Invalid XML character causes a failed policy template run

  • 7022160
  • 24-Oct-2017
  • 24-Oct-2017

Environment

Secure Configuration Manager 6.2.0.1

Situation

A policy template failed with an error when an invalid XML character was used in the name of a group.  The error was: "An invalid XML character (Unicode: 0x8) was found in the element content of the document"

Resolution

Download and apply NetIQ Secure Configuration Manager 6.2 Patch Update 1

To allow parsing of the XML files, this release includes a new setting that instructs SCM to add an escape character before an invalid character

Cause

This issue occurred because the name of a group included a character that must be escaped in XML.  For example, the group is Texas/balanced.  Secure Cofiguration Manager could not parse the '/b' part of the name because the characters represent the backspace action in code

Additional Information

To escape invalid characters:
1. In the Windows Explorer, go to Program files (x86)\NetIQ\Secure Configuration Manager\Core Services\bin
2. Double click on Config.bat to launch the Configuration Utility in Advanced mode
3. Select the Advanced tab
4. Set the value to True in the field for gladiator/securitycheckup/filter/EscapeInvalidChars
5. Click Apply and OK to save changes
6. Restart the NetIQ Core Services service