500 Internal Server Error - EmptyPath

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Symptom

The client application gets an HTTP status code of 500 Internal Server Error with the error code protocol.http.EmptyPath as a response for API calls.

Error message

Client application gets the following response code:

HTTP/1.1 500 Internal Server Error

In addition, you may observe the following error message:

{
   "fault":{
      "faultstring":"Request path cannot be empty",
      "detail":{
         "errorcode":"protocol.http.EmptyPath"
      }
   }
}

Possible causes

This error occurs if the request URL of the backend server, represented by the flow variable target.url, contains an empty path.

As per the specifications RFC 3986, section 3: Syntax Components and RFC 3986, section 3.3: Path:

1. The URI syntax has the following components:

           foo://example.com:8042/over/there?name=ferret#nose
           \_/   \______________/\_________/ \_________/ \__/
            |            |            |            |       |
         scheme      authority       path        query   fragment
   

2. The path component is required and it MUST always have a forward slash (/), even if there are no other characters as part of the path.

Therefore, if the request URL of the backend server does not have the path component at all, that is, it does not even have a forward slash (/), then Apigee Edge responds with 500 Internal Server Error and error code protocol.http.EmptyPath.

For example: If the target.url has the value https://www.mocktarget.apigee.net, then this error occurs as the path component is empty or missing.

Cause	Description	Troubleshooting instructions applicable for
Backend server URL (target.url) has empty path	The Backend server URL represented by flow variable target.url has an empty path.	Edge Public and Private Cloud users

Common diagnosis steps

Use one of the following tools/techniques to diagnose this error:

Cause: Backend server URL (target.url) has empty path

Diagnosis

1. Determine the Fault Code and Fault Source for 500 Internal Server Error using API Monitoring, Trace Tool or NGINX access logs as explained in Common diagnosis steps.
2. If the Fault Code is protocol.http.EmptyPath and Fault Source has the value target, then this indicates that the backend server URL has an empty path.

3. The backend server URL is represented by the flow variable target.url in Apigee Edge. This error typically happens if you try to update the backend server URL, that is, target.url dynamically using any of the policies (within Proxy/shared flow) in the Target request flow, such that it has an empty path.

4. Determine if the flow variable target.url indeed has an empty path and the source for its value using one of the following steps:

   Trace

   Using the Trace tool

   If you have captured a trace for this error, then use the steps as explained in Using Trace Tool and:

   1. Verify if target.url has an empty path.

   2. If yes, then find out which policy modified or updated the value of target.url to contain empty path.

      Sample trace showing JavaScript policy updated the flow variable target.url:

      
   3. In the above sample trace, notice that the JavaScript policy has modified or updated the value of target.url to contain an empty path.
   4. Note that target.url has the following components:
      • scheme: https://mocktarget.apigee.net
      • path: empty

   Logs

   Using logs in your log server

   1. If you don’t have a trace for this error (an intermittent issue), then check to see if you have logged the information about the value of flow variable target.url, using policies such as MessageLogging or ServiceCallout to your log server.
   2. If you have the logs, review them and:
      1. Verify if target.url has an empty path, and
      2. See if you can determine which policy modified target.url to contain an empty path

   API proxy

   Reviewing the failing API proxy

   If you don’t have a trace or logs for this error, review the failing API proxy to determine what modified or updated the flow variable target.url to contain an invalid path. Check the following:

   • The policy within API proxy
   • Any shared flows invoked from the proxy

5. Examine the specific policy (For example, AssignMessage or JavaScript) that modifies or updates the flow variable target.url carefully and determine the cause for updating target.url to have an empty path.

   Here are a few example policies that update the flow variable target.url incorrectly to contain an empty path leading to this error.

   Sample #1

   Sample #1: JavaScript Policy updating target.url variable

   var url = "https://mocktarget.apigee.net"
   context.setVariable("target.url", url);
   

   In the above sample, notice that the flow variable target.url is updated with the value https://mocktarget.apigee.net contained in another variable url.

   Note that target.url has the following components:

   • scheme: https://mocktarget.apigee.net
   • path: empty

   Since the path is empty, Apigee Edge returns 500 Internal Server Error with error code protocol.http.EmptyPath.

   Sample #2

   Sample #2: JavaScript Policy updating target.url variable

   var path = context.getVariable("request.header.Path");
   var url = "https://mocktarget.apigee.net" + path
   context.setVariable("target.url", url);

   In the above sample, notice that the flow variable target.url is updated by concatenating the value https://mocktarget.apigee.net contained in a variable url and the value of another variable path, whose value is retrieved from request.header.Path.

   If you have access to the actual request or trace, then you can verify the actual value passed to request.header.Path.

   Sample Request made by the user:

   curl -v https://HOST_ALIAS/v1/myproxy -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>
   

   In this example, the header path is not sent as part of the request. Therefore, the value of the variable path in the JavaScript policy is null.

   So:

   • url = https://mocktarget.apigee.net + path
   • url = https://mocktarget.apigee.net + null
   • target.url = https://mocktarget.apigee.netnull

   Note that target.url has the following components:

   • scheme: https://mocktarget.apigee.netnull
   • path: empty

   Sample #3

   Sample #3: AssignMessage Policy updating target.url variable through another variable

   <AssignMessage async="false" continueOnError="false" enabled="true" name=">AM-SetTargetURL">
       <DisplayName>AM-SetTargetURL</DisplayName>
       <AssignVariable>
            <Name>target.url</Name>
            <Value>https://mocktarget.apigee.net</Value>
       </AssignVariable>
       <IgnoreUnresolvedVariables>true</IgnoreUnresolvedVariables>
       <AssignTo createNew="false" transport="http" type="request"/>
   </AssignMessage>
   

   Note that target.url has the following components:

   • scheme: https://mocktarget.apigee.net
   • path: empty

   In all the above examples, the path in the backend server URL, that is target.url is empty, therefore Apigee Edge returns 500 Internal Server Error with error code protocol.http.EmptyPath.

Resolution

As per the specification RFC 3986, section 2: Syntax Components, the path component is required and it MUST always have a forward slash (/), even if there are no other characters as part of the path. Perform the following steps to fix this issue:

1. Ensure that the backend server URL, represented by the flow variable target.url always has a non-empty path.
   1. In some cases, you may not have a resource name in the path, then ensure that the path at least has a forward slash (/).
   2. If you use any other variables to determine the value of the flow variable target.url, then ensure that other variables don’t have an empty path.
   3. If you perform any string operations to determine the value of the flow variable target.url, then ensure that the result or outcome of the string operations doesn’t have an empty path.
2. In the samples discussed in Diagnosis, you can fix this issue as explained below:

   Sample #1

   Sample #1: JavaScript Policy updating target.url variable

   Add a forward slash (/) to the variable url to fix this issue as shown below:

   var url = "https://mocktarget.apigee.net/"
   context.setVariable("target.url", url);
   

   Sample #2

   Sample #2: JavaScript Policy updating target.url variable

   var path = context.getVariable("request.header.Path");
   var url = "https://mocktarget.apigee.net" + path
   context.setVariable("target.url", url);
   

   Ensure that you pass a valid path, for example, /iloveapis as part of request header Path to fix this issue as shown below:

   Sample request:

   curl -v https://HOST_ALIAS/v1/myproxy -H "Authorization: Bearer <token> -H "Path: /iloveapis"
   

   Sample #3

   Sample #3: AssignMessage policy updating target.url variable through another variable

   Add a valid path in the <Value> element of AssignMessage policy. For example, you can have /json as the path for MockTarget API. That is, modify the <Value> element to https://mocktarget.apigee.net/json as shown below:

   <AssignMessage async="false" continueOnError="false" enabled="true" name="AM-SetTargetURL">
       <DisplayName>AM-SetTargetURL</DisplayName>
       <AssignVariable>
            <Name>target.url</Name>
            <Value>https://mocktarget.apigee.net/json</Value>
       </AssignVariable>
       <IgnoreUnresolvedVariables>true</IgnoreUnresolvedVariables>
       <AssignTo createNew="false" transport="http" type="request"/>
   </AssignMessage>
   

Specification

Apigee Edge expects that the backend server URL does not have an empty path as per the following specifications:

Specification
RFC 3986, section 3: Syntax Components
RFC 3986, section 3.3: Path

If you still need any assistance from Apigee Support, go to Must gather diagnostic information.

Must gather diagnostic information

If the problem persists even after following the above instructions, gather the following diagnostic information, and then contact Apigee Edge Support.

If you are a Public Cloud user, provide the following information:

• Organization name
• Environment name
• API Proxy name
• Complete curl command used to reproduce the 500 Internal Server Error with the error code protocol.http.EmptyPath
• Trace file for the API requests

If you are a Private Cloud user, provide the following information:

• Complete error message observed for the failing requests
• Environment name
• API proxy bundle
• Trace file for the API requests

• NGINX access logs:

  /opt/apigee/var/log/edge-router/nginx/ORG~ENV.PORT#_access_log

  Where: ORG, ENV and PORT# are replaced with actual values.

• Message Processor system logs /opt/apigee/var/log/edge-message- processor/logs/system.log

References

Flow Variables - target