Error: AuthenticationException After Installing Microsoft January Rollup Patches

[MikeSp]

Error: AuthenticationException After Installing Microsoft January Rollup Patches

 

Alteryx Server administrators and users may notice an "AuthenticationException" error after installing updates released January 11, 2022 or later from Microsoft on the Alteryx Server instance(s) that run the Gallery component. This issue can appear while saving or uploading a workflow, while browsing the Collections page on the Gallery, or while attempting to add access to users in a Windows Authentication environment. The issue will cause collections pages not to load with an error for end-users, and may cause issues while attempting to administer user permissions or settings.

The following message(s) may be displayed.

Gallery logs:

"System.Security.Authentication.AuthenticationException: The user name or password is incorrect.-> ---> System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException: The user name or password is incorrect.->->   at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.Bind(Boolean throwIfFail)->   at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.Bind()->   at System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry.get_AdsObject()->   at System.DirectoryServices.PropertyValueCollection.PopulateList()->   at System.DirectoryServices.PropertyValueCollection..ctor(DirectoryEntry entry, String propertyName)->   at System.DirectoryServices.PropertyCollection.get_Item(String propertyName)->   at System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.PropertyManager.GetPropertyValue(DirectoryContext context, DirectoryEntry directoryEntry, String propertyName)->   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---->   at System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.PropertyManager.GetPropertyValue(DirectoryContext context, DirectoryEntry directoryEntry, String propertyName)->   at System.DirectoryServices.ActiveDirectory.Forest.GetForest(DirectoryContext context)->   at System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement.ADStoreCtx.GetGroupsMemberOf(Principal p)->   at System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement.Principal.GetGroupsHelper()->   at Alteryx.Server.Common.Utility.ActiveDirectory.AddDirectGroupsToList(Principal user, List`1 groups)->   at Alteryx.Server.Common.Utility.ActiveDirectory.GetForestGroupsSids(Int32 adCacheTimeout, String sid)->   at Alteryx.Server.Models.Presenters.WindowsAuthenticationCollectionPresenter.GetAccessibleCollections(User user, DateTime expiry)->   at Alteryx.Server.Models.Presenters.CollectionPresenter.GetCollections(User user, Func`1 expiryFunc)->   at SyncInvokeGetCollections(Object , Object[] , Object[] )->   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.SyncMethodInvoker.Invoke(Object instance, Object[] inputs, Object[]& outputs)->   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.DispatchOperationRuntime.InvokeBegin(MessageRpc& rpc)->   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ImmutableDispatchRuntime.ProcessMessage5(MessageRpc& rpc)->   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.ImmutableDispatchRuntime.ProcessMessage11(MessageRpc& rpc)->   at System.ServiceModel.Dispatcher.MessageRpc.Process(Boolean isOperationContextSet)"

Logging into the Gallery resulting in the following error "An unknown error occurred during authentication with your Windows credentials" (first rule out causes for this error linked here):

User Collection page may not load or throws a 500 error:
image.png

Saving or modifying workflows from Alteryx Designer results in an unknown error:

image.png

 

Environment Details

 

• Alteryx Server (all versions)
• Windows Authentication
• Windows Server 2012: KB5009586 installed
• Windows Server 2012 R2: KB5009624 installed
• Windows Server 2016: KB5009546 installed
• Windows Server 2019: KB5009557 installed
• Windows Server 2022: KB5009555 installed
• Windows Server 2019: KB5012647 (OS Build 17763.2803)
• Windows Server 2019: KB5010791 (OS Build 17763.2458)

 

Cause

 

Microsoft has identified an issue in the January Rollup Patches which causes the DirectoryServices functionality to fail. "Apps using Microsoft .NET Framework to acquire or set Active Directory Forest Trust Information might fail, close, or you might receive an error from the app or Windows. You might also receive an access violation (0xc0000005) error."

More about this issue can be found on Microsoft's website here.

 

Resolution

 

Solution A (Recommended)

 

1. Install the out-of-band patch for your installation of Windows Server. Patches for each version of Windows Server can be found here. Please note that Windows Server patch deployment is outside of the scope of this knowledge article and Alteryx Support is unable to assist with installing these patches. For any questions around patching or how to properly apply patches to your machines, reach out to your IT team or system administrator.
2. Once the patch is installed, reboot the Alteryx Server machine and validate the issue has been resolved.

 

Solution B

 

1. Remove the January patch. A listing is included in the "Environment" section above. Please note that this list may not be complete, but we have attempted to list the known patches that Microsoft has provided. For any questions around patching or how to properly remove patches from your machines, reach out to your IT team or system administrator. If setup in your environment, these patches may automatically deploy back to your instance and cause the failure to recur.
2. Once the patch has been removed, reboot the Alteryx Server machine and validate the issue has been resolved.

 

Optional

• Microsoft has addressed this issue in the Cumulative May Update. 
• KB5013624

Additional Resources

• MongoDB Backups

[rymatt830]

I encountered this problem for the first time on Monday (3/14/2022).

The Collections screen in the Gallery was blank and workflows were stuck in Queue for several seconds before finally throwing an error message stating, "we are unable to get your workflow results at this time . ..." The error message referenced above occurred in the Gallery logs every time a workflow was run. After verifying all of our server settings were correct, I installed the patch from Microsoft referenced in this article and restarted the server. It fixed the issue ... until today. We are again experiencing this problem and the last update installed on the server was the patch from Microsoft I installed on 3/14/2022.

Have there been any reports of this issue popping up again after applying the patch? Could something else be causing this?

[ShrikantPatil]

@rymatt830 Same thing with our env..None of these patches are installed yet we are running into same error. Were you able to find any other root cause?

[rymatt830]

@ShrikantPatil the issue is back again for me, too, and we haven't installed any updates since 4/2022. I have a support case open and will follow-up if we find a solution.

[lepome]

@rymatt830 
If you have a paid license, please open a case with the Customer Support team, being sure to include the assets called out in this article, including the optional .har file, item number 6.

[rymatt830]

Thank you, @lepome, we do have a paid license and believe to have implemented a fix this morning. The fix was installing KB5011261 and restarting the server. I should point out we're running Windows Server 2012 R2 but do not have the January rollup (KB5009624) installed.