NPrinting Connection fails to generate metadata

[QlikToFindOut]

Hello,

I just finished a fresh install of Qlik NPrinting May 2021 SR2 and am looking to connect to Qlik Sense which is also on May 2021 (Patch 4).

When verifying the connection, I get all green checkmarks, but when it comes time to generating the Qlik metadata, it just times out with no intelligent error message:

November 24, 2021 11:32:58 AM	Info	Execution reset by scheduler startup
November 24, 2021 11:33:08 AM	Info	Execution reset by scheduler startup
November 24, 2021 11:33:18 AM	Info	Execution reset by scheduler startup
November 24, 2021 11:33:28 AM	Warn	Exceeded maximum number of retries

When I check the NPrinting log files, I do see this:

20211124T113220.167-05:00 [39] INFO Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK.Rendering.SenseAuthenticator - Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK 21.14.5.0 Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK.Rendering.SenseAuthenticator 20211124T113220.166-05:00 INFO MYNPRINTINGSERVER1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 trying to get login cookie via a qlikTicket from: https://MYQLIKSENSESERVER1.fss.anitech.com/hub/?qlikTicket=CLjdwBN92wWXWzwJ

And then right above it, I see:

20211124T110319.461-05:00 [26] ERROR Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK.Rendering.SenseAuthenticator - Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK 21.14.5.0 Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK.Rendering.SenseAuthenticator 20211124T110319.461-05:00 ERROR MYNPRINTINGSERVER1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 An issue occurred in MashupServer.GetAuthenticationCookiesAndConsumeQlikTicket. Proceeding anyway by using Windows authentication to load the mashup page. ERROR: System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an error: (400) Bad Request.↓↓ at System.Net.HttpWebRequest.GetResponse()↓↓ at Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK.QRSApi.TryGetResponse(HttpWebRequest request) in C:\Jws\release-may2021-QJBWLpX4f\server\NPrinting\src\Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK\QRSApi.cs:line 92↓↓ at Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK.QRSApi.GetQlikTicket(QlikSenseConnectionString conn) in C:\Jws\release-may2021-QJBWLpX4f\server\NPrinting\src\Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK\QRSApi.cs:line 437↓↓ at Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK.Rendering.SenseAuthenticator.GetAuthenticationCookiesAndConsumeQlikTicket() in C:\Jws\release-may2021-QJBWLpX4f\server\NPrinting\src\Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK\Rendering\SenseAuthenticator.cs:line 98↓↓ at Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK.Rendering.SenseAuthenticator.RefreshAuthCookies() in C:\Jws\release-may2021-QJBWLpX4f\server\NPrinting\src\Engine.Navigator.QlikSense.SDK\Rendering\SenseAuthenticator.cs:line 74

Aside from generating the certificate from the Central node and copying it over to the NPrinting server, are there any other steps I need to take to get past this? The NPrinting metadata generation only fails because it seems like it's just simply timing out. Not sure where else to be looking. For background information, we also have three rim nodes which are used as load balancing engines, but I don't think I need to generate anything from them.

Thanks for your time!

[Lucas_Gatling]

Is the URL you are using for the Poxy address for the connection configuration in Nprinting a loadbalancing URL? If so that is more than likely the culprit.

[QlikToFindOut]

Thanks for the reply.

The proxy address used for the connection is the Central node’s URL.

[Frank_S · Accepted solution]

Hello @QlikToFindOut

This should be straightforward operation.

Based on your description and response to Lucas, then there is a good chance that you may not have exported the certificates correctly from the Qlik Sense server.

To do so, I suggest exporting again as follows:

1. Re-Export Certificates from Qlik Sense correctly and copy to your NPrinting server

• Use the FQDN path of the NPrinting server as the machine name via the Certificates export interface in Qlik Sense. (Export both as shown below if applicable).
  • Ex with computer name: https://myNPrintingServer.domain.com
  • Ex with alias name: https://myaliasNPrintingaddr.domain.com
• Leave the password blank (DO NOT ENTER A PASSWORD)
• Select Include Secret Key check box
• Reference: https://help.qlik.com/en-US/nprinting/February2020/Content/NPrinting/DeployingQVNprinting/NPrinting-...

2. June 2019 and Later Versions of NPrinting:

• Copy the correctly exported 'client.pfx' file to the NPrinting server path indicated in the link above
• "C:\Program Files\NPrintingServer\Settings\SenseCertificates"

3. Restart all NPrinting services

• Then retest

Let us know how it goes...

[Frank_S]

A couple more things.

Check that the necessary ports - in and out - between the NP server/engine computer and the Qlik Sense server are opened.

The necessary ports are listed here.

• https://help.qlik.com/en-US/nprinting/May2021/Content/NPrinting/DeployingQVNprinting/Ports.htm

If you are using a prefix in the virtual proxy path, make sure that this is included in the NPrinting connection address field

• ie: https://myqliksenseservver/myprefix

Go back and make sure that your proxy address is to a virtual proxy which uses Windows Authentication. Other Auth methods will not work with NPrinting. Check the requirements at the link below

• https://help.qlik.com/en-US/nprinting/May2021/Content/NPrinting/DeployingQVNprinting/NPrinting-with-...

[Lech_Miszkiewicz]

Interesting point @Frank_S regarding certificates. @QlikToFindOut says "When verifying the connection, I get all green checkmarks" which typically means ports and certificates are ok, but you are right - logs are showing issue with authentication and obtaining a cookie. 

Does it mean there is a small chance of false/positive when running verification or would that be a very odd incident?

thanks

Lech

[Frank_S]

The original response is just the first step in troubleshooting this type of issue which we request to be performed in most cases...even if the verification is all green.

@QlikToFindOut

Please let us know if performing the certificate re-export worked for you or not.

If not we may need to perform a deeper support desk investigation to look into this for you.

Keep in mind Qlik Sense requirements as well. I am sharing here for your convenience.

https://help.qlik.com/en-US/nprinting/May2021/Content/NPrinting/DeployingQVNprinting/NPrinting-with-...

• Microsoft Windows NTML authentication on the Qlik Sense proxy. SAML and JWT are not supported. If your virtual proxy uses SAML or JWT authentication, you need to add a new virtual proxy with NTLM enabled for Qlik NPrinting connections.
• The following must be correctly set up:
  •     A Qlik Sense proxy.
  •     A Qlik Sense virtual proxy.
  •     A link between the proxy and virtual proxy.
  •     The Qlik Sense virtual proxy must be reachable from the Qlik NPrinting Engine machines to retrieve data to create reports. It must be reachable from the Qlik NPrinting Server to publish to the Qlik Sense hub.

Also check your QVF for the unsupported items mention in the link below:

• https://help.qlik.com/en-US/nprinting/May2021/Content/NPrinting/GettingStarted/HowCreateConnections/...

If none of the above applies to your situation, please start a support request so we can investigate further where we will perform an in depth review of your NPrinting and Qlik Sense logs. Please do not post those in this public forum as they may contain sensitive internal server information.

kind regards...

[QlikToFindOut]

This was it, thanks!

[Frank_S]

No Worries @QlikToFindOut 

I'm please to hear it!

[svuradi]

In my case the below setting solved the issue:

In the NP webconsole, go to Admin>Settings>Task
In the Security section, uncheck the box for 'Apply Qlik Sense server certificate validation' and click update. If you are publishing reports back to the QlikSense hub this is needed, otherwise you don't need it turned on.