Error "The whitelist config should be in Json, but is malformed" When Attempting to Whitelist Web Data Connector URL
Published: 30 Mar 2018 Last Modified Date: 24 Aug 2022
Issue
When attempting to whitelist a Web Data Connector URL with tabadmin whitelist_webdataconnector,the following error might occur:
Error: The whitelist config should be in Json, but is malformed.
Environment
Tableau Server
Resolution
As a Tableau Server Administrator who has access to the computer running Tableau Server, please follow the steps below:
Open the tabsvc.yml file (located by default in C:\ProgramData\Tableau\Tableau Server\config) in a text editor.
Remove the entire webdataconnector.whitelist.fixed entry. (be sure to make a note of all URLs in this entry before removing).
Save the file and close.
Run tabadmin config from the Command Line
Run tabadmin whitelist_webdataconnector -a <URL> for every URL that was previously listed after webdataconnector.whitelist.fixed
Restart Tableau Server with tabadmin restart
Cause
Formatting of the webdataconnector.whitelist.fixed configuration entry is incorrect, and cannot be parsed by Tableau Server.
Additional Information
This error can occur with any tabadmin whitelist_webdataconnector command, not just when adding new entries with -a, but the root cause and resolution will be the same.
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