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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 Squaredupv5, 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 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.

    You will need to connect to your SquaredUp server. How to connect to your SquaredUp server

  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

    If you deployed Dashboard Server via the Azure Marketplace:

    The default location for the Dashboard Server folder is F:\SquaredUpv[Version Number].
    For example, for Dashboard Server Azure Edition v5 the default location is F:\SquaredUpv5 and for v4 F:\SquaredUpv4.

    If you installed Dashboard Server using the installer:

    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 ("SquaredUp cannot start due to an error" or "Startup failed for 'Configuration'") after editing openaccess.json then there is an error in the file. Correct openaccess.json and recycle the Dashboard Server application pool again.

For more help see Troubleshooting Open Access (v4) or Troubleshooting Open Access (v5)