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

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

Symptoms

Error loading dashboard

An error occurred loading this dashboard, there may be more information available in your log file.

On Dashboard Server v4 this is fixed by setting the Open Access Loopback URL as described in this article. If you are using Dashboard Server v5 see Troubleshooting Open Access (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 Dashboard Server URL, it takes a snapshot and this image is then served back to the user who originally requested the page.

The Dashboard Server 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 Dashboard Server v4. If you are using Dashboard Server v5 see Troubleshooting Open Access (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 Dashboard Server 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 Dashboard Serveryou 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 Dashboard Server Diagnostics (see Collecting diagnostic information).

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

  3. On the SquaredUp server, run Notepad as administrator (Start, Run, type notepad, and then right-click and select Run as administrator).

  4. With Notepad in administrator mode, open the openaccess.json file from the following path in the Dashboard Server folder:

    ...\User\Configuration\openaccess.json

    Name of the Dashboard Server folder

    The name of the Dashboard Server folder is SquaredUpv followed by the product version number.

    Location of the Dashboard Server folder

    The default location for the Dashboard Server folder is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv[Version Number], but a custom location may have been chosen during the installation.
    For example, for Dashboard Server v5 the default folder location is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv5 and for v4 C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv4

  5. Modify the file to read as follows:

    Copy
    {
        "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

  6. Save the file.

  7. In IIS recycle the Dashboard Server application pool for the setting to take effect.

    If you are unable to access Dashboard Server (Server Error in '/SquaredUpv5' Application) after editing openaccess.json then there is an error in the file. Correct openaccess.json and recycle the Dashboard Server application pool again.

  8. When using high availability (HA) (see Enabling High Availability) 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).

  9. 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.

    If you have another address you use to access Dashboard Server, for example a DNS alias or alternative binding, you should create two additional SPNs for this address, the shorter address and the fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

    1. On a domain controller click on the Start button type:

      Command Prompt

    2. Right-click on the Command Prompt icon and click Run as administrator

    3. Type:

      SETSPN -S HTTP/Hostname domain\SquaredUpAccount

      Where Hostname is the address you specified in DNS Manager,domain is your domain, and SquaredUpAccount is the domain service account that you set as the Dashboard Server application pool identity.

    4. Check that it shows Updated Object. If it shows Duplicate SPN found, aborting operation! see Duplicate SPN found - Troubleshooting Duplicate SPNs.

    5. Once complete, type the following for the fully qualified domain name (FQDN):

      SETSPN -S HTTP/Hostname.domain.tld domain\SquaredUpAccount

      Where tld is the top level domain.

    6. Check that it shows Updated Object. If it shows Duplicate SPN found, aborting operation! see Duplicate SPN found - Troubleshooting Duplicate SPNs

    For more information see Troubleshooting Kerberos.

For more help see Troubleshooting Open Access (v4).