Support Article
IllegalArgumentException - Unable to serve file
SA-12040
Summary
You see the following log message in your PegaRules log files multiple times a day.
Error Messages
2015-06-23 03:01:53,318 [fault (self-tuning)'] [ STANDARD] [ PegaRULES:06.02] ( priv.storage.StorageUtils) ERROR - Unable to serve file
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Illegal characters detected in the path "/StaticContent/common/2aec793fec6f07b8c57990bb10d6e134//your_tcpip/prweb/prservlet/oo9o9imscyjc_fy6lnbdxo9xetrpdxfl3at36r8aw8k[*/webwb/desktopimages/pxloginbackground.jpg". You may not use ", ?, *, <, >, |, :
Steps to Reproduce
Not Applicable
Root Cause
The root cause of this problem is software use/operation error. The use of an asterisk ("*") in a URL that is used in communication from the client to the server is illegal. PRPC manages to correctly interpret this invalid URL when it is first sent to the server and proceeds to process it. However, the code that looks for the static content is not as forgiving, and so if a request for static content follows the initial request, it fails with the above error.
There is a hotfix HFix-9501 which does not make it possible to use the invalid URL. What it does is tighten up the initial processing so that the initial attempt to use the invalid URL is rejected with an HTML 400 error.
Resolution
The use of the bad URL is due you at some time in the past copying the invalid URL from some place where it was seen, e.g., in the history dropdown of the URL address bar. It is a mistake for you to think that any URL that is seen in this history (or elsewhere) is always valid to use as an initial link to the PRPC server. Any URL containing any of the invalid characters as shown in the message above is invalid. It is up to you to find all bookmarks or other repositories in which you have stored this invalid URL and cease use of same.
Published July 13, 2015 - Updated October 8, 2020
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