Well, I'd try doing th aacl direct instead of from an acl_file, just to check syntax.
Another possibility (given the error msg) is that the partition does not have acls turned on
Code:
tune2fs -l /dev/sda1 | grep options
Default mount options:
user_xattr acl
#When options are set on the filesystem level (instead of as an fstab option), however, they are not visible with mount.
mount | grep /dev/sda1
/dev/sda1 on /boot type ext3 (rw)
#Filesystems created post-install will not have ACLs active by default. This feature can be set with tune2fs -o.
tune2fs -l /dev/sda5 | grep options
Default mount options: (none)
# add acls
tune2fs /dev/sda5 -o acl
tune2fs 1.39 (29-May-2006)
#confirm
tune2fs -l /dev/sda5 | grep options
Default mount options: acl
