/src/main/java/org/pentaho/di/trans/steps/ldapoutput/LDAPOutput.java:124

          data.fieldsAttributeToUpdate = new String[data.nrfieldsToUpdate];
          for ( int i = 0; i < fieldsToUpdateInStreaml.size(); i++ ) {
            data.fieldStreamToUpdate[i] = fieldsToUpdateInStreaml.get( i );
            data.fieldsAttributeToUpdate[i] = fieldsToUpdateAttributel.get( i );
          }
        }
        fieldsToUpdateInStreaml = null;
        fieldsToUpdateAttributel = null;

        data.attributes = new String[data.nrfields];
        if ( meta.getOperationType() == LDAPOutputMeta.OPERATION_TYPE_UPSERT && data.nrfieldsToUpdate > 0 ) {
          data.attributesToUpdate = new String[data.nrfieldsToUpdate];
        }
      }

      if ( meta.getOperationType() == LDAPOutputMeta.OPERATION_TYPE_RENAME ) {
        String oldDnField = environmentSubstitute( meta.getOldDnFieldName() );
        if ( Utils.isEmpty( oldDnField ) ) {
          throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "LDAPOutput.Error.OldDNFieldMissing" ) );
        }

        String newDnField = environmentSubstitute( meta.getNewDnFieldName() );
        if ( Utils.isEmpty( newDnField ) ) {
          throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "LDAPOutput.Error.NewDNFieldMissing" ) );
        }

        // return the index of the field in the input stream
        data.indexOfOldDNField = getInputRowMeta().indexOfValue( oldDnField );

        if ( data.indexOfOldDNField < 0 ) {
          // the field is unreachable!
          throw new KettleException( BaseMessages.getString( PKG, "LDAPOutput.Error.CanNotFindField", oldDnField ) );
        }
        // return the index of the field in the input stream
        data.indexOfNewDNField = getInputRowMeta().indexOfValue( newDnField );

        if ( data.indexOfNewDNField < 0 ) {

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