Avamar: What is the cause of the error message "WARN: <1258> xmldocerrorhandler: Entity: line 1: parser error: xmlParseEntityRef warnings"

Summary: Error message "xmldocerrorhandler" seen in Avamar gsan.log.

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Symptoms

Error message seen in gsan.log: 
WARN: <1258> xmldocerrorhandler: Entity: line 1: parser error : xmlParseEntityRef

Cause

The gsan.log shows that the root cause of this issue is a "wrap up" message from avtar that contains invalid XML content.

This warning due to an inability to parse the name of a file that is being backed up in the wrap-up message.

The most common cause is a filename with special characters in the name. There are five characters that must be escaped for XML to parse the filename. (See Resolution section for list of characters.)

Resolution

In this instance, the ampersand "&" character causes the issue.

2021/11/14-19:04:56.64046 {0.0} [srvm-563941198#srv:2709] WARN: <1258> xmldocerrorhandler: Entity: line 1: parser error : xmlParseEntityRef: no name 
2021/11/14-19:04:56.65398 {0.0} [srvm-563941198#srv:2709] WARN: <1258> xmldocerrorhandler: L\localhost\Policies\User\Documents & 
2021/11/14-19:04:56.65402 {0.0} [srvm-563941198#srv:2709] WARN: <1258> xmldocerrorhandler:               ^
 

The XML is invalid because the "&" in the file name is not escaped, as required by XML.

These are the escape codes for the five characters where XML requires escape. There are a few exceptions that are allowed for embedded quotes of different types, but it is safe to ALWAYS ESCAPE.

"  &quot; 
'  &apos; 
<  &lt; 
>  &gt; 
&  &amp; 

This warning can be ignored from a server perspective, though it is possible the file name makes it difficult to restore that file, if necessary.

Affected Products

Avamar Server

Products

Avamar
Article Properties
Article Number: 000193806
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 24 Nov 2021
Version:  1
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