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"An error occurred loading this dashboard" - Checking the Open Access Loopback URL on v4

Catherine
  • Updated

Symptoms

Error loading dashboard

An error occurred loading this dashboard, there may be more information available in your log file. Preparing your Open Access dashboard, please wait

ErrorLoadingDashboard.png

On SquaredUp v4 this is fixed by setting the Open Access Loopback URL as described in this article. If you are using SquaredUp v5 see Troubleshooting Open Access on v5.

What is the Open Access Loopback URL?

When you visit an Open Access URL the rendering software prepares to take a snapshot of the dashboard. It renders the dashboard by acting as a browser and visiting a SquaredUp URL, it takes a snapshot and this image is then served back to the user who originally requested the page.

The SquaredUp URL, known as the Open Access loopback URL, is usually determined programmatically by checking the IIS bindings. With default IIS settings of localhost:80 the loopback URL that the system would automatically try would be http://localhost. Occasionally this default loopback URL can be determined incorrectly, however this problem can be overcome by specifying a oa-loopback-base-url in the openaccess.json file as described below.

Setting the Open Access Loopback URL

The loopback URL is only necessary on SquaredUp v4. If you are using SquaredUp v5 see Troubleshooting Open Access on v5.

  1. First we need to determine what the Open Access loopback URL should be.

    If you are using SSL the loopback URL should be the URL your SSL certificate is signed to, for example https://SquaredUp.Company.com

    If you are unsure what your loopback URL should be take a look at the bindings to see if a hostname is specified. On the server where SquaredUp is installed open IIS Manager and click on Default Web Site, then on Bindings on the right hand menu under Actions. If there is a hostname and port specified note them down. Do not edit the bindings.

    • If port 80 is shown, then the loopback URL to try is http://hostname
    • If port 443 is shown, then the loopback URL to try is https://hostname
    • If no hostname is specified, but the port is 443, then the loopback URL to try is https://localhost
    • If no hostname or port is specified, but you do use a specific URL to access SquaredUp you should try the hostname from this URL.
    • If you're not sure which settings to use, please contact SquaredUp Support and reply to the automatic response with the output of the SquaredUp Diagnostics.

    Next we need to specify the loopback URL in the openaccess.json file. You may need to try a few different options.

  2. Run Notepad as administrator (File, Run, type notepad, and then right-click and select Run as administrator), and then open the following file:

    C:\inetpub\wwwroot\squaredupv4\User\Configuration\openaccess.json

  3. Modify the file to read as follows:

    {
    "oa-loopback-base-url": "LoopbackURL",
    "oa-ajax-complete-wait": 5000
}

    where LoopbackURL should be replaced with the URL determined above, for example https://localhost or https://CertificateURL

  4. Save the file.

  5. In IIS recycle the SquaredUp application pool for the setting to take effect.

    If you are unable to access SquaredUp (Server Error in '/SquaredUpv4' Application) after editing openaccess.json then there is an error in the file. Correct openaccess.json and recycle the SquaredUpv4 application pool again.

  6. When using high availability (HA) by default the openaccess.json file is used to apply the same configuration to all servers. If you need each server to use a different configuration, such as different Open Access loopback URLs, see How to set up per-server configuration when using high availability (HA).
  7. If you are using Windows authentication with Kerberos delegation you may need to configure additional SPNs. The application pool identity will need an SPN added for the newly added loopback URL hostname. Additional information on checking and adding SPNs can be found here (see section 3).

For more help see Troubleshooting Open Access on v4.

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